In St Paul, Nico Hischier‘s goal at 3:19 of extra time gave the New Jersey Devils a come from behind 5-4 win over the Minnesota Wild.
More importantly, the win ended a horrific losing streak dating back to December 2017 for Cory Schneider.
Marcus Johansson had a goal in Devils’ OT win in St Paul – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“Sometimes things happen in a strange way, but I was more excited for our team just to show some mettle and to come back and win a tough game after a tough trip,” Schneider said. “I think it was really important for us, and I thought the guys really dug in and deserved it, so it was nice to see us get rewarded as a group.
“For anybody who knows me, I’m not overly emotional one way or another. I think everyone else was more excited about it than I was. For me, it’s obviously relief, but, you know, it’s my job, it’s what I’m supposed to do. I wish it happened a lot more recently, but it’s good to get it. Everyone in this room’s been awesome with me, just encouraging me and supporting me and keeping me up, so hopefully I can return the favor and just start playing some really good hockey consistently and get some more wins.”
Will Butcher, Marcus Johansson, Kyle Palmieri, and Ben Lovejoy scored for the Devils in regulation who erased a 4-1 deficit with four unanswered goals.
“They weren’t good goals. [Goalie Devan Dubnyk] will be the first one to tell you. … He’s too good a goalie to be allowing that and having his confidence shaken this much. I don’t know what to say,” Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Keith Kinkaid started the game but was pulled after the Wild had taken a 4-1 lead.
Mikael Granlund, Brad Hunt, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Nick Seeler scored for the Wild.
[WATCH: All Devils vs. Wild highlights]
Devan Dubnyk made 23 saves in the loss.
“I think it’s disappointing for all of us,” Dubnyk said. “For me, you’re used to keeping the score as is and keeping the puck out, you keep it 4-1 going into the third and cruise through the third period. But it just seems to be the way it’s going right now, they’re finding their way in. It’s frustrating. We probably deserved four points out of the last two games, and we only got one. Gotta find a way. I don’t know what else to say.”
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