ANAHEIM, CA - The opening twenty minutes in Anaheim were nothing short of frustrating for the New Jersey Devils, as a string of self-inflicted wounds spotted the Anaheim Ducks a 2-0 lead after the first period, in the Devils 4-1 loss on Sunday night.

For all that was even between the teams when it came to scoring chances, including Grade-A chances, New Jersey’s couldn’t break through the Ducks' netminder, Lukas Dostal, resulting in the ultimate difference.

"There were some sequences early on in the first period that we played really well,” Jesper Bratt said. “We showed exactly how this game was going to be for us, we played good, we got the puck down in their zone and small couple of mistakes we started letting off the gas a little bit and they take advantage right away and they’ve got guys who know how to put the puck in the net.”

Anaheim extended its lead in the second period with a Cutter Gauthier shot from the goal line, the puck slipping past Jake Allen from a sharp angle to make it 3-0.

The Devils finally solved Dostal in the third period when Jack Hughes buried a shot on a 2-on-1 rush with Dawson Mercer, who had just stepped out of the penalty box. Hughes snapped the puck past Dostal for his 10th goal of the season, giving New Jersey a much-needed spark as they tried to climb back into the game.

Mercer had just served a penalty for coming to the defense of captain Nico Hischier, who was hit into the boards by Jansen Harkins. That response and the goal as a result, demonstrated a surge in the Devils' play that had been lacking through much of the second period, onwards.

“I did mention it to our team, we showed, there’s a reserve tank in there," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "You can tap into it, you’ve got a little more to give, you’ve got to convince yourself of it. That’s part of why I think, giving up the first goal, and early, is a gut-punch, you’re trying to get going, you want to have a good day to finish the road trip and then you’re down again early, so we’ve got to figure that out and not give up that chance and that goal.”

The Devils close out their road trip with a 1-3-0 record.

“Certainly, we don’t like much about what happened on this road trip,” Keefe said. “Injuries are a factor, fatigue is a factor for sure, but you can only use that for so long, but we’ve got to get back to work.”

Here are some observations from the game:

• The opening two goals of the game were the direct result of New Jersey’s own lapses. On the first, a miscommunication between Dennis Cholowski and Simon Nemec left the neutral zone wide open, springing Beckett Senneke in alone on a breakaway. It was a moment of disorganization that the Ducks' rookie exploited.

The second goal came off another self-inflicted mistake. After some scrambling below the goal line, Dawson Mercer’s ill-advised pass toward Nico Hischier was easily intercepted, with a Ducks Jackson LaCombe jumping the lane and poking the puck toward Frank Vatrano. Two breakdowns, two goals, and Anaheim made the most of both.

While the Devils and Ducks traded chances through a fairly even first period, it was Anaheim’s opportunities that found the back of the net. New Jersey generated good looks of their own but couldn’t solve Lukas Dostal, while the Ducks made theirs count.

• After falling behind in the first period, head coach Sheldon Keefe made adjustments to his forward lines.

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• Tonight marked a milestone for Simon Nemec, as the young defenseman skated in his 100th NHL game. The 21-year-old has seven points this season, all assists.

• New Jersey was playing their eighth game in 13 nights, compared to the Ducks playing their third game in eight games, not to mention New Jersey playing on the second half of a back-to-back.

“That’s a factor, there’s no question,” Keefe said. “It’s part of the NHL and that’s what you get at different points in the schedule. You’ve got to try to manage your way through it. I didn’t feel like we were ourselves here today, they certainly felt a lot quicker and even more skilled and talented than us in terms of how they move the puck and the plays that they made.”

• Connor Brown missed a second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury. Head coach Sheldon Keefe said before the game that Brown is improving and remains day-to-day.