The New Jersey Devils hosted the Nashville Predators at the Prudential Center in Newark on January 29.
The two teams played a competitive game. Each team had powerful face-offs and took plenty of shot attempts. New Jersey had 35, and the Predators notched 29. Both teams battled to take home the win, but the Devils prevailed in overtime, 3-2.
In the first period, the game was already moving. Early in the game, Nashville’s Michael McCarron scored, giving the Predators a 1–0 lead.
New Jersey came back and answered in the second when Dougie Hamilton notched his seventh goal of the season. Lenni Hameenaho and Arseny Gritsyuk assisted him to tie it at 1–1.
Nashville regained the lead early in the third on Filip Forsberg’s 20th goal. However, Jesper Bratt knotted the game again about midway through the period with his 13th of the year to force overtime.
In the extra session, Devils captain Nico Hischier was the hero. He beat Predators goalie Justus Annunen just 42 seconds into OT with a powerful slap shot to seal the win and grab the extra two points for New Jersey. Dawson Mercer picked up the helper on the winner, extending Hischier’s strong season and giving the Devils a perfect late-game execution after overcoming adversity, which included an early exit by Jack Hughes due to a lower-body injury.
Between the pipes, Jacob Markstrom was steady for New Jersey, making 27 saves in the victory, boosting his record and helping snap a brief skid for the Devils. Nashville’s Annunen turned aside multiple shots in the loss, but couldn’t hold off the Devils’ late pressure.
The win improves New Jersey’s record to 28-24-2 in the tightly contested Metropolitan Division, keeping them firmly in the playoff hunt. The New Jersey Devils will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 31, to take on the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa at 7 p.m.
