Devils Win Eighth Straight, Hand Sens Their Losing Fate | GAME STORY

The streak lives on for the New Jersey Devils - eight straight wins.
The team needed to overcome some very difficult circumstances when Vitek Vanecek had to leave the game with just over eight minutes to play, a result of the collision by Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot at the end of the second period.
Akira Schmid came in, held down the fort, and in doing so helped back-stop the team to an eighth straight victory - his first ever NHL win - making incredible saves in the overtime period, for the Devils 4-3 win.
It was an unenviable situation for Schmid to skate into, especially with the win streak on the line. He admitted post-game he thought about the streak, but didn't want to vocalize it even post-game.
"I thought about …. I don't even want to say it," Schmid said with a grin after the game. "Obviously you don't expect your first win to be like this, but I'll take it, for sure."
"Schmid stepped in and did an outstanding job," Miles Wood said, "for him to come in the third period like that, he was sitting on the bench all game long, cold, for him to step up like that was outstanding."
The initial thought was that Dougie Hamilton scored the winner in overtime on a power-play, but it was later changed to Nico Hischier who said after the game "I think it hit me somewhere on the pants."
Whatever works!

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Here are some observations from the game...
- Tomas Tatar's goal 'celebration' was more of a massive release of frustration and energy. Tatar has been snake-bit, always so close to scoring, but not being able to finish. Tonight, it was flukey, but he'll take it, scoring the opening goal of the game.

Watch the replay and you will see the scream Tatar lets out after realizing the puck had made its way past Anton Forsberg and into the net. The scream was the most revealing part of the goal, letting out the frustration he must have been carrying with him.

- The goal for Tatar also extended his point-streak to six games, which matched his longest point streak of his career, set first in 2014-15 while with the Detroit Red Wings and against in 2019-20 with the Montreal Canadiens. - Nico Hischier's game-tying 1-1 goal against the Senators was nearly a carbon copy of the goal he scored against the Calgary Flames just two nights ago. Off the rush, Hischier wired one past Forsberg, tying the game after the Sens had erased the Devils' early lead.

Hischier continues to pad his goal-scoring lead among the team with his seventh of the season and is currently riding a six-game point streak.

The Devils are 10-0-0 in games where Hischier has at least a point.

- The second period was dominated by the Devils taking over the area in front of Anton Forsberg's net. Forsberg received little help from his Senators teammates as the Devils planted themselves in front of Forsberg, crashed the crease and eventually made the Senators pay when Miles Wood chipped in a rebound off a Michael McLeod shot, that saw him cut through the blue paint.

Wood's goal was his sixth of the season, good for second in goal-scoring early this season for New Jersey. It also was a product how well the Wood-McLeod-Bastian line works together (and has been for several years). They can play an opponent tough, with their grit, but they can also take a team by surprise with their offensive abilities.

- It was early in the second period, on those shifts where the Senators left their goal to fend for himself, where New Jersey broke open the shot differential. Where the first period was relatively even after the first (11-7 in favor of the Devils), New Jersey poured on the shots in the first six minutes of the second period, while keeping the Senators well away from Vitek Vanecek. After six minutes had ticked off the clock, the shot differential shot up to 25-12 in favor of the Devils. - There was a hold-your-breath moment towards the end of the second period when Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot went crashing through Vanecek's crease, catching him cleanly. Vanecek lay face-down in his crease for several moments and was looked at by the Devils' athletic trainer. In the meantime, Akira Schmid began warming up in case he needed to be called into action. Vanecek eventually made his way back up onto his skates and was able to resume playing. The crowd at Prudential Center encouraged Vanecek on while he was getting back, with chants of Vitek! Vitek!,fans clearly recognize the importance of Vanecek's play this season, his first with New Jersey, and the way he has been able to, along with Mackenzie Blackwood before he was injured, help bring in some stability at the position.

Vanecek would try to gut-out the rest of the game and while he did finish the second period, he left the game in the third with just over eight minutes to play, paving way for Schmid to enter the game in relief.

"It was a group decision," head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game of Vanecek leaving. "(We) talked about it, and we thought the best thing was to get him out."

Ruff had no update on Vanecek after the game, but said he's an optimistic person and isn't concerned about Vanecek, but "we'll see what tomorrow brings." - Erik Haula was a victim of some serious highway robbery, on three incredible chances tonight he was robbed by Forsberg. - 63 games. That's the number of games elapsed between Jack Hughes' last two penalties. He didn't take a single penalty all of the 2021-22 season and was called for his first penalty of this season tonight against the Senators. Hughes last found himself in the penalty box on May 8, 2021 while visiting the New York Islanders.