On Tuesday night, Nico Hischier scored twice to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.
Timo Meier and Jack Hughes also scored, and Nico Daws made 30 saves for the Devils, who have won back-to-back games on consecutive nights.
“I think we got what we deserved,” said Devils coach Lindy Ruff. “We played hard, created the chances we wanted, and got the two points we needed.”
Ryan O’Reilly and Tommy Novak scored for Nashville, while Juuse Saros made 42 saves. Roman Josi and Cody Glass each contributed two assists. The Predators have now lost four of their last five games.
“It was a leaky game all night,” said Predators coach Andrew Brunette. “The only reason the score was close was because Saros played unbelievable. They were more desperate and had more energy than us, even though they played the night before. It was extremely disappointing.”
With time winding down in the third period, Meier tapped in the winning goal after a goalmouth scramble with 5:15 remaining.
“We knew we had to be patient and win battles in front of the net,” Meier said. “Get there, and you’ll get a greasy one like we did. It was a great effort to get those two points.”
Glass had an opportunity to tie the game with 1:34 remaining, but Devils forward Curtis Lazar deflected the shot away with his stick.
“They play with speed and wanted it more, beating us to pucks and outmuscling us,” Glass said. “That was unacceptable.”
O’Reilly scored at 4:04 of the first period, redirecting a Glass shot past Daws for his team-leading 12th power-play goal.
After going five games without a power-play goal, the Predators have scored three in their last two games.
Hughes tied the game at 1:30 of the second period with a tough-angle wrist shot from the right side that beat Saros high to the far side, his second goal in as many games.
Nashville regained the lead at 7:01 of the second period when Novak took a pass from Josi, went in on a partial breakaway, and snapped a wrist shot high to Daws’ glove side.
Hischier tied it again at 2:16 of the third period, tipping Jesper Bratt’s shot past Saros. He added an empty-net goal in the final minute of the game.
UP NEXT
- Devils: Host Los Angeles on Thursday.
- Predators: Host Dallas on Thursday.
