What would have been of Devils season had Kovalchuk scored against Dallas on opening night?

This is a short post, but after all the negativity this year which has shadowed the Devils team, we can only think but not forget what happened on opening night when the Devils jumped to a quick 2-0 lead. Things seemed destined for domination and possibly being a top 5 NHL team this year, but instead it has been a season in turmoil. It was an Ilya Kovalchuk shot which seemed headed for a 3-0 lead against Dallas, but instead it was a post hit that lead to a Dallas goal seconds later. Had the Devils stopped play at a whistle, the refs could have looked at the non-goal, but instead disaster struck and the Devils lost in overtime 4-3.

Maybe, had Kovalchuk scored that goal, the Devils would feel inspired and probably winning at a fast pace, but instead now there are more questions with no possible answers in sight. The Devils are very fragile psychologically and mentally right now and must only rely on hope they can turn things around. Simply, put every game in December and most of the games in January are must wins for the Devils otherwise they can definitely forget about the playoffs. Most Devils fans including myself partially have accepted failure for them thus year, but let's just hope the team has not. So, again what could have been had Kovalchuk scored to make it 3-0 against Dallas?