Devils Surge Late to Beat Predators 4-2
Steve Roberts-Imagn Images Despite letting a two-goal lead slip early, the New Jersey Devils fought through adversity to defeat the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Thursday night. The Devils opened the scoring on the road with goals initially credited to Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt , but were later reattributed to Bratt (for the first goal) and Nico Hischier , respectively. The Predators fought back in the second period with goals from Reid Schaefer and Steven Stamkos.
Hischier added another late in the third period, a deflection on a shot by Hughes to restore New Jersey’s lead. Timo Meier converted an empty netter in the game’s final minute to secure the win. Jacob Markstrom got the start in goal for New Jersey after consecutive games sitting on the bench behind Jake Allen.
With the win, Markstrom moved to 22-16-1 on the year. Justus Annunen played between the pipes, moving to 8-10-2 on the year after the defeat. Arseny Gritsyuk drew out of the lineup for the Devils after sustaining an injury late in their previous game vs the Dallas Stars .
Evgenii Dadonov took his spot on New Jersey’s third line. First Period The Devils came out of the gate flying, outshooting the Predators 4-0 through the game’s first five minutes. Annunen held strong through the early portions of the game and Nashville subsequently grew its way into the contest.
However, Markstrom and the Devils were able to ward off onslaughts through the middle and end of the period. That defensive resilience opened the door for New Jersey to grab the lead before the end of the opening frame. The Connor Brown – Hughes – Bratt line continued to be fruitful, with Hughes firing off a shot that Bratt deflected past Annunen for his 19th goal of the campaign.