Game Preview #71: Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils

Following a third-period collapse against the Calgary Flames, the New Jersey Devils will try to play a full 60 minutes against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Check out the matchup in this game preview.

The Essentials

Matchup: Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils

Date: March 22nd, 2025

Time: 7:00 PM ET

Broadcast: MSGSN, MSGSN2, SN1, TVAS2, ESPN+

Listen: Devils Hockey Network

The Last Devils Game: The Devils took on the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. In the first period, the Devils killed off a couple of penalties, and Nico Hischier, driving hard to the net, scored with the assistance of Timo Meier whacking away at Calgary’s goaltender. The second period also started fine when Erik Haula’s wayward shot took a favorable bounce off Kevin Bahl and into the net. New Jersey allowed a power-play goal near the midway point of the second, but Paul Cotter tucked one home in the final minute of play for a 3-1 lead. Disaster struck in the third period, however, when the Devils allowed four goals (counting an empty-netter), including two goals within a minute. The Devils got caved in again in the third to lose 5-3. Check out Chris’ recap if you’d like to relive a frustrating game.

The Last Senators Game: Ottawa also had a rough outing Thursday, losing to the Colorado Avalanche 5-1. Unlike the Devils, the Senators got stomped on right out of the gate, allowing four goals in the first period. Ottawa recorded 16 shots during the entire game. Meanwhile, the Avalanche tallied nearly that many in that first period alone. Colorado scored twice on the power play, and newcomer Brock Nelson scored twice on the way to an easy victory. If you’d like to learn more about this game, check out NHL.com’s Gamecenter.

The Last Time: The Devils last played the Sens on January 19th and were defeated 2-1. New Jersey was struggling following the Christmas break and was dealing with an illness making its way through the locker room. The Devils had a solid first period, tallying 16 shots, but had nothing to show for it. The second period, which has typically been a strong period for the Devils this season, was a struggle against the Sens. New Jersey only recorded three measly shots in the third and ten total in the latter two periods. Tomas Tatar scored to tie the game in the second period, but Artem Zub fired home the game-winner against Jacob Markstrom in the third. If you’d like to refresh your memory regarding the last game against the Senators, check out Jackson’s game recap. New Jersey’s season series against Ottawa is tied at one win a piece.

Recent Momentum: The Senators (36-27-5) had been hot, winning six straight games in early to mid-March, but have now lost two in a row. The Sens will be looking to right the ship against the Devils. Outside of a stinker against Pittsburgh and a bad third period against Columbus, New Jersey (37-27-6) had been getting better results, winning four of their last five before Thursday. Another brutal third-period collapse and loss to Calgary, following a bad third period against Columbus, has shown there is a lot to clean up.

Lineups

New Jersey Devils

The Devils sent out the following lines against Calgary. Head coach Sheldon Keefe is still searching for the right line combinations to roll all four lines. More on that below.

With Jacob Markstrom still trying to find his game, I’d expect Jake Allen to be the starting goalie on Saturday.

Ottawa Senators

The Senators deployed the following lines and pairings in practice on Friday morning.

Linus Ullmark has been the starting goalie in their last four games, so Anton Forsberg is projected to start against the Devils.

What to Watch For

Familiar Additions

At the trade deadline, the Senators added a couple of players that the Devils are familiar with. As the People Who Matter probably noticed in TSN1200’s post on X, former Devil Fabian Zetterlund was acquired by Ottawa and is getting reps on the top line with Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle. Zetterlund has 17 goals this season and has not yet recorded a point with Ottawa.

The Senators also added Dylan Cozens from the Buffalo Sabres. Cozens is slated to center the second line with Drake Batherson and David Perron. Cozens has tallied 14 goals and 37 points this season and has fit in well in Ottawa. Since the trade, Cozens has been one of the hotter Senators, posting six points, including three goals, in the last seven games. Aside from the known threats like Stutzle and Tkachuk, the Devils will need to keep a close eye on the revamped second with Batherson, who is second on the team in points. Batherson has also been racking up points, recording three goals and six points in the last five games. The Devils will have to keep an eye on both forwards and Ottawa’s revamped second line.

Playoff Positioning

Ottawa will be motivated to get back in the win column amid a tight playoff race. The Senators are just three points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. With 77 points, Ottawa is only five points ahead of both the New York teams.

Despite the disastrous loss on Thursday, the Devils playoff position remains essentially the same, trailing the Hurricanes by eight points. New Jersey is still eight points ahead of the Rangers and Islanders for third in the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders will have their turn against the Flames on Saturday, while the Rangers will face the Canucks.

Let’s See a Full 60!

The Devils were up 2-0 against the Blue Jackets and got torched in the third period but held on to win. New Jersey was up 3-1, entering the third against Calgary, and got lit up again. Missing the talent they are, the Devils cannot circle the wagons and hope for the best when they have a lead. New Jersey gave up 14 high-danger chances in the third period against Columbus. 14! They gave up five in the third period versus the Flames. In those two third periods combined, the Devils tallied TWO high-danger chances of their own. They have been outshot 39 to seven in the third periods of those two games. Taking leads into the third is exactly where this team wants to be, but they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas. Let’s see a complete game effort tonight. Please.

Search for the Right Line Combinations

Head coach Sheldon Keefe is still tinkering with the line combinations, particularly where to utilize Jesper Bratt. In the last three games Bratt has been on lines with Cody Glass and Daniel Sprong (against Pittsburgh), Glass and Haula (against Columbus), and Dawson Mercer and Tomas Tatar (against Calgary). Bratt’s lines have had Corsi For Percentages (CF%) of 50 or higher when paired with Glass. During the broadcast on Thursday night, Bill Spaulding and Ken Daneyko spoke about how quickly Glass has picked up Keefe’s system, which explains why he has had success in his short stint with the Devils thus far. Glass and Bratt had good chemistry in the two games they played together and that may be because Glass was reliably in the correct position to work with Bratt. I’d keep those two together.

So, who fills in on the wing? Keefe has said he likes how Mercer plays as a center so that rules him out, leaving Erik Haula and Daniel Sprong – or a new addition. I wouldn’t mind giving Paul Cotter a shot in that role. Cotter has shown he can put the puck in the net (15 goals this season) more so than Haula (7) or someone like Tomas Tatar (6). If they could get Sprong’s shot going, it would be great, but that is a lot to ask from a player who hasn’t seen a ton of NHL action this season. It will be interesting to see what moves Keefe implements to optimize all four lines going into Saturday’s game and the playoffs.

Your Thoughts

What adjustments to the lines would you make if you were Sheldon Keefe? Will the Devils play a full 60 minutes? What do you make of the Senators’ additions at the trade deadline compared to the Devils? Let us know in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!