Damon Severson's OT Heroics Down Rangers, 4-3 | GAME STORY

The Devils have kept the Rangers at bay, still looking down at their rivals in the standings.
Damon Severson exploded with excitement as he scored the overtime winner against the New York Rangers, securing a home-ice win for the first time in nine games.
Off a 2-on-1, Severson fired the puck past Shesterkin who had frustrated the Devils all afternoon.
"No matter who it is, overtime winners always feel great for the team to get the win," Severson said after the game, "it was fortunate enough for it to be the one this afternoon. It feels great to take care of our rivals from across the river."
In a game that looked touch and go, with the Rangers taking a 2-0 then 3-1 lead on New Jersey, the home team fought and ground their way to an enormous divisional win over the Rangers in overtime, 4-3.
"A win is a win, it really didn't matter we wanted to take anything we could," Jack Hughes said post-game. "It happened to be a comeback win, that was a pretty crazy crowd today. It's a lot of fun playing the Rangers, so when you get to beat them, it's kind of a statement win."
Former teammate to many of the current Devils, Jimmy Vesey, got the scoring going between the two teams. Jack Hughes was the first Devil to solve Igor Shesterkin, who played an outstanding game. Hughes picked off a Rangers pass, split the defense, and reduced the Rangers' lead to 2-1. It was the fifth consecutive game with a goal for Hughes, marking a new career-high.
The 2-1 Rangers lead would be extended to 3-1 when Chris Kreider converted on a wraparound in the second period. Once again, the Devils fought back to get within one, Jesper Bratt converting with a mighty slap shot on the power play to beat Shesterkin. The puck left his stick so quickly that few had time to react before the puck had both entered and exited the net. The Devils once again pulled within one.
The roof nearly came off of Prudential Center when Jack Hughes' 10th shot of the game beat Shesterkin on the power play, drawing the Devils even with the Rangers at 3.
Severson completed the comeback at 2:47 of overtime, giving the Devils the only lead of the game they would need.
"It was a win we desperately needed," Bratt said after the game, "We had a couple games here at home where we really outplayed the other team and we couldn't find a way to win. Home games are huge for us too, especially, again, to get some wins in front of our own fans. Today was a huge game, a rivalry game where we really needed that extra point."

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The Devils begin a season-long five-game road trip with a stop in Carolina on Tuesday night.
Here are some observations from the game...
- For the final time this season, the Devils wore their 2022-23 Reverse Retro jerseys. - The victory was the first win at home since hosting the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 6. They had gone eight straight home games without a win.

"Every game, every point, every period matters," Bratt said, "Obviously we didn't get the start we needed to get an early goal. But it's something we've been working on all season, never give up, always keep fighting and keep grinding. We know we have the skill and the type of the team to really come back in these games, we came back, we showed great character and we've got a huge extra point." - Regardless of how well Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin played in the first period alone, there has to be frustration building with the opportunities lacking finish. In the first 10 minutes alone, the Devils had an 11-4 shot advantage.
Perhaps one of the best chances came on a 3-on-2 at 9:08, with Nico Hischier and his linemates charging up the ice.
Ondrej Palat skated the puck into the offensive zone and with both Hischier and Bratt open, spun the puck around to connect with Bratt's backhand. The winger got the shot off in Shesterkin and Hischier tried to clean up the rebound but again were stymied by the Rangers netminder.

To make matters more frustrating in the first period, the Devils had a 5-on-3 for 1:28. There was one swap on the first unit when the 5-on-3 began, substituting Tomas Tatar for Alexander Holtz in an attempt to use his shot from the circle. While the Devils held the zone for nearly the entire power play and two-man advantage, they were only able to officially generate three shots on Shesterkin.

Dougie Hamilton, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Hischier all played a 2:43 shift. - The Devils outshot the Rangers 19-9 after 20 minutes and 33-22 after 40 minutes. - Jack Hughes' second-period goal cut the Rangers' lead to 2-1 and although officially listed as unassisted, Rangers forward Barclay Goodrow passing back into the Rangers zone was picked off by Hughes, who proceeded to split the New York defensemen to connect up and over Shesterkin's glove-side for the Devils opening goal.

The goal was Hughes' 25th of the season, just one away from the career-high 26 he set last season.

Not to be outdone, Hughes contributed a second goal - the 3-3 game-tying goal in the third period - to reach his career-high 26 and turn Prudential Center on its head. - For a good stretch of the game, Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton were split up as the top defensive pairing. Hamilton had a couple of defensive lapses forcing the coaching staff to split the two up. The defense shaped up as the following:

Siegenthatler-SeversonGraves-SmithOkhotiuk-Hamilton

After the breather of the second intermission, the club returned to their regular defensive pairings. - Nikita Okhotiuk was back in the lineup, taking the place held last game by Kevin Bahl. Bahl struggled in the last game and was benched for much of the third period. - A very special guest and his children were at today's game:

Tweet from @amandacstein: Eli Manning in the house! pic.twitter.com/QpX226r3zF - Jack Hughes finished the game with a career-high 11 shots on net.