Devils defeat Senators 5-3, clinch playoff berth

Associated PressMar 26, 2023, 12:09 AM EDT

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

NEWARK, N.J. — Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist, Mackenzie Blackwood had 25 saves and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-3 and clinched a playoff berth on Saturday night.

“It means everything to the group. I went into the dressing room after the game and just said that I was proud of the work that was put in, proud of where we got to clinch tonight to be one of three teams that have an X next to their name,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “All the work that’s been put in, the adversity they face during the year. The adversity they face right at the start of the season to where we’ve got to now.”

New Jersey could have clinched its first postseason berth since 2018 with a win, but it happened before their first intermission when the Florida Panthers lost to the New York Rangers in regulation.

“I had a lesser role then,” said Jesper Bratt, who was a rookie for the Devils in 2017-18. “I would say at a younger age, it’s kind of like you think that just because it happened your first year that it might happen every year. And then it goes pretty fast with reality that was not the case and you got to work extremely hard for it.

“It’s a really tough league. So this feels really good. It’s been a lot of years with struggle, not winning, and it’s just awesome coming out now playing these kinds of games and getting that.”

Bratt, Dawson Mercer and Dougie Hamilton scored for the Devils and Tomas Tatar scored an empty netter with 42.3 seconds left to put things away.

Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot and Mark Kastelic scored for the Senators and Dylan Ferguson had 30 saves.

Tkachuk scored his 33rd goal of the season to give the Senators the 1-0 lead 3:14 into the first period. The Devils responded midway through the first period with Hughes’ 40th goal of the season on a breakaway, going five-hole to tie it.

Nick Holden gave the puck away and Bratt scored his 31st goal of the season on the breakaway 2:24 into the second period to give New Jersey the 2-1 lead. Mercer’s 23rd of the season came just over a minute later.

The Senators answered midway through the second period when Thomas Chabot scored his 11th goal of the year to cut the deficit to 3-2. They knotted things up 16:03 into the second when Kastelic scored his fifth of the season.

“We were confident going into the third period. We felt like the game was there for our taking,” Travis Hamonic said. “They score on their chance, and that’s game.”

Hamilton scored 3:34 into the third period to give the Devils the lead. His 19th goal breaks the franchise record for goals in a season by a defenseman, surpassing Scott Stevens – the Devils great whose number is hanging in the rafters – record of 18 in 1993-94.

NOTES: This was the first game for the Devils backup Blackwood since Feb. 19. … Nico Hischier has a six-game point streak after recording two assists.

UP NEXT

Senators: Host the Florida Panthers on Monday night.

Devils: Play at New York Islanders on Monday night.

Boldy’s goal with 1.3 left in OT lifts Wild over Devils

Associated PressMar 21, 2023, 11:24 PM EDT

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

NEWARK, N.J. – Matt Boldy scored with 1.3 seconds left in overtime and Filip Gustavsson made a career-high 47 saves to give the Minnesota Wild a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

The game was a chippy, defensive struggle. After two scoreless periods, the Devils were outshooting the Wild 22-19.

Minnesota finally broke through 6:41 into the third when Mason Shaw scored his seventh goal of the season on a wraparound.

Timo Meier answered for the Devils five minutes later with his 35th goal of the season on a wraparound of his own.

New Jersey was unable to convert on a late power play, and the teams went to overtime.

It was a back-and-forth five minutes of extra hockey, with both goaltenders making good saves. After Jack Hughes hit the post for the Devils, the puck caromed off a post to Boldy and he beat the buzzer with his 23rd goal of the season.

Vitek Vanecek stopped 27 shots for New Jersey.

NOTES: The Devils are 10-4 in overtime, while the Wild improved to 4-5.

UP NEXT

Wild: Play at Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Devils: Play at Buffalo on Friday night.

Devils acquire Timo Meier in blockbuster trade with Sharks

Associated PressFeb 26, 2023, 11:54 PM EST

Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports

Timo Meier is going to the New Jersey Devils in the latest ante of the high-stakes poker game among Eastern Conference playoff contenders.

Meier joins the Devils after the New York Islanders made a big acquisition, the NHL-leading Boston Bruins got bigger and tougher and the Rangers added one scorer and could get another significantly productive winger before the deadline Friday.

New Jersey sent a 2023 first-round pick, a conditional 2024 first-rounder, forward Andreas Johnsson and prospects Shakir Mukhamadullin, Fabian Zetterlund and Nikita Okhotiuk to San Jose. In return, the Devils got Meier, defenseman Scott Harrington and prospects Timur Ibragimov, Santeri Hatakka and Zach Emond.

“I was just doing what I felt was best for the New Jersey Devils, not reacting because of what the Rangers did or what they may do again or what the Islanders did,” Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said. “When you can add a player like Timo Meier to the lineup that you feel is growing and getting stronger each day, it really puts a smile on my face.”

Meier is under team control for at least the next year. He’s a pending restricted free agent with a $10 million qualifying offer for the 2023-24 season, and Fitzgerald expects to be able to sign Meier long term.

“One thing I am confident in is who we are, what we can sell – our team,” Fitzgerald said. “I do believe New Jersey will sell itself. I think he will love it here. I think he will thoroughly enjoy it and want to stay here. That’s my bet.”

The 26-year-old Swiss winger has 31 goals and 21 assists in 57 games this season. Meier did not fit in with San Jose’s long-term plans.

“There’s realities at play here with the salary cap and the salary structure of our group,” Sharks GM Mike Grier said. “To pay him the money he’s looking for and wanted, it didn’t seem to make sense and to line up where were are kind of headed as a franchise and where we’re at. We don’t want to keep spinning our wheels here. We’re going to try and move this thing forward.”

The opposite is going on in New Jersey, with a team perhaps a half-step ahead of schedule to make the playoffs. The Devils are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, and Meier is joining a young core that includes countryman and captain Nico Hischier.

“Having this new chapter coming my way, it’s definitely very exciting,” Meier said. “I’m just very excited to get this started.”

The Devils are just getting started on their climb in the East. With some cap space left before the deadline Friday, this was undoubtedly their biggest move but might not be their last.

“We’ve been gearing for this for a long time,” Fitzgerald said, referencing New Jersey’s multiyear rebuild. “We have a lot of work to do. This is just part of trying to build success.”

Devils All-Star Jack Hughes out with upper-body injury

Associated PressFeb 10, 2023, 3:16 PM EST

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes has an upper-body injury and is considered week to week.

Coach Lindy Ruff gave the injury update following the Devils morning skate ahead of their home game against the Seattle Kraken. Hughes left practice early.

“He’s a young guy – that’s going to help with it,” Ruff said. “I think it’s going to be on the shorter end.”

The 21-year-old Hughes represented New Jersey at NHL All-Star Weekend and is the biggest reason the the team contending and in a playoff spot for the first time in several seasons. He ranks third in the league in goals with 35 and ninth in points with 67, which is 16 more than the next-closest Devils player.

New Jersey is currently in second in the Metropolitan Division, behind the first-place Carolina Hurricanes and just ahead of the rival New York Rangers. If Hughes is out even two weeks, it would mean he misses eight games.

Devils associate coach Andrew Brunette charged with DUI

Associated PressFeb 1, 2023, 11:21 PM EST

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — New Jersey Devils associate coach and former Florida Panthers head coach Andrew Brunette was arrested in South Florida while driving home from a bar in his golf cart, authorities said.

Brunette, 49, was pulled over just blocks from the ocean in the Deerfield Beach area, north of Fort Lauderdale, according to a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest report. He was charged with one count of driving under the influence and two counts of disobeying a stop or yield sign. Brunette was released on $500 bond.

The Devils said in a statement that the team was aware of Brunette’s arrest and gathering additional information.

According to the arrest report, a deputy was in the process of giving Brunette’s illegally parked golf cart a ticket around midnight when Brunette walked out of a nearby bar and told the deputy he was about to leave. The deputy said Brunette seemed unsteady on his feet and slurred his speech, and when he was joined by his wife, the deputy said he overheard the wife tell Brunette not to drive while the deputy was there.

The deputy remained in the area and reported watching the couple drive away about 17 minutes later, according to the report. The deputy said he watched the golf cart run two stop signs before pulling Brunette over on a residential street about a mile away from his home. According to the report, Brunette had difficulty following instructions during a field sobriety test before eventually quitting and asking for an attorney. He also declined to take a breathe test to measure his blood-alcohol level, officials said.

Online jail and court records didn’t list an attorney for Brunette.

Brunette is in his first season as associate coach of the Devils. He was interim coach of the Florida Panthers last season after taking over when Joel Quenneville resigned for his connection to a 2010 Chicago Blackhawks sexual abuse scandal.

The Panthers fired Brunette after they lost in the second round of the playoffs last spring despite him leading them to the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top team during the regular season.

The Sudbury, Ontario, native played 1,159 NHL games for Washington, Nashville, Atlanta, Minnesota, Colorado and Chicago from 1995-2012. He was a Wild assistant in 2015-16 and worked on Florida’s staff from 2019-2022.