Devils See Stars After 5-1 Loss to Dallas | GAME STORY

The Devils were seeing stars, and not just of the Dallas variety on Tuesday night at Prudential Center.
New Jersey gave up the opening goal just 14 seconds into the game, the first of two that Stars Joe Pavelski would score in the game, and after 20 minutes of play the Stars were up by a three-goal margin. The beginning of the second period proved just as difficult, this time a goal by Dallas 15 seconds into the middle frame.
Jesper Bratt opened the scoring for New Jersey when he cut the Stars lead to 5-1 on a power-play goal in the second period.
The game within the game also saw the change of goaltenders for New Jersey, who opened the matchup with Akira Schmid in net, before switching to Jon Gillies to start the second and finish out the game.
The club was also forced to play shorthanded, without Michael McLeod in the third period after a fight with Luke Glendening towards the end of the second period. He did not return to the game after the fight, held out of the game by medical staff. Lindy Ruff said post-game that McLeod will be further evaluated tonight.
The game against Dallas marked the mid-way point of New Jersey's season, where they sit with a 15-21-5 record, good for 35 points and sixth in the Metropolitan Division.

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The Devils visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 27 at 7 pm ET. The game can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
Here are some observations, notes, and quotes from the game...
- It was not the start a team would want, just 14 seconds into the game, already behind the eight-ball. New Jersey conceded the first goal of the game to Joe Pavelski just 14 seconds into the game, to mark the quickest goal scored against New Jersey this season. Prior to tonight, the fastest goal against to start a game was just a few games ago by the Carolina Hurricanes when Andrei Svechnikov scored 2:01 into the opening frame. "Yeah, just bad starts right from the beginning," Damon Severson said after the game. "First period you get scored on there early, second period scored on early. It just wasn't, it felt like a night where things weren't going our way, and we didn't do a lot to go in our own favor to turn the tide back the other way." - Tonight's matchup marked a battle between the oldest team in the league, Dallas, and the youngest, New Jersey. The Stars clock in at an average age of 29.22, while the young Devils have an average age of 24.97. "I mean, they play that veteran style of hockey, play smart," Severson said. "You can hear them on the bench and hear them on the ice talking to get the puck in deep, they're trying to d the right things out there no matter what it is, up, down, whatever. And it showed tonight." - More from Severson on the Stars: "They outplayed us, they did what they had to do to win a hockey game and they did it with authority for sure." - Jon Gillies replaced Akira Schmid to start the second period. Schmid, who was called up on Tuesday morning from Utica, finished with four saves on seven shots. When Gillies entered the game to replace Schmid, he had a similar start, conceding the first shot he faced at just 15 seconds into the second period. "It's a tough start," Bratt said. "We could have played a little more simple, they're a skilled team and take advantage of it. Obviously, it wasn't the start we wanted, but going forward we just have to make sure we're ready on those plays." - Jesper Bratt finally broke through the barrier that was Braden Holtby for the Stars at the 12:16 mark of the second period. His power-play marker, assisted by Jack Hughes and Damon Severson, was his 14th goal of the season and puts him just two behind his career-high in goals, set during the 2019-20 season. - He's closing in on his career-high of 16 goals which he scored in 60 games two seasons ago. This season, he's already managed 14 in his 38 games. - Make that five straight games for New Jersey with a power-play goal. - Janne Kuokkanen played his 100th NHL, all but 11 of those games have been played with New Jersey, after being acquired by the club from Carolina.