- The Matchup: Philadelphia Flyers (0-0-0) @ New Jersey Devils (0-0-0)
- The Time: 7:00 pm EST
- The Broadcast: TV — Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Radio — Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
On Saturday, the Devils defeated the New York Islanders by a score of 4-1. Luke Evangelista scored two goals, including a beautiful power play goal in the first period to open the scoring. Arseny Gritsyuk and Dougie Hamilton each added a goal in the second period to put the game out of reach before the Islanders added a meaningless goal at 15:21 of the third period. Jake Allen stopped 14 of 15 shots for a .933 sv% and the win and Devils fans around the world rejoiced.
Last Flyers Game
That same night, the Flyers lost
to the Washington Capitals 5-1. The loss ended a particularly rough preseason for the Flyers, which saw them go 1-3, letting up 15 goals in their 3 losses. The Flyers started off strong, taking a 1-0 lead 31 seconds into the game. However, they went on to give up 3 goals in the first period. and 2 more in the 3rd, losing quite decisively. Aleksei Kolosov let up 5 goals on 24 shots for a horrible .792 sv% and the Flyers limped off the ice, happy to put the preseason behind them.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
Well folks, I have good news and bad news for you. On the good news front, it looks like Amadeus Lombardi will be making his NHL debut tonight. On the bad news front, if anyone forgot that the regular season starts tonight (at least for the Devils), Connor Brown wants to personaly remind you that it does indeed start tonight, which is why someone had to get injured and miss a few games. According to Sheldon Keefe, Brown will miss the first 2 games of the season. And so it begins.
Grimace’s Prediction and 2026-2027 Record Tracker
For the record, Grimace did successfully pick the winner of the last Devils game, a victory over the Islanders. While he didn’t pick the score correctly, a win, as they say, is a win. At the same time, a preseason prediction, like a preseason game, doesn’t mean much. However, with all of the excitement of a season opener at home, mixed with a new GM and new players, he expects the Devils to come out strong and end the night with a victory for the home crowd.
Grimace’s 2026-2027 Season Prediction record currently stands at 0-0-0.
Your Take
In these game previews, I normally spend more time discussing the previous game played by the Devils and their opponent for the night. However, considering the fact that the “last game” was a preseason game, I wanted to put more emphasis on this section of the article.
As with every sport on planet Earth, game one represents a fresh start. A new beginning. In many cases, that expression is more metaphorical. For the Devils, that expression, in many ways, is quite literal. The era of Fitzgerald is over. The Sunny era is finally ready to begin, at least on the ice. I believe letting Fitzgerald go was the right move, and that bringing in Sunny was the correct next step for this organization. On paper, he’s made many moves that look fantastic. He found someone to take Jacob Markstrom and got NHL players in return. He added goal scorers like Anthony Mantha and up and coming players like Luke Evangelista. He locked up the captain and Arseny Gritsyuk to contract extensions. On paper, the team finally looks ready to take the next step.
Games, and championships are not won on paper. They are not won in June, July, August, or September. They are won game in and game out. The push for the playoffs does not start in February or March. It begins tonight, on October 1st. It has often been said that the games in October or November are not as important as games later in the season. I for one, could not disagree with that more. Every game matters. Every shift matters. Every point matters. 2 points in October are worth just as much as 2 points in March.
For this team to be successful, there are many things that need to go right. For the sake of brevity, I will narrow it down to 2 things. 1) This team needs to play every game for 60 minutes, and not coast when they are up or behind. One shift, one period, one game, one season, one championship. Execution and mindset are beyond important for this team. 2). The fate of the season rests on number 86 playing 84 (or as close to it as possible). No one and nothing will convince me otherwise.
Finally, like always, I will be attending the game tonight. If you’re going, I’d love to know about it in the comments. Let’s get the season started right and LGD!
In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris – thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my podcast on here, if any of you are interested in listening. We have a light hearted, fun discussion about any movies, music, or video games mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. Please feel free to listen to us on any of the formats below and any feedback is welcome (positive and negative). Also, please follow us and subscribe, even if you think we stink. :).
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