Tuesday night, March 4th, the New Jersey Devils (33-23-6) experienced heartbreak on a tough 4-3 loss against the Dallas Stars (39-19-2). This loss solidified that the Devils had lost their season series to the Stars.
The first period would come to be immediately frustrating for New Jersey, as only 1 minute into the game Wyatt Johnston (22) would get the puck past Devils goaltender, Jacob Markstrom. Johnston’s goal would be unassisted and he’d give Dallas a 1-0 lead early on in the game. The goal would light a fire under both teams as the battles for the puck would only become more aggressive, but time would run out quickly and regulation would end with a score of 1-0 Dallas with Johnston being the lone scorer of the first period.
The second period would start uneventfully for both teams, as players on either team would have no luck in getting past Jacob Markstrom or Dallas’s own Casey Desmith. The luck that had been hiding would soon reveal itself to the Stars though as Ilya Lyubushkin (1) would score from Jason Robertson (36) and Roope Hintz (24) to extend Dallas’s lead to 2-0 on New Jersey.
The Devil’s would respond back almost instantly though as Timo Meier (17) would cash in on the power-play and score to put New Jersey in a deficit of one. He’d be assisted by Nico Hischier (23) and Luke Hughes (22), the score would become 2-1. Roope Hintz (25) would then grab one more goal for the Star’s with 13 seconds left in the second period to give Dallas a 2 goal lead once again. Hintz would be assisted by Wyatt Johnston (35) and Thomas Marley (26) and the score would be 3-1 Dallas to end to the period.
The third period commenced and it would be quiet for a while, until Nico Hischier (26) was able to tip one in on the power-play to make the score 2-3 Dallas. The Devils would start to wake up then and Brett Pesce (2) would score on a delayed penalty to tie the game late in the third period at 3-3. New Jersey’s hope to make it to overtime would be crushed then as with 3 seconds left in the game Thomas Harley (11) would take a wrist shot and score from Jason Robertson (37) and Roope Hintz (25) to give Dallas the lead and soon the win with a score of 4-3.
Jacob Markstrom would be one of the positives in this close game as even though it was only his 2nd game back from injury, he played great and did whatever he could to keep the Devils in the game.
The New Jersey Devils will return home to the Prudential center Friday night, March 7, at 7 PM to play the Winnipeg Jets.
