Devils End Road Trip with Loss | GAME STORY

DALLAS, TX - The Devils finished their five-game road trip with a 4-3 loss in Dallas at American Airlines Center Tuesday night.

Thomas Harley scored the game-winning goal with just 3.9 seconds left in regulation.

The Devils scored two goals in the third period to tie it late, including getting the game-tying goal from Brett Pesce on a delayed penalty with 4:08 remaining in regulation. Timo Meier and captain Nico Hischier both scored on the power play for New Jersey.

“Sorry for my language, but it (expletive) sucks,” Meier said. “To get a goal four seconds left in the game, it hurts. But I thought we competed unbelievable. We gave it everything. It shows at this time of the year tiny mistakes can cost you a game.

“As much as it hurts, we have to take the good stuff from this game and move on. Next time we’re in this situation we have to remember how important every puck is. It’s no fun. But we have to focus on the next game and move on.”

Wyatt Johnston, Ilya Lyubushkin and Roope Hintz tallied for the Stars in the winning effort.

The Devils lost Dougie Hamilton late in the first period and were forced to play with five defensemen for the final two periods.

“You have to leave here so (angry),” defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “We battled back. It shows the character we have. How much care going down. Tough penalty kills. Guys getting hurt. It would have been so easy for us to roll over and we fought until the end.”

New Jersey finished its season-long five game road trip with a 2-3-0 record. The club will return home after the game.

“Obviously frustration the way we lost tonight,” Meier said. “Take a deep breath and analyze. We can be proud of the way we came back. Analyze what we did wrong. We’re going home. We’re going to win the next game. That’s our focus.”

Here are some observations from the game:

• The Devils played a much better and resilient second period. That was until late in the middle frame when the period – and game – got away from them.

It started with Johnathan Kovacevic taking a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck out over the glass. But 38 seconds later, Luke Hughes took a slashing penalty on Matt Duchene and the Devils were down by two men. To make matters worse, the team was already without Hamilton and now two other D-men were in the box.

It was a critical juncture late in the game with 25.3 seconds left and the Stars holding a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, Dallas would score on the two-man advantage when Hintz converted in the slot to make it a 3-1 game with 13.7 left. The Devils couldn’t recover.

• Meier picked up his second goal in the past three games, this one coming on the power play. Meier was standing in the far circle when Nico Hischier hit him with a cross-ice pass. Meier shot with a quick release snapper that beat goalie Casey DeSmith as he moved parallel.

• The Devils catch another tough break late in the first period as Dougie Hamilton was hobbled and missed the remainder of the game. Hamilton was going for a puck in his own zone when he got tangled with Dallas’ Mason Marchment. Hamilton’s right ankle got caught and twisted on the boards. He skated off the ice gingerly and missed the remained on the game.

• The Devils have goaltender Jacob Markstrom back in the net for the second straight game. And they’re thanking the stars (no pun intended) for that fact. New Jersey allowed three breakaways in the opening eight minutes and four in the opening period. While Wyatt Johnston did score on the first breakaway at 1:39, Markstrom came up with massive saves on the other three breakaways: two more on Johnston and one from Mason Marchment.

• Brenden Dillon isn’t exactly and offensive defenseman. And he rarely, if ever, finds himself on a breakaway. But that’s exactly what happened halfway through the second period. Dillon was serving a penalty for high-sticking. As the penalty expired, he jumped out of the box and collected a puck for a breakaway. He was being hounded from behind by Mathew Dumba, but managed to get inside leverage to protect the puck and tried to go backhand five-hole. Nice display of smarts and hands from Dillon.