Devils score 3 own goals and somehow only lose 6-5 in a shootout

You get by with a little help from someone in the National Hockey League, but usually you expect it to be a teammate.

The Anaheim Ducks got by with a lot of help from the New Jersey Devils, who scored an astounding three own goals and somehow still took the Ducks to a shootout Sunday night.

The Devils lost, 6-5, and if you’re keeping track that means …

… eight goals will win you games, but not if you do it on the wrong side of the ice.

The trifecta included a late game-tying goal at the hands of the team captain and two scores by two former Ducks players now with the Devils.

New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider made 35 saves and is still looking for his first win since Dec. 27, 2017.

Own goal No. 1: Whoops

Devils right wing Stefan Noesen broke an early 1-1 tie for the opposition, which happens to be the team he played with from 2014 through part of the 2016-17 season. Noesen attempted to clear a pass the Ducks’ Kiefer Sherwood sent into the crease, but instead the puck went into the open net at 2:47 of the first.

New Jersey and Anaheim combined for six goals, concluding the first 20 minutes of back-and-forth action with a 3-3 tie.

Own goal No. 2: Puck luck?

The Devils scored halfway through the second period for a 4-3 lead and managed to keep it without blunders until the 8:35 mark of the third.

The Ducks’ Pontus Aberg took a shot from near the blue line that defenseman Ben Lovejoy, who spent two years with Anaheim, attempted to casually snatch from midair near the circle.

It instead redirected above Schneider’s left shoulder for a tying goal.

Own goal No. 3: Good grief

The Devils, again, made things harder on themselves with 6:02 remaining in a tie game. The Ducks put a shot on goal and Devils captain Andy Greene batted it out of the air and past his own goaltender.

Egregious.

Devils: A recurring theme

Marcus Johansson forced overtime with a Devils’ goal at 19:02 of the third; the squad made it unscathed through the extra time despite a 0-5 record in OT.

The Ducks won in the shootout solely on goals by their own players, Daniel Sprong and Ryan Getzlaf.

“That’s the first time in my experiences where we had three that got in,” said John Hynes, in his fourth year as an NHL head coach, all with the Devils. “Sometimes something gets deflected in or hits someone else and goes in but those were a little bit odd tonight.”

The Devils are 10-12-6 while Schneider’s long streak continues. He has a .862 save percentage and an average 4.29 goals against in eight games this season.

The 11-year veteran posted a .907 save percentage and an average 2.93 goals against over 40 games, all of which were starts, last season.

“It was just a couple of bad bounces for us once again,” Schneider said. “That’s kind of been a recurring theme.”

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