Jesper Bratt scored 1:26 into overtime to lift the New Jersey Devils past the St. Louis Blues 5-4 at Prudential Center on Thursday, capping a game the Devils led by three goals before St. Louis rallied to force extra time. Anthony Mantha finished with two goals and three points for New Jersey, which improved to 11-5-0.
The Devils built a 4-1 lead by the midway point of the second period before the Blues scored three unanswered goals, two of them in the final 18 seconds of the third period, to tie it at 4-4. St. Louis fell to 7-7-2 despite getting a goal and an assist from Mason McTavish.
Key Moments: How New Jersey Won It
Luke Hughes opened the scoring 7:34 into the first period on a wrist shot assisted by Brett Pesce and Jack Hughes. New Jersey pulled away in the second period, with Mantha scoring twice, around a Jesper Boqvist goal, to push the lead to 4-1 by the 18:19 mark.
Robert Thomas got St. Louis on the board at 16:04 of the second, but the Devils answered with Boqvist’s goal 56 seconds later and Mantha’s second of the night 15 seconds after that. The three-goal cushion held until the third period, when the Blues scored twice in the final 14 seconds of regulation. McTavish cut the deficit to 4-2 at 11:46, Philip Broberg made it 4-3 at 14:36, and Dalibor Dvorsky tied it with a tip-in at 14:54, setting up overtime.
Bratt ended it quickly in the extra period, scoring on a wrist shot assisted by Dougie Hamilton just 1:26 into overtime.
Top Performers
Mantha led all scorers with two goals and an assist for three points, both goals coming in the second period. Jack Hughes did not score but recorded two assists, giving him a hand in two of New Jersey’s five goals. Luke Hughes added a goal and an assist, and Brett Pesce had two assists.
For St. Louis, Broberg led the team with a goal and an assist for two points. McTavish had a goal and an assist, and Dvorsky’s tip-in forced overtime.
Goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 31 of 36 shots for a .861 save percentage. New Jersey’s Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves on 32 shots for a .875 save percentage in the win.
What It Means
The Devils moved to 11-5-0 and sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 22 points, four behind division-leading Carolina. New Jersey also won the season series opener against St. Louis, taking a 1-0 lead in that matchup, according to the official data.
St. Louis dropped to 7-7-2 and sits sixth in the Central Division with 16 points. The Blues were outshot 36-32 and were credited with 16 hits and 16 blocked shots in the loss, but their third-period push was not enough to escape Newark with a win.
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