Way back in 2019, the late, great Ray Shero selected Arseny Gritsyuk in the fifth round of the NHL entry draft, 129th overall. Over the years, he developed from an intriguing dart throw in the late rounds
to legit scoring winger prospect. However, as much as the Devils would have wanted him to contribute to their own lineup, Gritsyuk remained in his native Russia to continue lighting lamps in the KHL. But more than half a decade since Ray Shero called his name, Gritsyuk finally made the jump to North America to begin the 2025-26 season. And tonight, in his seventh career NHL game in front of a lively home crowd, Gritsyuk scored the first goal of his career in a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Ever since he was drafted, we’ve been told that Gritsyuk’s shot would be his best asset in the NHL. He hasn’t been able to get his shot off as much as we all might have liked through the first six games of the season, but when he did unleash it, we saw how dangerous it was. So it’s fitting that his first career tally came off a terrific shot where he just overpowered Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson for a power play goal. It came immediately off a faceoff win, and Gritsyuk put every pound of his bodyweight behind his shot for the score. It was an incredible moment for everyone’s favorite Telegram star.
It was also fitting that Gritsyuk scored tonight, considering this was his debut in the top six. Cody Glass did not play in this game (the club called it an upper-body injury, and after the game head coach Sheldon Keefe said he doesn’t anticipate it being a long term thing), so Dawson Mercer slid down to center the third line, and Gritsyuk took his place on the wing with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier. Although he hadn’t scored, Gritsyuk certainly earned the promotion to the top six. He collected a bunch of assists in the early going, he showed he can keep pace with the speed of the NHL game, and he proved he can effectively battle along the wall and in the defensive zone. Gritsyuk has showed a more well-rounded game than I think a lot of us expected, and head coach Sheldon Keefe rewarded him with a bump up to the Hischier line. Against a tough matchup of the Kirill Kaprizov line, I thought Gritsyuk performed well. And although it didn’t come at even strength, he was rewarded for his efforts with that first career goal.
Congratulations to Arseny. Here’s to many, many more goals to come.
Aside from Gritsyuk, tonight was a fantastic team effort all around. New Jersey outshot the Wild 35-30, with much of the damage Minnesota did coming when the Devils had a multi-goal advantage. In other words, score effects played a big role in making that shot count look as close as it was. The overall game was much closer to the 4-1 final score than the 35-30 shot count (New Jersey outshot Minnesota 14-8 in the first period, just to prove the point). Perhaps the best indication that the Devils outplayed the Wild this evening is that Kaprizov, Minnesota’s best player and one of the best players on the planet (as well as the highest-paid) was held without a shot in 21:35 of ice time. When the team is suffocating a world-class talent like him, you know it was a good night.
The new-look third line of Mercer, Connor Brown, and Paul Cotter was the best trio on the ice tonight in my opinion. Cotter got the scoring started in the first period, burying a slick feed from Brown off a nice cycle. In just over nine minutes of 5-on-5 ice time tonight, the line out-attempted their opponents 16-10, outshot their opponents 8-4, and outscored their opponents 2-0. That second goal came off the stick of Brenden “Bobby Orr” Dillon, who has now scored in consecutive games. He buried a long, seeing-eye shot from the point that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net. That goal doesn’t happen without some great work by the Mercer line, and while Keefe has not wanted to play Mercer at center this season, Mercer showed that he can at least hold his own centering a third line. Credit where it’s due: Mercer had a great game. He looked strong down the middle, he was responsible defensively, and he collected a pair of assists. I assume Mercer will return to the wing once Glass returns, but if tonight is any indication, New Jersey is in good hands with Mercer as their 3C.
The offense as a whole looked connected and cohesive, the defense looked tough to play against and structured, and the overall energy level was strong, especially for the second half of a back-to-back (more on that below). To me at least, there was not much doubt who the better team tonight was. New Jersey took care of business in front of their home crowd.
And now, they’re really rolling. Tonight’s win was New Jersey’s sixth straight victory. After going almost three full seasons without a winning streak of more than three games, the Devils have doubled that meager output seven games into this campaign. This six-game bender is the longest the franchise has produced since that now legendary 13-game winning streak from October to November of 2022. And it’s not like they’ve been picking on the dregs of the league either. After losing their season opener, New Jersey has beaten Tampa Bay, Columbus, Florida, Edmonton, Toronto, and now Minnesota. Aside from Columbus, those are all playoff teams from a season ago, including both Stanley Cup finalists. The Devils are looking unstoppable against some of the best teams in the league. And keep in mind, this has been done while absorbing a slew of injuries to prominent players. They’re getting healthier now, but they still aren’t at full strength, with Glass being another addition to the injury report.
The vibes are sky high around this Devils squad. Things can change quickly in this league, but early on, this team is showing just how dangerous they can be. Arseny Gritsyuk and the New Jersey Devils have officially put the league on notice.
The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats
The Game Highlights: Courtesy of NHL.com
The Debut Of Daws
With Jacob Markstrom out, the Devils have been rolling with Jake Allen since Markstrom went to IR. They called Nico Daws up from Utica to replace Markstrom, but he hadn’t gotten into a game until tonight. Against a tough opponent on the second half of a back-to-back, Daws wasn’t exactly eased back into the NHL this evening.
And yet, Daws was terrific. He turned aside 29 of 30 shots, good for a .967 sv%. According to Natural Stat Trick, he stopped a remarkable 3.18 Goals Above Expected. I thought he looked poised and calm when he needed to be, as well as quick and energetic when he needed to be. The skaters in front of him supported him well, but Daws really brought his A-game in his season debut.
New Jersey has been getting incredible goaltending over this winning streak. Allen has been sensational, and now Daws has stepped in and not missed a beat. We can’t expect the goaltending to remain this hot all season long, but for now it’s been one of the most important factors in the team putting together a six-game winning streak.
Another Season Debut
Aside from Daws, there was another Devil making his season debut tonight: Stefan Noesen. The veteran winger missed the early part of the schedule due to a groin injury that he aggravated in the offseason, but he was finally healthy enough to return to the lineup this evening.
In his season debut, Noesen played a modest 8:14, skating on the fourth line with Luke Glendening and Brian Halonen. He didn’t register a point or a shot on net, but he did throw two hits, so he was reasonably engaged based on the stats. Going by my own personal eye test, I honestly didn’t notice him much out there, which is both a good and bad thing.
We’ll see how long it takes for Noesen to get back up to speed. For now, it was nice to see him back.
Special Teams Continue To Dominate
Another night, another killer outing from both special teams units.
Let’s start with the penalty kill. New Jersey entered tonight’s contest having killed off 18 consecutive penalties. Well they went 3-for-3 against the Wild, so the streak is now up to 21. This is even more impressive when you consider that Minnesota began the night with the league’s top-ranked power play, converting on almost 35% of their man advantages. And New Jersey found a way to shut down that high-flying unit. The Devils are just not allowing opponents anything on the penalty kill, and in the rare instances when a team does get a look at the net, Markstrom, Allen or Daws have been there to shut the door every time. It cannot be overstated just how much the penalty kill has contributed to the current win streak.
Meanwhile, the power play converted yet again thanks to Gritsyuk’s marker. Overall the power play went 1-for-2, and is now third-best in the league (30.0%) behind only Minnesota and the Vegas Golden Knights. Special teams carried New Jersey to the playoffs a season ago, and while the Devils are playing well enough at 5-on-5 to not have to rely on elite special teams, they have elite special teams to fall back on nonetheless. The Devils are firing on all cylinders in every aspect of the game right now.
Overpowering
Last season, we would occasionally see Sheldon Keefe put Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt out for a shift. Usually this would happen late in a period or when a TV timeout was imminent. I thought it was a smart move to try and load up on a line when a break in the action was close.
Tonight, we saw Keefe do this with Timo Meier in Bratt’s place. Hughes-Hischier-Meier got a shift with about 6:30 left in the first period and had a terrific shift where they created tons of chances. Then they got another one with about 13:30 left in the second period off of a Wild icing. It’s a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but I did want to point it out. I really like Keefe loading up on offensive firepower when he smells blood in the water.
Back-To-Back Tracker
The New Jersey Devils have struggled with the second half of back-t0-backs over the past two campaigns. It’s been such an issue, I even did a deeper dive on it over the summer. In 2023-24, New Jersey went 3-11-2 in the second half of back-to-backs, and last season, they went 3-8-1. Completely unacceptable numbers.
Tonight was the first of these scenarios in 2025-26, and at least for one game, the Devils have figured out how to play with zero days of rest. They have 15 total back-to-backs this season, so they still have plenty of these left to go. But at least for one night, it was so nice to see them actually figure out how to win the second half of a back-to-back. Here’s hoping they can do it more often.
Yet Another Debut
In addition to Nico Daws and Stefan Noesen, there was someone else making their season debut tonight:
Cory Schneider on Devils broadcasts.
Schneider had been doing analysis for New York Islanders games recently, and now he (and Mike Rupp, who we will see soon I imagine) have joined Devils telecasts on MSG for 2025-26. Tonight was his first foray into Devils hockey on TV. Overall, I thought he was solid. He didn’t wow me, but he certainly didn’t make me want to mute the television either. I wish I had more high-level analysis for you than that, but that’s how I truly felt about his debut.
In any case, Schneider was a great Devil that came to the organization at the exact wrong time. He was an elite goaltender for a few years when the team around him needed to rebuild, and when the Devils started to get good again, Schneider’s game (and health) started to fade, and he soon retired. It’s a shame, as I think Schneider deserved a much better fate in a Devils uniform, and I appreciated him during his time in the red and black. It’s nice to see him with the organization in some capacity again.
Next Time Out
The Devils are back in action on Friday when they welcome the San Jose Sharks to New Jersey. Puck drop is slated for 7:00pm.
Your Take
What did you make of tonight’s game? What did you think of Gritsyuk’s first goal and debut in the top six? What did you think of Daws and Noesen in their season debuts? What did you think of Schneider on the MSG broadcast? What are you expecting next time out against a young, rebuilding Sharks team? As always, thanks for reading!
