The New Jersey Devils headed into Ottawa on Tuesday night in desperate need of a victory. In a gutsy effort, they finally snapped their five-game skid with a 4-3 victory.
Related: Devils Snap Losing Streak With 4-3 Victory Over Senators
A Much-Needed Jacob Markstrom Bounce Back
Following a recent loss against the Vegas Golden Knights, frustration boiled over for netminder Jacob Markstrom, who was super hard on himself: “I’ve gotta be better…[I could’ve stopped] all of them,” he said. “It’s frustrating…I’m a goalie. That’s my job [to stop pucks].”
Tonight, he got off to a rough start, giving up three goals in the first ~30 minutes of play. However, it was hard to fault him entirely: all three goals were on the Senators’ man advantage. He bounced back — big-time — stopping the remaining 24 shots he faced. He finished the contest with a .921 save percentage (SV%).
At 5v5, Markstrom stopped +2.94 goals above expected (via Natural Stat Trick). While his total numbers on the season certainly aren’t pretty, he has an .899 SV% over his last six starts. The league average is .898%.
Markstrom is certainly capable of more overall, but a night like tonight showed that he’s still got it. He can certainly build off this victory.
Adequate Depth Scoring
It’s no secret that the Devils have mightily struggled to score goals. Tonight, it appeared the third line of Arseny Gritsyuk, Cody Glass and Connor Brown took that personally.
The trio combined for three goals while holding the Senators without a single scoring chance — let alone a goal. In their 8:30 of 5v5 ice time, they also led in shot attempts (10-4) and shots on goal (7-1), in addition to scoring chances (5-0) and high danger chances (3-0). The Senators generated just 0.03 expected goals. That’s pure dominance.
The only goal that wasn’t started by that line was a Paul Cotter breakaway goal. After scoring a career-high 16 goals last season, that was just his third of the 2025-26 campaign — and second in a 23-game span. If he can get going, that would be great for the Devils’ depth scoring.
Special Teams Woes
Earlier in the season, the Devils’ penalty kill (PK) found instant success despite the team taking way too many penalties. Since then, they were successfully able to cut down on minor penalties taken…but their PK has struggled to get back in a groove.
They gave up a goal on all three opportunities the Senators had tonight. Since Nov. 29, their penalty kill is clicking at a 50% clip — 31st in the league during that span.
Multiple times, as the MSG broadcast pointed out, the goals against were caused by self-inflicted errors. There have been far too many failed clearances during this stretch.
Their power play has mightily struggled as well. They have not scored a single power play goal in their last four games, often looking entirely disjointed. While it was big to get back in the win column, this is an area they need certain improvement in.
Honorable Mention: First Goal Allowed
The Devils gave up the first goal of the game tonight and won, moving them to 6-11-0 when conceding first. When they do score first, they’re 11-2-1. It would really benefit them to get off to quicker starts — they’ve allowed the first tally in four straight contests. Nonetheless, they’ll certainly take the two points tonight.
Moving Forward
The Devils — now 17-12-1 — will return back home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night (7:00 PM EST).
