Devils Give Up Late Equalizer, Fall to Vancouver in Shootout, 4-3

Published: Monday, March 24, 2025

by Lauren Reese

NEWARK, N.J. - The New Jersey Devils (37-28-7) lost 4-3 to the Vancouver Canucks (33-26-12) in a shootout on Monday night at the Prudential Center. 

The Devils’ came into tonight’s matchup on a two-game losing streak, following a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators and a 5-3 loss to the Calgary Flames. Additionally, both losses happened at The Rock; NJD was desperate to rewrite their narrative in Brick City, but unfortunately were not successful. 

The first five minutes of action in the first were predominantly in the Devils’ attacking zone, yet both teams played at a slow tempo. Only four shots total commenced within the first eight minutes.

However, the Canucks slowly applied more offensive pressure and broke through about ten minutes in. Pius Sutter connected on a one-timer, with the assist coming from Marcus Pettersson. 

Vancouver found themselves in a power play with about five minutes left in the first, as Johnathan Kovacevic went to the box for high-sticking. Yet NJD’s defense locked down and prevented any damage. The rest of the first period played out relatively calm, but New Jersey went into the break down 1-0, yet ahead 7-5 in shots. 

The second period began with both teams testing the offensive waters, each knocking down some quick shots from all over the ice. The Devils got their first power play with 15 minutes left as Vancouver had too many men on the ice. Timo Meier and Tomas Tatar both had great shots on goal just as the play was winding up, but the Canucks held their own and shut out the play.

But another power play would soon follow shortly after, as five minutes later Vancouver’s Teddy Blueger went to the box for tripping. This time, the Devils would cause some chaos. 

Timo Meier was able to connect on his 21st goal of the season with a wrist shot from the right side of the goal. Dawson Mercer and Jesper Bratt assisted on the play, and the Devils found themselves back in the game with eight minutes left in the second period.

The rest of the period did not see too many serious scoring threats until the last minute from both sides. As the second intermission began, the two teams went into the break even at one.

The third period would kickstart the chaos for the rest of this matchup. The Devils opened up the period with multiple chances right in front of the goal, but to no avail. With about 14 minutes left, Johnathan Kovacevic went to the box to give Vancouver another power play. But the opposing side could not connect, despite two players breaking their sticks within the duration of it. 

Specifically the last ten minutes, both offenses came to life. With nine minutes left to play, Meier once again found the back of the net on a snapshot, with Brenden Dillon and Nico Hischier getting the assists. However, just 45 seconds later, Vancouver’s Jonathan Lekkerimaki leveled the score at two on a snapshot of his own. 

Yet the Devils spiked within their offensive intensity once again, with Eric Haula leading the charge. A backhand shot of his put NJD up 3-2 less than two minutes after Lekkerimaki’s equalizer. But once again, after pulling their goaltender to bring the extra man up the ice, Vancouver tied it with a goal from Conor Garland. It was on to overtime.

Within the five minutes of overtime, both teams amassed various chances while constantly rotating lineups. Shots were off the mark, clanging off the posts, as well as saved by the respective goaltenders. Nobody could capitalize, and it was then quickly onto the shootout.

While Paul Cotter and Meier missed their shots, Jesper Bratt’s shot was successful in between the two’s previous misses. Additionally, Jacob Markstrom held down the fort for two saves, evening the score 1-1 before heading into the one-and-done shots. Luke Hughes was unable to convert on his, and Lekkerimaki stepped up and delivered the win for Vancouver. 

"We're disappointed we don't get two points, but I thought a lot of good things in the game in the game that are important for us, we just gotta clean up those mistakes"

It's the time of the year starting to expose some different things in our game, and now we have to get right... we're making mistakes and things that have been slipping on us, it's going to cost us some points. It is what it is, and we have to find a solution." - Head Coach Sheldon Keefe on the team's performance today.

The Devils will now turn their attention to March 26, when they travel out to the United Center in Chicago, Illinois to take on the Chicago Blackhawks.

Lauren Reese is an Assistant Sports Director and Web Editor and can be reached at lauren.reese@student.shu.edu.

 

Posted in: sports,