NEWARK - It was a see-saw of emotion for the New Jersey Devils against the Senators on Saturday night.
Down 1-0 after the first period, having conceded a shorthanded goal to Ottawa's Mathieu Joseph, turned into a 2-1 lead less than a minute into the second period. But momentum is a fickle thing because anyone can grab it at any moment. The Senators snatched the energy back.
After Jesper Bratt and Tomas Nosek scored 36 seconds apart in the opening minute of the second period, the Senators responded with three goals in just under five minutes to retake the lead.
"We played some solid hockey in the beginning of the season," Jesper Bratt said, "and then we started to try out dumb stuff, we started going East-to-West instead of North-South and we get away from our game."
The Devils looked like they were fighting the puck most of the night, forced into giveaways, totaling 13, compared to the Senators 7, almost getting in their own way.
"Everything I said the other night about our game that I liked," interim head coach Travis Green started, "we did the opposite tonight. Give (Ottawa) credit, they played well, they've got a lot of skill in their group, they can be very mobile. It didn't look like our team was ready for their speed. Our execution with our passing was not near good enough, recieving passes weren't near good enough."
Jake Allen, making his forth consecutive start, finished the night with 20 saves on 25 shots and the Devils close their three-game homestand with a 2-1-0 record.
Ridly Greig, Angus Crookshank and Thomas Chabot scored the Senators second-period goals.
New Jersey play on Long Island Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m.
"It's all about winning tomorrow," Bratt said, "Get yourself ready mentally, physically, to get the rest you need and be a lot better as a team tomorrow."