Devils Drop a 4-3 Shootout Decision to Vegas | GAME STORY

LAS VEGAS, NV -- The Devils rallied from two different deficits but fell just short in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night but their efforts gained a valuable point in the standings.
Dawson Mercer, with a goal in his eighth straight game, Jesper Bratt and Miles Wood scored for the Devils.

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The Devils wrap up their road trip on Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes. The game can be seen on MSGSN and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
Devils carried the play for most of the overtime with the best play behind a nice quick pass from Jack Hughes over to Nico Hischier for a quick shot on goal but Vegas goaltender Adin Hill made a big pad stop.
Mercer, Boqvist and Hughes all had great chances but Hill stood tall. Hischier was also robbed on a deke attempt with 44 seconds to go in the extra frame.
In the OT period's dying seconds, Bratt was stopped on a breakaway.
Shots on goal in overtime were 8-0 for the Devils.
Tomas Tatar, Dougie Hamilton and Mercer were all stopped by Hill in the shootout while Jonathan Marchessault, Jack Eichel and Reilly Smith all were unsuccessful for Vegas in the opening round. In sudden death, Bratt was denied but Shea Theodore scored through the five-hole to give Vegas the victory.
"Their goaltender had a tremendous game. I thought they had a pretty good push in the second period. I thought we answered with a really solid third period and overtime. Totally dominated," stated Devils head coach Lindy Ruff. "But he made five or six great saves."
The best scoring chance early on went to the Devils. Nico Hischier got in behind the Golden Knights defense and broke in alone but his deke attempt was stopped by Hill.
"The early breakaway by Nico, I thought four or five really good chances off the bat," Ruff added. "I thought our energy was good and we skated well but their goalie made some good saves."
Devils had a 6-1 edge in shots nearly eight minutes into the game but Vegas scored first. A shot from Brayden McNabb ricocheted off the end boards where it was pounced on by Jonathan Marchessault. He dove for the puck and put it into the open cage past Akira Schmid, who was out of position.
The first penalty of the game went to Brett Howden of Vegas, sending the Devils to the power play and they converted 35 seconds into it.
Jesper Bratt ripped a one-timer from the right face-off circle past Hill to knot the game up at 1-1.
"We won the puck back, made some good plays and just have to be ready when Jack has the puck. Luckily it went in this time," said Bratt.
With 28 seconds to go in the opening frame, Dawson Mercer took advantage of a McNabb turnover and swooped in for a tally, tying the franchise record of eight straight games with a goal.
"Just forechecking there and the D fumbled it," said Mercer. "He stepped back and tried to get it. I saw the opportunity and thought about taking it to the net but it's never a bad idea to shoot the puck and I was happy to see that one go in."
After one period, shots on goal were 17-4 for the Devils.
Vegas started to control the play more in the second period, outshooting the Devils 7-4 in the first half of the middle frame and carrying a noticeable zone time advantage.
At the period's 12:51 mark, Marchessault potted his second of the game to tie the game at 2-2. He picked up a rolling puck and quickly fired it from the hashmarks for the equalizer.
Late in the second, Dougie Hamilton took a slashing penalty to put Vegas on the power play for the first time on the night.
Schmid made a nice stop early in the man advantage on William Karlsson who got in behind the Devils defense. Moments later, he got his left pad over to deny Ivan Barbashev on a close-in one-timer.
With seconds to go in the period, Hill made a nice glove grab on Bratt while sprawled out on the ice to keep the game tied.
Shots on goal in the second period were 14-10 for Vegas; 27-18 overall in the game for New Jersey.
Almost four minutes into the third period, the Golden Knights had a two-on-one. Marchessault fed Jack Eichel who took the pass out of his skates and kicked to his stick before firing it five-hole on Schmid to put Vegas back in front 3-2.
Devils had a power play midway through the third after Michael Amadio took a penalty. On the man advantage, the best chance went to the Golden Knights' Karlsson who had a breakaway. Palat slashed him on the play and he missed the net but he was awarded a penalty shot for his efforts. However, the shot attempt was unsuccessful as Schmid stopped his blast from the hashmarks.
After the penalty expired, Miles Wood jammed the puck in from the top of the crease to tie the game 3-3. Coach Ruff was very impressed with the effort Wood and the fourth line as they got a lot of ice time late.
"It's taken awhile to get his game to where it's had but now we're seeing the best of Miles," he said. "He's getting to the net front, he's in on two or three scoring chances. That line has been solid. Isn't getting scored against. It's been physical. You look at Bastian scoring a couple, what Wood has done, Michael setting up a few plays and the job he did on face-offs in overtime. Size, getting to the inside. It's going to be an important."
Shots on goal in the third were 14-10 for the Devils; 41-28 in favor of New Jersey through 60 minutes.
Here are some observations from the game:
- Mercer's eighth-straight game scoring a goal tied a franchise record set by Paul Gardner in 1977 when the team was playing in Colorado. Gardner scored 11 goals over a span of eight straight games from October 19 to November 5, 1977. A goal in eight consecutive games is tied for 47th in NHL history and if he scores one more, he'll be tied for the 25th longest goal-scoring streak in League history.

"I just want to keep on building and scoring goals offensively and being responsible. It's great to see. I love to score and it's fun. Great to see that one go in tonight," said Mercer.

- In the second period, a puck flew into the Devils bench and hit assistant coach Chris Taylor in the head. He appeared to be all right but had a noticeable mark on the side of his face. - Vegas winger William Carrier did not come out for the second period, missing the rest of the game due to injury. - Wood has now picked up points in three straight games and goals in back-to-back contests. He has two goals and two assists in his last three and three goals, six points in his last six. - Yegor Sharangovich played sparingly after period two with only one shift in the final frame. Jesper Boqvist was moved up to play with Bratt and Hughes. Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula were also used sparingly.