The Devils could not find a way to surmount Senators goalie Craig Anderson — who made 34 saves in a 2-0 win Wednesday night at the Prudential Center.
“You have to give Craig Anderson credit,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. “We looked like we could have shot 100 pucks, and nothing was getting by him.”
Kyle Turris provided the offense with a pair of goal, but the spotlight clearly belonged to Anderson, who was 2-6-2 in his previous 10 starts.
Anderson earned his third shutout of the season and 29th in his NHL career.
The Devils, whose losing streak was extended to five games, went 0 for 5 on the power play — stymied by Anderson throughout as they opened a four-game homestand following a stretch of 15 of 20 games on the road.
The Devils, lethargic at the start, picked up their game after falling behind. They outshot Ottawa 10-4 in the first period and 16-4 in the second, but couldn’t beat Anderson.
Patrik Elias, activated from the injured list earlier Wednesday, came closest with a drive that rang off the post.
Anderson also stopped Jaromir Jagr twice early in the second. The first was Jagr’s power-play blast from the left circle. Anderson later stretched to make a skate stop on Jagr, denying a 2-on-1 break with Scott Gomez.
Anderson was on his toes throughout the period. One of his best stops was made with two minutes left when he turned aside a wrist shot by Elias.
New Jersey kept pressing in the third, and Anderson made early close-in stops on Elias and Adam Henrique.
“We were all over him, getting pressure, but we’ve got to find a way to get one in,” Henrique said. “That game was there for us. It’s a tough one to give up.”
Anderson almost scored in the final seconds into the empty Devils net, but his clearing shot rolled just wide.
“I’ve waited my whole life for a chance like that and I may never get it again,” Anderson said. “I hooked it a little, considering I’m a lefty. I knew I had to get it up in the air to have a shot. I thought it was in.”
Turris gave the Senators a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 2:47 in on Ottawa’s first shot of the game. Turris was off balance as he deflected Erik Karlsson’s point shot past Cory Schneider for his first goal in 11 games.
He added an empty-net goal in the final second of the game.