HOCKEY: Devils edge Golden Knights on Jesper Bratt's shootout goal

Jake Allen delivered a strong performance with 36 saves and stopped all three shootout attempts as the New Jersey Devils edged the Vegas Golden Knights, 2-1, on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.

Connor Brown scored in regulation, while Jesper Bratt netted the deciding goal in the shootout to lift New Jersey into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored a late power-play goal for Vegas, and Carter Hart finished with 32 saves, but the Golden Knights saw their seven-game point streak come to an end.

New Jersey opened the scoring at the 4:50 mark of the second period after capitalizing on a turnover in the Vegas zone. Zach Whitecloud failed to handle Noah Hanifin’s clearing attempt along the left boards, allowing Brown to collect the loose puck. Brown drove to the net, deked Hart, and slipped a wrist shot past his left pad and inside the right post for his second goal in three games.

Vegas tied the game with 4:11 remaining in regulation after Juho Lammikko was called for tripping Ben Hutton. Dorofeyev blasted a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Mark Stone, scoring his ninth power-play goal of the season. The goal tied him for second in the NHL with Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat, trailing only Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston.

The Golden Knights had several opportunities to secure the win in overtime, including a 4-on-3 power play after Dawson Mercer was penalized for hooking Stone with 1:53 remaining. Mitch Marner hit the post twice, while Stone also rang a shot off the far post.

In the shootout, Bratt opened the second round by deking Hart and lifting a backhand into the net. Allen then gloved Stone’s wrist shot before Hart stopped Dougie Hamilton’s attempt. Allen sealed the victory by poke-checking the puck off Marner’s stick. The puck deflected into the net off Marner’s skate but was quickly ruled no goal due to a double hit.

Vegas played without leading scorer Jack Eichel, who was sidelined by illness, and defenseman Shea Theodore, who missed his first game of the season with an upper-body injury. -Field Level Media/Reuters