NEWARK, N.J. - In the fourth of eight meetings between the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres this season, the Devils fell 4-1 Thursday night. Nikita Gusev scored his second goal of the season in the final minute of the third period. This is the second straight game in which the forward has scored in the last minute of regulation. The Devils fall to 1-2-1 against the Sabres this season and this is the team's third straight loss.

Pavel Zacha extended his points streak to seven straight games as he picked up an assist on Gusev's goal. Zacha has five assists over the last seven games, serving as a key playmaker for the team.

"He's been able to find the open guy when he's there and he's been able to create some opportunities for himself," said Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff. "Part of getting on a streak like that is somebody has to finish. And sometimes you're fortunate, sometimes you make really good plays as they do finish."

Video: POST-GAME REPORT | Making Life Too Easy on Opponents

On this week's episode of Speak of the Devils presented by RWJBarnabas Health, former New Jersey Devil defenseman Mark Fraser joined Chris Wescott and Catherine Bogart to discuss a variety of topics including Fraser's career with the Devils and projects post-hockey.

Fraser played for the Devils franchise from 2006 to 2011, and was drafted by the team in 2005 in his hometown of Ottawa.

"Of course the first round is televised, that's done now. So I'm refreshing the family computer, listening on the radio, seeing which one's faster," Fraser said about the process of finding out he was drafted. "The name came up, The New Jersey Devils selecting from the Kitchener Rangers...hearing [my] name being called, it was a dream come true."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Devils dropped their second straight loss Sunday afternoon, 4-3 to the Washington Capitals.

Center Travis Zajac played his 1000th game against Washington, and becomes the 67th player to do so all for a single franchise. Zajac is the fourth Devils player, and third skater in the franchise to achieve the milestone.

"It wasn't the result we hoped for. Nonetheless, it was a special moment for me and one I'll never forget," said Zajac on his 1000th game. "The guys in the organization did a great job of really making a memorable event for me and it's defiintely something I'll never forget."

"You saw him in the second period, laid out and blocked a shot from Ovechkin and that's just a great example of his leadership right there," said Aaron Dell on Zajac. "He's out there doing what he needs to do to give the team its best chance to win, and that's what a good leader does."

Video: POST-GAME REPORT | Penalty Trouble

With all the changes this season for the Devils franchise, one became a significant advantage for the Devils: the move of the team's AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Devils, to Newark for the 2021 season. As a result, the organization has the ability to use their farm system for fresh legs during their packed schedule.

"The strategy would always be just really utilize the depth of our organization right now," said Devils Executive Vice President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald. "I think we're fortunate having our farm team play out of New Jersey right her win Newark…we'll always have guys playing whether if they're not playing [for] New Jersey, they'll go down and play some games for [Binghamton]. We feel like we'll have most nights, if not every night, fresh legs injected into our lineup."

"We've got some young guys that have had some great experience for us through these first eleven, twelve games," said Devils Head Coach on using the young players so far this season. "With the amount of games we're gonna play we're just going to have to put fresh bodies in, take a couple, replace a couple, not even a healthy scratch situation, just let's put some fresh legs in."

Video: RAW | Tom Fitzgerald on Hischier's Captaincy

NEWARK, NJ - In their first February home game, the Devils fell to the Buffalo Sabres 3-2. With the loss, the Devils have a 1-1-1 record in the season's series with Buffalo and fall to 6-4-2 overall.

Right wing Kyle Palmieri opened the scoring for New Jersey in the first minute of the third period. Palmieri's goal extended his points streak to three games, and it was his second straight game scoring a goal. Will Butcher, who had the secondary assist on Palmieri's goal, also has a three-game point streak. Jack Hughes picked up the primary assist on Palmieri's goal to start a two-game points streak.

P.K. Subban scored his first goal of the season on the power play late in the third period as the Devils tried to overcome a 3 goal deficit from the second period.

Video: POST-GAME REPORT | Nico Named Captain

The saying 'like father like daughter' can go with a lot of things in Cassandra Vilgrain's life: her jersey number throughout her hockey career, her focus on growing the sport, and her perseverance. However, her dad Claude, a former professional hockey player, wasn't the driving factor for Cassandra to lace up skates in the first place.

Video: BLACK HISTORY | Cassandra Vilgrain's Story

"I was doing a lot of different sports [growing up]. I was actually heavily figure skating, my mom was a competitive figure skater as well," said Vilgrain on her youth sports days. "I like to bug my dad and tell people that I got my skating gene from her."

"But it was the 2002 Olympics and basically, I saw it and I saw these women playing and I was like, I had no idea that this was a possibility. And I went to my dad and was like, I need to play."

BOSTON, MA. - The Devils picked up their third straight win, a 3-1 victory, over the Boston Bruins Thursday night. This is the Devils second win over the top team in the East division.

"We found a way to come in here and get the two points and to do it in regulation," said Kyle Palmieri on the win tonight. "We know they're a team that can play from behind an dcome back in just about every game so it's a big confidence boosting win for us."

Kyle Palmieri scored his first and second goals of the season, the second of which was shorthanded. Palmieri, who led the team in goals last season, has six points in the 2020-21 campaign so far (2-4, 6). Pavel Zacha extended his points streak to four games with a second-period goal during 4-on-4 play.

"These last couple of games is the type of player we need," said Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff on Zacha's play recently. "He's winning battles, he's involved in the 50/50 puck situations where he's coming up with them. He's better on draws and he's an important piece when he plays like that for us."

Video: POST-GAME REPORT | Confidence Boosting Win

NEW YORK, N.Y. - After a two week pause, the Devils won their first game back against the New York Rangers, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.

Mikhail Maltsev scored his first NHL goal in the final 20 seconds of the game to seal the win on an empty net. In his season debut and first game in a year, defenseman Will Butcher scored his first goal of the 2020-21 campaign. Pavel Zacha, Yegor Sharangovich and Nick Merkley each scored one as well.

"Everyone knew coming in it was gonna be tough to get the legs under us and get our minds right but I thought we did a pretty good job, came out hard," said Merkley on his team's performance in their first game back. "Throughout the game [we] got better and I think by the end of it we were feeling pretty good about ourselves."

Video: POST-GAME REPORT | Now That's How You Come Back

BUFFALO, N.Y. - After falling in a shootout a day before, the Devils rebounded and beat the Sabres 5-3 on Sunday. They finish the two-game series with three out of four possible points. The Devils fourth line of Miles Wood, Michael McLeod, and Nathan Bastian had a big night, scoring four out of the five goals for the Devils Sunday.

"Real good win for us, fourth line played great, lot of energy," said Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff following the win. "Back-to-back afternoon games, you don't know where your energy is going to come from but they gave us one heck of a game. I thought all the way around, four lines, six defensemen and Comrie made some great saves for us to help us win a hockey game."

Video: BEHIND-THE-SCENES | Ruff's Hilarious Speech

Michael McLeod had his first career two-goal game, Miles Wood scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season, and Andreas Johnsson scored his second for the Devils in his second straight game.

"It's huge for confidence. Now I just need to get more pucks on net," said McLeod on the confidence his two goals gives him. "That was a huge game for us and that was a huge two points."

Video: POST-GAME REPORT | Pick Six

The Devils aim to bounce back from Saturday's shootout loss in Buffalo with another crack at the Sabres on Sunday afternoon. 

You can watch the game on MSG+ or listen on the Devils Hockey Network. 

Video: DEVILS MINUTE | Back to Back in Buffalo

Read the game preview below and check back a few hours before the game for any updates following Devils head coach Lindy Ruff's media availability.