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Hischier scores first NHL goal, Moore scores in OT as Devils beat Senators

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OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators blew a chance to earn two points on Thursday.

John Moore scored the winner at 1:20 of overtime to cap the comeback and the Senators were forced to settle for a single point, losing 5-4 to the New Jersey Devils Thursday night.

"Puck management from our defensive zone and neutral zone cost us in the end," said Senators coach Guy Boucher. "This is the stuff we need to clean up at the beginning of the year. We've just got to clean it up for the next games."

The Senators led 4-2 to start third and gave up three unanswered goals to a Devils (6-1-0) team that continues to impress. New Jersey remains unbeaten on the road with a 4-0-0 record.

"There's no quit in here and we were able to regroup and come back with a strong third and get some good bounces to lead us into OT," said Moore.

The Devils' speed and willingness to shoot from anywhere caused problems for the Senators throughout the game.

"They're relentless," Boucher said. "It's pucks on net constantly. They're really good first on puck so they're extremely hard to play against.

"It's too bad because we did a lot of good things in this game."

This year's No. 1 draft pick Nico Hischier scored twice for New Jersey, with his opening goal being the first of his NHL career.

As a young boy Hischier played in the Quebec City Peewee tournament and travelled to Ottawa to watch the Senators play the Edmonton Oilers as he was a big fan of the first overall pick in 2010, Taylor Hall.

Thursday Hischier played on a line with Hall, who assisted on both his goals and had four in total.

"It was a big goal for our team at the moment and a moment I'm sure he'll remember for a long time," said Hall. "It's fun to be a part of those moments, especially with a guy who's going to be in the league as long as he is."

Kyle Palmieri and Marcus Johansson also scored in the third period for the Devils. Cory Schneider allowed four goals on 24 shots before leaving the game with a lower-body injury. Keith Kinkaid started the third period and faced nine shots.

Kyle Turris, Derick Brassard, Alex Burrows and Tom Pyatt scored for the Senators (3-1-3) as Craig Anderson made 41 saves.

The Devils made it a one-goal game early in the third when Palmieri was able to slip behind the Ottawa defence and beat Anderson high after a collision just inside the blue line.

The Devils tied the game with under five minutes remaining when Ottawa's defencemen were caught behind the net leaving Johansson all alone out front.

"When you have a lead by two it's usually the worst lead in hockey and they have nothing to lose and they keep pushing," Brassard said. "At the same time you don't want to take too many chances, but I think it's a good lesson for us that we still have to push in the third even if we're up in the score."

Trailing 2-1 to start the second the Senators came back to lead 4-2 after 40 minutes.

Brassard, pushing hard to the net, tied the game after taking a great feed from Bobby Ryan for his fourth of the season.

The Senators took the lead on Burrows' 200th career goal. Karlsson made an unbelievable pass to Burrows out front to beat Schneider short side.

Ottawa made it 4-2 as Nate Thompson did a great job keeping the puck down low before Pyatt was able to use a little spin to reach for the far side of the net.

The opening period featured three goals in the opening 4:21 as Hischier scored his first two goals of his NHL career, while Turris replied for the Senators on the power play.

Ottawa forward Zack Smith left the game early in the second period and did not return due to an upper-body injury. The Senators will update his status Friday.

Notes: The Senators were without D Mark Borowiecki as he's dealing with an upper-body injury. C Logan Brown played his second game…RW Jimmy Hayes, D Ben Lovejoy and D Mirco Mueller were healthy scratches for the Devils.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press


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