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David Perron scored the eventual game-winner as the Ottawa Senators edged the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in Newark, N.J., on Saturday night.

Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson also scored for Ottawa (37-27-5, 79 points), which avoided a third straight loss and sits atop the Eastern Conference wild-card standings.

Linus Ullmark made 25 saves in a bounce-back performance after being pulled from a loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.

Nico Hischier and Erik Haula responded for the Devils (37-28-6, 80 points), who have lost back-to-back games and three of four. Luke Hughes added two assists and Jake Allen stopped 16 shots.

Trailing 3-1, Haula pulled the Devils to within one with 22.3 seconds remaining in the third, tapping in a cross-ice feed from Hughes for his eighth of the season.

The Senators scored twice in 33 seconds of the middle frame to jump out to a 2-0 lead.

Tkachuk tipped in a Jake Sanderson feed past Allen for his 28th of the season at 4:05.

Ottawa doubled its lead at 4:38 as Batherson re-directed Dylan Cozens’ pass past Allen for his 20th.

Cozens, acquired by the Senators from the Buffalo Sabres ahead of the trade deadline, has three goals and four assists in eight games with Ottawa.

Hischier got the Devils on the board on a power play at 7:13, one-timing a Jesper Bratt pass past Ullmark for his team-leading 30th.

With the helper, Bratt became the franchise leader for assists (61) in a single season, passing Hall of Famer Scott Stevens.

Perron restored Ottawa’s two-goal lead on a power play at 8:42, tipping in Claude Giroux’s shot past Allen.

Ottawa held a 7-6 shot advantage as the two teams played to a scoreless first period.

Devils forward Nolan Foote, recalled from AHL affiliate Utica on Friday afternoon, took the injured Tomas Tatar’s spot in the lineup and finished with one shot on goal in 9:45 of ice time.

Saturday was the teams’ third and final meeting of the season. They split the first two games, with the visiting Devils winning 3-1 on Oct. 17 and the Senators picking up a 2-1 road win on Jan. 19.

-Field Level Media