Devils defeat Senators after clinching playoff berth

NEWARK, N.J.-- Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist for the New Jersey Devils, who clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs before defeating the Ottawa Senators 5-3 at Prudential Center on Saturday.

"It's what we wanted, and we got it now, but from here on the work starts," Devils captain Nico Hischier said. "We'll use the remaining nine games to get to our best level we can play as a team."
Hischier had two assists for New Jersey (46-19-8), which clinched its first playoff berth in five seasons when the New York Rangers won 4-3 at the Florida Panthers earlier in the day.
The Devils are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes, who have two games in hand.
"I went into the dressing room after the game and said I'm proud of the work that was put in, proud of where we got to clinch tonight, and to be one of three teams that have an X next to their name," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "Part one, we set our goal to play meaningful games and to be in the playoffs, so we accomplished that. Part two is to make sure we don't mess up what happened in part one."

MacKenzie Blackwood, who was making his first start since Feb. 19 because of a lower-body injury, made 25 saves.
"It's my first time we're in playoffs, so it's exciting times," Blackwood said. "It's a great group here. We're excited to see what we can do, and we have a lot of belief in the room."
Tim Stutzle
had two assists, and Dylan Ferguson made 30 saves for the Senators (35-33-5), who fell seven points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.
"That's a good team, some speedy forwards," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "I thought we had some looks in the third period, and we did everything that we could. We tried. They just find a way to win."
Brady Tkachuk scored on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 3:14 of the first period.
"We knew they were on the second end of a back-to-back (New Jersey lost 5-4 to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday), so we knew they were going to be humming there early," Tkachuk said. "It's frustrating because it's crucial at this point in the season, so definitely frustrating."
Hughes tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 10:21. He skated end-to-end down the middle of the ice and past three Ottawa defenders before scoring his 40th goal of the season five-hole on Ferguson.

Jesper Bratt gave the Devis a 2-1 lead at 2:24 of the second period, intercepting a pass attempt at Ottawa's blue line and scoring on a snap shot from the left hash marks.
"It's been a lot of years with struggles, with not winning," Bratt said. "It's just awesome coming out now playing these kinds of games and getting that win."
Dawson Mercer pushed it to 3-1 on a slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle at 3:33.
Thomas Chabot cut it to 3-2 at 9:22 with a slap shot from the point, and Mark Kastelic tied it 3-3 at 16:03 of the second with a deflection of Travis Hamonic's shot from the right point.
Dougie Hamilton responded for the Devils to make it 4-3 at 3:34 of teh third period, scoring with a snap shot just under the crossbar from the bottom of the right circle.
Tomas Tatar then scored an empty-net goal with 43 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.
"We're part of 16 teams that are going to make the playoffs," Ruff said. "Sixteen teams aren't going to make it, and you've felt that pain for x-number of years, so now's the opportunity to really hunker down and try to do something."
NOTES: Hischier has nine points (two goals, seven assists) during a six-game point streak. ... Hamilton's goal was his 19th, the most by a Devils defenseman since the team moved to New Jersey in 1982-83. Barry Beck has the franchise record, scoring 22 for the Colorado Rockies in 1977-78. ... The Devils earned their 24th comeback win of the season, the most in Devils/Rockies/Kansas City Scouts history. ... Hughes is the first Devils player with 40 goals in a season since Zach Parise scored 45 in 2008-09. He is eight goals from the Devils record (Brian Gionta, 2005-06).