3 least impressive players from the New Jersey Devils 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres feat. Ondrej Palat

The New Jersey Devils were narrowly defeated by the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 2, at KeyBank Center. The Devils fall to 29-19-6 (64 points) with the defeat, while the Sabres improve to 21-26-5 (47 points) with the victory.

New Jersey entered Sunday's game having won three of their last four, a 3-1-0 stretch of success. The Devils have had a strong 2024-25 campaign, holding the third seed in the Metropolitan Division and poised for a return to the playoffs. However, this afternoon's performance was not a great reflection of how they've played this season.

It went south right from the start for New Jersey. Tage Thompson got the Sabres started by squeezing a rebound through Jake Allen for his seventh goal in as many games. Later in the period, Thompson beautifully set up JJ Peterka to make it 2-0 Buffalo, which was Peterka's fifth goal in his last three games. To cap it all off, Ryan McLeod scored a short-handed goal with 29 seconds left in the period to make it 3-0. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped all eight shots thrown his way, and the Devils trailed by three after the opening frame.

Paul Cotter provided some life when he stuffed in a goal 4:38 into the second period. Unfortunately, New Jersey couldn't get any closer in the second. Near the end of the period, Jason Zucker tapped in another slick feed from Tage Thompson, giving Buffalo a 4-1 lead heading into the final frame.

Just 18 seconds into the third period, Paul Cotter buried a sharp-angle shot to cut the lead down to two. Stefan Noesen was then kicked out of the game for an illegal hit to the head of Tage Thompson. Despite the five-minute major penalty, Jesper Bratt found Jack Hughes for a shorthanded tally to make things interesting. New Jersey continued to push hard to end the game but couldn't get anything else past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Buffalo squeaked out a 4-3 win over New Jersey.

The New Jersey Devils will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Tuesday night, Feb. 4, at PPG Paints Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST.

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3 least impressive players from the New Jersey Devils 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres

#1. Ondrej Palat

Ondrej Palat struggled on Sunday afternoon. In 14:43 of ice time, Palat recorded no points, with no shots on goal, and was a -3 rating.

The 33-year-old has had an inconsistent season, and Sunday was not a good performance. The Devils will need him to step up his play, especially on the top line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.

#2. Stefan Noesen

It was an eventful afternoon for Stefan Noesen. In 13:02 minutes of action, he was without points, with two shots on goal, and was a -2 rating.

He notably delivered a high hit to the head of Tage Thompson, for which he received a five-minute match penalty and was ejected from the game. It was an undisciplined play by Noesen, who had been battling with Jason Zucker throughout the game.

#3. Jesper Bratt

It was an afternoon to forget for the Devils star. Jesper Bratt recorded one assist, and one shot on goal, but finished with a -3 rating in 18:19 of ice time.

He's had a great season thus far, so performances like this are rare. Fans can expect him to bounce back in their next game against the Penguins.