NEWARK, N.J. _ The beleaguered Devils might have been down so many men they were forced to play a defenseman as a forward, but continuing the week's theme of playing with character, they didn't back down against the best team in the Western Conference on Wednesday at Prudential Center. Once they lost Mirco Mueller to a scary injury in the third period, they found new life but were unable to capitalize and tie the game.
Overwhelmed and overworked, New Jersey goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood and some characteristically clutch penalty killing kept the Devils in the game until the very end in 2-1 loss.
It was the seventh consecutive win for the Flames, who continue to hold the second-best record in the league (41-16-7, 89 points) and the best in the Western Conference.
Just 1:09 into the third period and the Devils trailing 2-1, Mueller led a 2-on-1 rush down the ice and attempted to finish a feed from Travis Zajac at the net. With Calgary forward Michael Frolik right behind him, Mueller was unable to stop and he slid into the end boards with Frolik on top of him. Mueller lay facedown on the ice, motionless for several moments while the trainers signaled for the doctor.
The 23-year-old defenseman was carted off the ice on a stretcher as fans chanted his name.
If the Flames were tired from a 3-1 win over the Islanders one night prior they showed no signs of it. They hit the 30-shot mark late in the second period and outshot New Jersey 30-10 through the first two periods. Yet the two teams still went into the second intermission separated by just a goal.
Blackwood stopped 33 of 35 shots faced and Kevin Rooney scored a short-handed goal for the Devils (25-31-8, 58 points).
Rooney cut the lead in half at 16:47 in the second period with his goal. The Providence College product stripped his former Hockey-East foe from Boston College, Johnny Gaudreau, stick-handled around him and snapped one past goalie David Rittich.
This came shortly after Mike Giordano put the Flames up 2-0 with a deke around Blackwood.
After a scoreless first period, Elias Lindholm put Calgary on the board with a power-play goal 1:07 into the second period. The Flames had a 2-man advantage to start the second period, but just as Damon Severson skated out of the penalty box Lindholm got a shot off that took an odd bounce off the stick of Andy Greene. Blackwood couldn't control the fluttering puck and it got behind him.
Add Mueller to the ever-growing list of injured New Jersey regulars. In the Devils' last game, a win over the Montreal Canadiens at home on Monday, they lost Miles Wood to an ankle fracture and Kyle Palmieri to an undisclosed upper-body injury. Both are expected to be out for a significant period of time with Wood out for at least a month. John Quenneville was also injured in that game just hours after being called up from Binghamton of the American Hockey League. The Devils are also still without with forwards Stefan Noesen and Kyle Palmieri.
