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 The New Jersey Devils winger scored with 31.4 seconds left in
regulation and then added the decisive goal in a 5-4, four-round
shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at
Canadian Tire Centre.
After losing their first three games, the Devils have now played
four straight overtimes, winning their last three.
"We've gotten better every game and almost every day since the start
of training camp," said Stempniak, who has two game winners during
the streak. "Each practice, each pre-season game we got better and
better. There's a lot of people with stuff to prove, new coaches,
new players. (former GM) Lou (Lamoniello) is gone so there's a new
page being turned."
Until Stempniak's heroics, Senators winger Chris Neil was lining up
as the hero, as he celebrated the 900th game of his career with his
first goal, his first assist and his first fight of the season --
completing what is affectionately known as a Gordie Howe hat trick.
"Obviously it would have been nice to get the two points. That's the
biggest thing you want," said Neil. "You want your team to do well.
Individual success doesn't win you championships.
"For me, it's a game I'll never forget."
Centers Travis Zajac and Adam Henrique, and winger Jordin Tootoo
also scored for the Devils.
Centers Mika Zibanejad and Zack Smith, and winger Mike Hoffman had
the other Senators goals.
Hoffman left the game late in the third period with a lower-body
injury, but no further details were released.
Devils goalie Cory Schneider, who made 35 stops, picked up the 100th
victory of his career in what was New Jersey's fourth consecutive
venture beyond 60 minutes..
"I don't know if we would have won these ones in the past couple of
years," said Schneider. "That's something we've been missing a
little bit is the ... I don't know what you call it ... that magic,
the overtime winner, the two goals late to tie it and then win the
game and not lose it. It's been a little absent in our game the last
few years.
"I don't know if you can define it or quantify it, but so far we
have that good feeling that we're never out of any game."
Making his first start of the season, Senators goalie Andrew Hammond
registered 28 saves in the loss.
"He battled. We let him down a little bit with our sloppy play,"
said Senators coach Dave Cameron. "We weren't real sharp. There was
too many opportunities given up on unforced turnovers.
"That changed the momentum for a while early on and caught up to us
at the end."
The Senators have now dropped three in a row, although they have
escaped the last two with a point.
After falling behind 2-1 in the first, they scored the only goal in
the second and added two more before the third was seven minutes
old.
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The 4-2 lead started collapsing when Henrique scored off a turnover
with 5:50 left.
"We handed them that third goal," said Cameron. "You can't give
teams a freebie."
One of the most penalized teams in the league to this point, the
Senators allowed New Jersey two power-play goals on four chances
while scoring on just one of their five -- a spearing major taken by
Devils winger Stephen Gionta late in the second period.
As it turned out, it was all just a warmup for what would be another
Devils overtime.
"We've played well with it and our goaltenders have made some big
stops," Devils coach John Hynes said of OT. "The guys feel
comfortable with it. You have to credit the players. They've done a
good job. They're smart in the 3-on-3 and we've found ways to score
when we've had opportunities."
Schneider also said the Devils are "smart" in OT.
"I don't think we maybe have necessarily the high end skill and
talent other teams do, but we make good defensive plays and
sometimes when you break up an odd-man rush, or get a save everybody
is swinging by the net and take off the other way," he said. "We
pick our spots well."
NOTES: Senators G Andrew Hammond made his first start of the season.
Hammond, who was sidelined for two weeks after suffering a groin
injury during training camp, was the hero of last spring's playoff
run with a 20-1-2 record, a 1.74 goals-against average and a .942
save percentage. ... Devils D Jon Merrill, who missed two games with
the flu, took part in pregame warmups but wound up a healthy
scratch. ... Devils LW Tuomo Ruutu missed his third game with a
lower-body injury but is now listed as day-to-day. ... Senators LW
Clarke MacArthur missed his third game with a concussion and will be
out indefinitely. ... Senators D Marc Methot missed his second game
with a concussion, but barring a setback is expected to return
Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes.
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