Senators lose to Devils in OT, fall to 2nd in Eastern Conference wild-card race

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Ottawa Senators fell to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Sunday.

Nico Hischier poked the puck between the pads of Ottawa goalie James Reimer after the initial shot by Jack Hughes fell out of his glove as he was making the save, giving the home team the win at 3:18 of overtime on the power play.

"I think my stick was somewhere tangled up in there and luckily that's where the puck was too," Hischier said. "I was able to get a piece of it."

Hischier scored twice and had an assist, Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist, and Hughes had two assists for the Devils (42-36-3), who won their second straight game after losing two in a row. Nico Daws made 27 saves in his second start of the season and first since a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 22.

"Anytime you're in this League, it's fun to start, and winning games is even better," Daws said. "I just have that mindset of this is the League I want to play in and that's what I'm working for."

Michael Amadio, Shane Pinto and Fabian Zetterlund each scored, and Reimer made 26 saves for the Senators (43-27-11), who are one point behind the Boston Bruins, each with one game left to play, in the wild-card race.

"We had a good second (period) and I thought we could have won. ... (Reimer) made some big saves for us," Pinto said. "We started out a little slow, but overall, not a bad game."

Ottawa played without forwards Brady Tkachuk (illness) and Tim Stutzle, as well as defensemen Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot. 

"We have been through a lot this season," Senators forward Claude Giroux said. "We dug ourselves into a pretty big hole and we were able to get out of it, find a way to make the playoffs. (Saturday) was a great day and it was great that we were all together, and kind of see the excitement of the guys and how we're pumped to be back in the playoffs."

Hischier gave the Devils a 1-0 lead when he cleaned up a rebound from the slot at 5:12 of the first period.

"That game didn't matter (since we cannot qualify for the playoffs), but it matters ... if that makes sense," Hischier said. "I think it's very important for us to finish strong this season. We're not happy where we're at and we came up way short. It's just giving something back to our fans, that's the least we can do."

Mercer looked to push the Devils' lead to 2-0 at 12:02, but the play was overturned for offside.

Connor Brown scored a short-handed goal at 14:51 on a breakaway thanks to a stretch pass from Hughes. Brown whiffed on his shot from the slot, but it still got through the pads of Reimer and past the goal line.

The Senators answered with three straight goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead.

"In the second, they outbattled us and outcompeted us," Hischier said. "And that should sting a little bit. We wanted to come out with a little pride and play for the logo, and play for (the fans) that showed up."

Amadio scored first for Ottawa, deflecting in Artem Zub's shot from the right point at 7:42 of the second period.

Pinto's one-timer from the left dot tied it at 2-2 on the power play at 10:25.

Zetterlund then gave the Senators a 3-2 lead at 14:14 when Hughes misplayed the puck in front of his own net, and Zetterlund took advantage with a wrist shot from in front.

"I thought we played pretty well," Ottawa coach Travis Green said. "I thought we took over and had good control in the second. They pushed a little bit in the third, which teams are going to do. It’s tough when you give up two short-handed goals."

Mercer pulled the Devils into a 3-3 tie on a short-handed breakaway with a backhand shot through Reimer's five-hole at 12:28 of the third period.

"To come back, score three unanswered -- we could have easily won that game," Pinto said. "Just a late penalty kill goal there. It could have went either way, but I thought we did enough to win."

NOTES: Ottawa forward Drake Batherson had the secondary assist on Pinto's goal to reach 70 points (32 goals, 38 assists) for the first time in his NHL career and surpass Dany Heatley for 10th on the franchise's all-time list. ... Hughes has 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) in 24 games since scoring the game-winning overtime goal for Team USA in the gold medal game of the 2026 Winter Olympics, marking the most points by any player over that span. ... Hischier scored his ninth career overtime goal to match Hughes for the second most in franchise history, behind Patrik Elias (16).