The New Jersey Devils have managed to dig themselves out of a 1-5-4 early season hole, but it was important for them to maintain their momentum against the tough Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Fortunately for them, they caught a break.
With the game tied 3-3 in overtime, Devils forward Travis Zajac attempted to kick the puck to the Ducks’ net in an act of desperation and goaltender Jonas Hiller was able to stop it. However, Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy’s subsequent clearing attempt bounced off teammates Corey Perry and resulted in the deciding goal.
You can see the goal, which was credited to Zajac, below:
“That was one of the luckiest goals I’ve ever scored, but I’ll take those any day of the week,” Zajac said, according to NHL.com.
The Devils are now 8-8-5, which would be good enough for a playoffs spot if the season ended today. Anaheim has now come short of a win in five straight games to drop to 15-6-3, but they still have more points than any other NHL team.