Schwei's Devils Notes: Overtime Becoming Old Hat
By John Schweibacher
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The New Jersey Devils' six-game road winless streak came to an end with a comeback victory Saturday, and just like half of their games this season, it was decided after 60 minutes of play.
The Devils trailed the Predators 4-1 after two periods but rallied for a 5-4 overtime win Saturday afternoon in Nashville. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time in club history the Devils won a road game in which they trailed by three goals in the third period.
The last time New Jersey rallied to win a home game they trailed by at least three goals was on Oct. 12, 2006, at the Meadowlands, a 7-6 shootout victory against the Maple Leafs after Toronto led 6-3 heading into the third period.
The Devils are now 3-2 all-time against the Predators in games decided in overtime:
• 12/3/16: NJD 5 at Nashville 4 (Mike Cammalleri game-winning goal)
• 3/3/16: NJD 5 at Nashville 4 (Adam Henrique)
• 1/31/14: NJD 2 at Nashville 3 (Shea Weber)
• 10/18/02: Nashville 2 at NJD 3 (Patrik Elias)
• 1/30/99: Nashville 3 at NJD 2 (Sebastien Bordeleau)
On Thursday, Travis Zajac notched the second hat trick of his NHL career when he scored all three goals for the Devils in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Blackhawks in Chicago.
The only other Devils player to score three goals in a game against the Blackhawks was Claude Lemieux, who had the hat trick in a 6-5 overtime win at Chicago Stadium on Oct. 22, 1992.
Zajac is the sixth New Jersey Devil (seventh overall) to account for all three of the team's goals scored in a game:
• 1/07/88: Kirk Muller, Vancouver 6 at Devils 3
• 12/29/91:Peter Stastny, Washington 4 at Devils 3
• 3/24/98: Randy McKay, Philadelphia 2 at Devils 3
• 12/23/99: Scott Gomez, Devils 3 at Rangers 3 (OT)
• 11/9/01: Patrik Elias, Toronto 2 at Devils 3 (OT)
• 12/31/05: Scott Gomez, Toronto 6 at Devils 3
• 12/1/16: Travis Zajac, Devils 3 at Chicago 4 (OT)
Marian Hossa's third overtime goal of the season gave the Chicago Blackhawks the victory against the Devils. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 37-year-old Hossa is the first player in NHL history to score three overtime goals in one season at age 37 or older.
Here are the oldest players to score a regular season overtime goal against the New Jersey Devils according to the player game finder at Hockey-reference.com:
• 3/5/04: Dave Andreychuk (40 years, 158 days), NJD 2 at TB 3
• 1/2/12: Daniel Alfredsson (39 years, 22 days), NJD 2 at Ott 3
• 12/9/07: Brendan Shanahan (38 years, 320 days), NJD 0 at NYR 1
• 3/23/06: Peter Bondra (38 years, 44 days), NJD 5 at Atl 6
• 12/1/16: Marian Hossa (37 years, 324 days), NJD 3 at Chicago 4
New Jersey has played the most overtime/shootout games of any team in the NHL, with 12 of its 24 games so far this season having been decided after regulation.
Most OT/shootout games in the NHL this season:
• New Jersey, 12 (4-5 OT, 2-1 shootout)
• Chicago 10, (5-2 OT, 2-1 shootout)
• Florida 10, (5-1 OT, 2-2 shootout)
• Vancouver 9, (4-1 OT, 3-1 shootout)
On Tuesday night, the Devils lost to the Jets, 3-2, in Winnipeg. Miles Wood scored the first goal of his NHL career in the loss. Wood is the third player in club history to score his first career goal against the Jets/Thrashers franchise. Rob Skrlac scored his first and only NHL goal in a 3-0 Devils win at Atlanta on Dec. 18, 2003, and Niclas Bergfors scored his first NHL goal in a 6-1 win over the Thrashers in New Jersey on November 1st, 2008.
Two Devils players scored their first NHL goals against the old Winnipeg Jets, prior to that club's move to Phoenix; Denis Pederson and Jason Smith, who both scored their first career goals in the same game; a 4-1 win over the Jets at the Meadowlands on Oct. 12, 1995.
Plus/Minus:
Plus: Mike Cammalleri. After starting the season with no goals and three assists in his first 10 games, the Devils forward has nine goals and five assists in his last eight games.
Minus: Goals Against. New Jersey has given up at least three goals in nine straight games, its longest such streak since allowing three or more in 12 consecutive games in January 1988.
