Devils earn one point in OT loss to Winnipeg

Jesper Bratt got the Devils within a goal of the Jets with just over four minutes to play, and Taylor Hall, on a mad scramble in the Winnipeg Jets crease, scored the game tying 3-3 goal on Saturday night in a wild final five minutes at Prudential Center. Bratt and Hall's goals came 2:23 apart to send the game into overtime.

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The Jets, however, found the game-winning goal with 16.3 left in the extra frame, handing the Devils a fifth overtime loss this season.
The Devils began the December schedule with a 4-3 loss to Winnipeg. The Devils are back at Prudential Center Monday night to host the Tampa Bay Lightning. It will be just the second time in the last three weeks that the Devils have had two consecutive home games.
Here are 10 takeaways from the game:
1. Keith Kinkaid was given the start in net, the first such occasion this season where Kinkaid has started on back-to-back nights. Kinkaid started in Washington Friday night, as well. The decision to start the 29-year-old goaltender on consecutive nights came down to "he gives us the better chance to win," coach John Hynes said prior to puck drop against Winnipeg.
Kinkaid dueled on the ice opposite Winnipeg's Laurent Brossoit. Kinkaid stopped 29 of 32 shots he faced in regulation.
2. Defenseman Will Butcher was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. The decision to take the second-year pro defenseman out of the lineup was about giving him a "mental refresh".
"Last year we sat him out a couple time," Hynes said. "He watched things from up top and had a bit of a mental refresher. He came back last season] and played really strong. We're hoping that will be the same case this time."
With Butcher out, Egor Yakovlev drew into the lineup for his seventh game of the season.
3. New Jersey outshot the Jets 14-8 in the first period. The Devils defense came up big with five blocked shots in the first and prevented the Jets from a first shot on net for the first 6:29 of the game. After the Jets first shot of the game, the Devils already had the edge in shots on goal, having pumped seven of their own on Jets netminder Laurent Brossoit to that point.
4. The Devils took the 1-0 lead on the Jets at the 6:45 mark of the first period. Marcus Johansson scored in a second consecutive game to give New Jersey the lead. Johansson's initial shot on Brossoit was blocked, but he stayed with the puck that ricocheted out to him and snapped one home.
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Jesper Bratt was credited with the lone assist, marking his eighth point in 12 games.
5. The Devils penalty-kill was again a strong point for John Hynes' crew. The Devils were down a man just once against the Jets and were a perfect 1-for-1 where they held the Jets shotless.
6. Blake Coleman finished the night with six shots on net, all through the first 40 minutes of play. The shots set a new career-high for shots in a game for the forward. His previous high was five, which he did four times prior to tonight's game. (Credit: Devils Statistician, Craig Seiden)
7. New Jersey was held without a goal in the second period on home ice. Entering the game, the Devils went 11 straight home games with at least one second period goal.
8. The Jets boast the NHL's leader in goal-scoring, Patrick Laine (21). The Devils were able to keep Laine off the board on Saturday night. Prior to Saturday night's matchup, Laine had 10 goals in his previous five games.
9. Jesper Bratt helped the Devils draw within one on the Jets after Winnipeg took a 3-1 lead late in the third period. Bratt ripped a shot from the left circle, with Brian Boyle acting as the screen in front of Brossoit.
Bratt's goal reduced the Jets lead to 3-2 with 4:19 left in regulation. The goal was just the Devils second power play marker in their last 12 games.
10. Pavel Zacha and Damon Severson were credited with the assists on Bratt's goal. The assist was Zacha's first of the season.