Simon Nemec scores an insane goal, but New Jersey Devils still lost in overtime

The New Jersey Devils have lost a game at home. Yet, most Devils fans are leaving the game happy. It’s an insane concept, but that’s the feeling amongst the fanbase after stealing a point from the New York Islanders on Monday night.

Of course, “stealing” is an interesting term, since the Devils were the better team all night. They had a massive 25-8 high-danger chance advantage against the Isles, according to Natural Stat Trick. 

They had the advantage across the board, especially with Jack Hughes on the ice. He alone had 11 shots on goal and six individual high-danger scoring chances. Those are numbers some star players get in three games. Hughes did it on Monday night, and somehow, he came away with no goals.

Someone who did come away with a goal is defenseman Simon Nemec. The 21-year-old has been asked to take on a bigger role after injuries to Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce. He was the only player on the ice with more than 20 minutes of ice time at 5v5. 

And his final seconds of 5v5 (actually 6v5) was the most important. 

Simon Nemec scored a goal with 4.7 seconds left to tie the New Jersey Devils-New York Islanders game

Nemec scoring that goal is important. Getting rewarded for the role he’s played with so many injuries makes it worthwhile. 

Unfortunately, the Devils were exhausted after going full throttle at the end of the game. Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier basically played all of the minutes after Kyle Palmieri scored his go-ahead goal with less than three minutes left. It’s not exactly the six-minute shift Jack Hughes had to break an NHL record in 2022, but it was an insane effort by the Devils’ top players to get that OT point. 

We saw that exhaustion on the game-winning goal by Mathew Barzal. In their first shift in overtime, Jack Hughes attempted to steal the puck in the offensive zone. It looked like it would be a simple two-on-two with Luke Hughes and Bratt back, but Bratt clearly didn’t have the horses. Barzal, still pretty fresh for being in overtime, raced past everyone and scored on Jacob Markstrom, who hadn’t seen a shot in a long time.

It was a disappointing end, but the Devils got a well-deserved point. They finally outplayed a team, and they showed this is a team you can’t quit on. After Timo Meier scored with just over a minute left on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens before eventually winning in overtime, the Devils were the Cardiac Kids on this homestand. 

Now, the Devils head for another road trip. Hopefully, this one goes way better than the last one.