Devils rally to beat the Rangers in OT
NEWARK, N.J. — Damon Severson scored with 2:13 left in overtime and the New Jersey Devils rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to beat the New York Rangers 4-3 on Saturday. Jack Hughes scored twice to extend his goal-scoring streak to five games and got an assist on Jesper Bratt’s power-play goal as the Devils snapped an 0-7-1 home losing streak.
Severson’s first overtime goal came on a 2-on-1 odd man rush after a Rangers player was knocked down in a collision with a New Jersey player in the Devils’ zone. He beat Igor Shesterkin with a wrist shot in ending the Rangers’ three-game winning streak.
Jimmy Vesey, Julien Gauthier and Chris Kreider scored for New York. Shesterkin finished with 40 saves.
Vitek Vanecek finished with 31 saves for New Jersey.
Trailing 3-1 in the third period, Bratt scored on a power play at 8:28 to cut the lead to a goal and Hughes tied it with his 26th of the season on a rebound.
Blue Jackets 4, Hurricanes 3 (SO):
Kirill Marchenko recorded his first career hat trick and scored in a shootout to lift Columbus over Carolina in a matchup of the Metropolitan Division’s best and worst teams. Carolina, which sits atop the division, has now lost three straight. Patrik Laine scored in the shootout, and Kent Johnson added the shootout gamewinner and two assists for the Blue Jackets, who won for just the second time in their last 11 games. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 39 shots. Max Pacioretty had two goals and Brady
Skjei scored on the power play for Carolina. Antti Raanta stopped 15 shots in his first loss since Nov. 17.
Note: Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson are finally ready to return for the Washington Capitals. The team said Saturday that Backstrom and Wilson are being activated off injured reserve to make their respective season debuts. The playmaking center and power winger are expected to play Sunday when the Capitals host the Columbus Blue Jackets.