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POST-GAME REPORT: One Goal Short
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Severson Post-Game
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Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff
WHAT'S NEXT
Next up, the team returns home before crossing the Hudson River to face its foes, the New York Rangers. 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.
Jack Hughes' power play goal got the visitors on the board first in the opening minute of play. Hughes is riding a six-game points streak with five goals and seven assists for 13 points. The Blue Jackets would go on to score three straight over the second half of the first period and first minute of the middle frame. However, Captian Nico Hischier scored 16 minutes into the second period to make it a 3-2 game. Hischier has 15 goals this season which is third on his team. Damon Severson and Michael McLeod picked up assists on the goal.
Pavel Zacha's goal with just over 12 minutes left in the game brought the Devils within one once again, with the Blue Jackets holding a 4-3 lead. This was the forward's first goal since Feb. 8. Dougie Hamilton picked up an assist in the game giving him a two-game points streak and points in every game since his return from injury. The Devils kept chipping away, trying to get a tying goal past Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, but the Columbus netminder stood strong. New Jersey pulled goaltender Nico Daws in the final minutes to get goal number four of the night, but were unable to capitalize.
"It's not like we didn't have chances tonight, we had some really good puck play and we had some really good plays that created chances but their goalie had some really good saves and we didn't score on some of them and they did," Severson said. "They got the extra one. But overall it wasn't a terrible game for puck possession but there were certain points in the game where it caught up with us a little bit."
Nico Daws got his second consecutive start in net after backstopping the Devils to a 7-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night. Against the Blue Jackets Tuesday, the rookie goaltender had 27 saves on 31 shots.
"I thought he gave us a good game tonight, got some good saves," Ruff said on the rookie goaltender. "Obviously the game last night, made some good saves ... I thought when the game was right there he made a couple saves that allowed us to try to tie the game late."
For Columbus, Jake Christiansen, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Boone Jenner, and Patrik Laine had goals. Merzlikins had 30 saves on 33 shots for the home team.
Some additional takeaways from tonight's contest:
When it comes to moving forward from the loss, Ruff and Severson emphasize the Devils need to continue to progress, clean up mistakes, and keep it simple.
"If we execute like the way we did in the first and finish we're going to win a lot of games," Ruff said post-game. "There's going to be pockets of play that the other team is going to have a push and you got to play well defensively. We got burned on a couple goals, just individual mistakes, individual players getting beat. That happens."
"When we get on the offense we have so much skill and talent that they can make plays when they get out there. I think they're slowly starting to understand that, we just can't take a step backwards," Severson said. "Overall you can feel a sense of confidence and a sense of trying to take that next step for sure."
The Devils return to New Jersey and will have a practice day before heading across the Hudson river to face its rivals, the New York Rangers on Friday. That game is at 7 p.m. on MSG and the Devils Hockey Network.
