Devils fall to Predators in shootout

The Devils are making a habit of playing shabbily early in games only to ratchet things up in the latter portions of their recent contests. Thursday night was no different, as they scored two late goals to force overtime against the Nashville Predators, only to fall short in the shootout. The final was 4-3, and I suppose the fact that they came away with a point is some consolation.

"The first period, we weren't very good at all," coach Claude Julien said. "We had no jump. We were second to the puck. It was a disappointing period for us.

"We started getting our jump back in the second period, but we really dug ourselves a hole tonight in ways that you don't like to see. But, again, we somehow managed to get back into it and were able to salvage a point."

The Devils' next stop is Ottawa on Saturday night as they take on the last-place Senators.