Dillon 'almost speechless' about Devils' 3rd-period struggles

New Jersey Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon is baffled by his team's third-period struggles as of late.

"Our mindset's got to be, we've got to outcompete that team still for the entire 60 minutes. .. It might take 65, it might take, in playoffs, way longer than that," he said after Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Calgary Flames. "It's sad to say we're learning lessons at game 71, but I feel like that's what we've got to take out of it. You win or you learn. How many games are we gonna look back on now where we had our chance to get points and we didn't? We can sit here and say the same thing, but we've got to be better at it."

Dillon added: "I'm almost speechless. It's so, so frustrating."

New Jersey entered the third period against the Flames with a 3-1 lead, but they scored four straight goals to secure the comeback victory. The equalizer and game-winner - scored by Daniil Miromanov and Jonathan Huberdeau, respectively - came one minute apart.

"We're up two," Dillon said. "We've got to be confident in that situation. ... Every goal is just self-inflicted stuff, whether that's us having the puck and throwing it away, or a D-zone coverage lapse. It's not like we can sit here and be like, 'Oh yeah, Calgary was just an unbelievable team,' (but) obviously give credit to them for pushing and coming back."

The collapse was a continuation of a concerning trend for the Devils. Though they beat the Blue Jackets 2-1 on Monday, Columbus outshot New Jersey 24-3 in the last 20 minutes while holding a 14-1 edge in high-danger chances at all strengths, per Natural Stat Trick.

The Devils also had a dramatic final stanza Saturday against the Penguins. Pittsburgh jumped out to a 4-1 lead early in the frame, but New Jersey scored twice to make it a one-goal game. However, things quickly spiralled out of control with three more Penguins goals en route to a 7-3 defeat.

Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe can't quite put his finger on why his club has struggled in the late stages of games.

"It's caught me off guard, quite honestly," he said of the Devils' last two third periods. "This hasn't been an issue for us all season long. Don't know what to make of that. Thought (Columbus) was maybe our wake-up call. ... As fate would have it, puts us in a similar situation. ... A chance to get it right, and obviously failed to do that. Why is it happening? I don't know."

New Jersey still holds the third spot in the Metropolitan Division with a 37-27-6 record. The club has had to deal with a mountain of injuries, including a season-ending shoulder injury to star forward Jack Hughes and defenseman Dougie Hamilton's long-term lower-body issue.