Hischier’s overtime goal lifts Devils past Senators 4-3

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nico Hischier scored his second goal of the game on a power play at 4:27 of overtime and lifted New Jersey past the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Thursday night, extending the Devils’ winning streak to eight games.

Miles Wood and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Devils, who have the best record in the Metropolitan Division at 11-3-0.

“I tried to just get out of the way, but I guess it just hit me a bit and went in,” Hischier said of his winning goal assisted by Dougie Hamilton and Jack Hughes. “The crowd went nuts and it’s just fun to play like that.”

Shane Pinto scored twice and Travis Hamonic added a goal for Ottawa. The Senators continued their road struggles, losing for the fifth time in five away games. Ottawa has won only four of 13 games overall.

Both teams had power-play chances in overtime, but the Devils managed to kill of Ottawa’s two-minute chance.

“To have a chance like that in overtime and not get it done, it’s frustrating.” Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said.

Devils goalie Vitek Vanecek made 18 saves before he was replaced by backup Akira Schmid midway through the third period with game tied at 3. Vanecek collided with Chabot late in the second. Chabot was whistled for interference on the play. Schmid made seven saves in relief, including five in overtime for his first NHL win.

“You never want to go in like this and see your teammate get hurt but you just got to be ready for moments like this,” Schmid said.

Anton Forsberg had 37 saves in the loss.

Wood notched his sixth goal of the season at 2:53 of the second, giving the Devils a 3-2 lead.

The Devils dominated the second period, outshooting the Senators 21-7.

Devils coach Lindy Ruff praised the fortitude of his team in front of Schmid, a 22-year-old goaltender from Switzerland selected in the fifth round of the 2018 draft.

“I think our team understands that we’ve got a goaltender coming in cold. If he’s going to face something, let’s make sure he’s facing what we feel are warmup shots,” Ruff said. “He made a couple tough ones in the overtime for us.”

Ruff added he was confident that Vanecek was not seriously hurt.

The Senators struck quickly in the third when Pinto scored his second of the game and team-leading eighth of the season at 1:29. The 21-year-old forward from Franklin Square on Long Island said he had about 40 family and friends at the game.

Both teams had scored twice in the first.

Tatar put the Devils ahead at 4:44 with his second before Pinto and Hamonic scored just over a minute apart to give the Senators a 2-1 lead.

Pinto scored his seventh on the power play at 12:15 with assists to Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson. Hamonic followed with his second at 13:24 when his long shot from just inside the blueline eluded Vanecek.

Hischier tied the game again at 18:06 of the first, well before his overtime heroics ensued. The Devils captain leads the team with eight goals.

BRODEUR PROMOTED

Former Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was named executive vice president of hockey operations earlier Thursday, The Hall-of-Fame netminder has been an executive vice president/adviser to General Manager Tom Fitzgerald since January 2020.

NOTES: The Devils were without injured forward Ondrej Palat (groin surgery) and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood … The Devils also scratched forward Alexander Holtz and defenseman Kevin Bahl … The Senators scratched defenseman Nikita Zaitsev and center Dylan Gambrell.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.

Senators: At Philadelphia on Saturday.

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