NEWARK, NJ - It was another low-scoring affair between the New Jersey Devils and it's opponent on Sunday afternoon. For an eleventh straight game, the Devils scored three or fewer goals, this time in a loss to the Senators 2-1.
Tomas Tatar scored the Devils lone goal of the game, punching back against Ottawa just 1:26 after the Senators took a 1-0 lead on Zach Ostopcuks's first NHL goal.
The Senators broke the 1-1 draw just 2:50 into the third period on a goal from high in the slot by Artem Zub for the go-ahead goal.
"They get a spin-around shot in the slot, they get a point-shot and two of their least productive offensive players that they have on their team that end up scoring," head coach Sheldon Keefe said post-game. "That’s just kind of the way the game goes but you leave it like that when you don’t convert on offense."
The Devils jumped out to a great start against the Senators, outshooting them 16-2, but Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg turned away all 16 shots he faced. And as the game continued on, the Devils structure began to slip, while the Senators settled into theirs.
"I felt Ottawa got way better in terms of their structure and their game and a lot harder on us and we couldn’t find our way through," Keefe said.
"We had a great start in the game but as the game (went on), we stopped playing. When you’re in this position you just have to simplify things, play very good structurally, it’s going to come eventually. But we can’t just be doing whatever out there. We have to simplify it a lot.”
The Devils winless streak has stretched to five games, a stretch where they have gone 0-3-2.