For New Jersey, it was a discouraging loss as they played aggressively throughout all three periods but were stymied by Senators goalie Curtis McElhinney who stopped 33–of–34 shots on goal. McElhinney, who was recently picked up on waivers by Ottawa, was spectacular between the pipes.
Devils goalie Martin Brodeur also played well in the loss, making 22–of–24 saves.
With every game now having playoff implications, this loss sets up a huge game Friday night for the Devils as they prepare to take on the second-placed Washington Capitals at the Prudential Center.
A disappointed Devils coach Jacques Lemaire spoke after the game with MSG, “I felt we played decent, we could have won the game. We had our chances but we just couldn’t score.”
The loss was a tough one for New Jersey as the Atlanta Thrashers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4–3 at home and remained one spot ahead of the Devils in 11th place with 72 points. The Devils remain 6 points behind the Buffalo Sabres with 12 games remaining in the season, 9 of them against teams ranked in the top 8 of the Eastern Conference.
Tough Loss
The Senators struck early in the first period at 19:02 as they went on the powerplay and scored off a head’s up move by winger Ryan Shannon who positioned himself in front of the net and deflected in a slapshot by Jason Spezza past Brodeur.
Despite outshooting the Senators 10 shots to 3 in the second and dominating for the most part, New Jersey couldn’t get anything past McElhinney who made several huge saves in the period.
Coming out strong in the third period, the Devils once again put heat on McElhinney but were stonewalled four straight times.
Adding to New Jersey’s frustrations, the Senators came right back following the Devils failed scoring attempts and lit the lamp for a second time as winger Chris Neil deflected a hard shot on goal by teammate Erik Karlsson at 0:55. On the play, Karlsson rifled the puck on goal and it bounced up in the air in front of a crowded Devils net and Neil chipped it in midair.
The Devils finally scored as Brian Rolston ripped a shot past McElhinney from the right side at 5:02 after his team went on the powerplay, their third of the game. Rolston got help from teammate David Clarkson who did a good job of screening the Sens goalie.
But that’s as close as New Jersey would get. To make matters worse, the Senators’ Chris Neil scored the empty netter at 19:22, getting his second goal of the game and eliminating the Devils three-game winning streak.
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