Devils Collapse Late as Flames Mount Comeback

Published: Thursday, March 20, 2025

by Kyle Ferreira

NEWARK, N.J. – The New Jersey Devils (37-27-6) hurt their playoff chances with a 5-3 loss to the Calgary Flames (32-25-11) on Thursday night. 

Riding a stretch of four wins in their last five games, the Devils looked to capitalize in the first game of a three-game homestand. With the Eastern Conference playoff race tightening, New Jersey needed to maintain its strong play against Calgary. 

From the start, physicality was evident from both squads. In the teams’ previous meeting, the Flames’ Ryan Lomberg broke the Devils’ Nate Bastian’s jaw in a fight. With that incident still fresh, hits and penalties were a major theme in the first period.

With 14:55 left in the first, Timo Meier was called for boarding after a big hit on Joel Hanley. Tomas Tatar took an interference penalty at 7:24, but the Devils killed both, backed by their third-ranked PK (82.7%).

After killing off several Flames chances, the Devils struck first. With 2:51 left in the first, captain Nico Hischier beat goalie Dustin Wolf for a 1-0 lead. The goal was first credited to Timo Meier before a review gave it to Hischier.

The second period provided similar thrills. Erik Haula notched his seventh goal of the season with a wrist shot to make it 2-0 Devils with 14:35 remaining. The puck deflected off former Devil Kevin Bahl before entering the net.

However, the Devils' penalty kill unit had to make two more appearances in the period. They were unable to prevent a goal, as Matt Coronato scored on the Flames’ power play with 8:02 left to make it 2-1.

Given the high volume of shots from New Jersey, the Devils eventually broke through again late in the period. With 28 seconds remaining, Paul Cotter beat Wolf to extend the lead to 3-1.

The third period for the Devils was ultimately about trying to withstand a comeback push from Calgary. However, with 13:10 remaining, the Flames’ Connor Zary made it 3-2. The Devils’ discipline issues returned when Jesper Bratt was called for tripping a few seconds later.

It went downhill from there for New Jersey, as Calgary kicked into high gear. In a span of four minutes and 20 seconds, Daniil Miromanov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri each scored, silencing the home crowd. The Flames won 5-3, sweeping the season series.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe expressed his displeasure with how his team performed.

"Just didn’t look comfortable in the third at all,” Keefe said.

When asked what it would take to make his team comfortable, he said, “It’s really hard to say. It’s caught me off guard, quite honestly. This hasn’t been an issue for us all season long.”

The Devils return to the ice Saturday to face the Ottawa Senators, a potential playoff team, as they look to keep their own postseason hopes alive.

Kyle Ferreira can be reached at kyle.ferreira@student.shu.edu. 

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