Ducks Down Devils in SoCal | GAME STORY

ANAHEIM, CA - The New Jersey Devils had an opportunity to tighten the gap between themselves and the Philadelphia Flyers in the Metropolitan Division standings to just three points if they could post a victory in Anaheim on Friday night.

Instead of taking advantage, the Devils are left with a lot of question marks to deal with after losing to the Ducks 4-3.

"We've got to take it in our game that we're fighting for our lives," Timo Meier said post-game, "We've got to go into every battle wanting to win it."

It certainly wasn't for a lack of trying, managing 54 shots on Anaheim's Lukas Dostal, including coming out with a real sense of urgency in the final period with 21 shots.

"We had tons of chances but just gave up too much again," captain Nico Hischier said, "We should win that game 3-1, 3-2."

The Ducks opened the scoring at 3:37 of the first period, a situation the Devils are unfortunately familiar with, conceding the first goal of the game with the 44th time this season. Twice the Devils would be forced to tie up the game with goals from Timo Meier and Jack Hughes, but it was the Ducks who capitalized on their limited to chances to defeat the Devils 4-3.

"As quick as we had to put away the win (against San Jose), we've got to put this one away and move on," head coach Lindy Ruff said post-game.

Adam Henrique's wrap-around goal at 18:15 of the first period broke a 1-1 tie, erasing Meier's game-tying goal, while Hughes' second-period power play 2-2 tying goal was wiped away by Frank Vatrano's second goal of the night at 17:08 of the second.

Tyler Toffoli's power play goal with 2:57 to play brought the Devils within one. Toffoli's 26th of the season brought the scoreline to 4-3.

The biggest moment of drama came with less than three seconds to play in the game. With the Devils net empty and an extra player on the ice, New Jersey was pressing for the game-tying goal before Anaheim's Frank Vatrano deliberately pushed the net off it's moorings. The Devils were awarded a penalty shot which Jack Hughes was elected to take. Hughes went in on Dostal and perhaps took one too many moves, losing the puck on his backhand and unable to retrieve it to get a shot off.

"Just not a good play by me," Hughes said post-game.

The Ducks managed four goals on just 14 shots on Nico Daws, who was replaced by Akira Schmid to start the third period. New Jersey had 54 shots on Dostal.

Here are some observations from the game:

• It's one thing to be outshooting an opponent in a period but it's another to make those shots count. The first period in Anaheim was a prime example with New Jersey outshooting the Ducks by a wide margin - 19 to 7 - but the Ducks exited the first period with the 2-1 lead. Lukas Dostal, the Ducks goaltender, so rarely had his view impeded by bodies and traffic in front of him.

The trend continued throughout the game with the Ducks taking a 3-1 lead in the second period on their 13th shot of the game. 

The Devils totaled 54 shots on Dostal and had just three goals to show for it by the end of the 60 minutes. 

“Disappointing," Hischier said, "Got to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net. We had tons of chances, but just gave up too much again.”

• Jack Hughes's power play goal was the perfect example of taking away Dostal's eyes and capitalizing. Tyler Toffoli was parked in front of the Ducks goaltender during a second period powerplay, impeding his vision and unable to react fast enough to Hughes' quick wrister.

“Their goalie made some good saves, but it’s on us to get more in front, get traffic there and get the loose pucks. We didn’t do that,” Meier said.

The Devils had 54 shots on Dostal with just three goals to show.

• The Devils struggled to finish their checks in a big way against the ultra-physical Ducks. After 40 minutes of play, the Ducks were credited with 25 shots in comparison to New Jersey's four. Alexander Holtz, Colin Miller, Timo Meier and Curtis Lazar all registered a hit each, while the Ducks had five players with three or more hits through 40 minutes.

• Jack Hughes was leveled by Radko Gudas in the first period, with the Anaheim defenseman throwing a hip check on Hughes who was gliding through the middle of the ice with the puck on his stick. The check sent Hughes to the ice and was followed by Curtis Lazar taking exception and immediately jumped to Hughes's defense. Lazar was handed 2 minutes for instigating, 5 minutes for fighting, and 10 minute misconduct.

• Meier has five points in the past three games as well as a goal taken off the board in San Jose with the play deemed off-side. He finished the night with a season-high eight shots on net.

• For the first time since Jan. 17 against Montreal, the Devils had two power play goals in a single game.