This afternoon, the New Jersey Devils kicked off their preseason with a home matchup against the New York Islanders.
Things started off a bit slowly for the Devils, despite the eventual favorable outcome. In the first period, they were outshot 12-6, only playing a bit over 10 minutes at five-on-five because of a myriad of penalties. In that period, there were two near-goals: one for each side. The first came off the stick of Cody Glass, who took a feed while cutting across the net and chipped it past
Vitek Vanecek after Ethan Edwards was run through the post, which knocked the net off the moorings. While the officials conversed, the Devils were not awarded a goal nor a penalty, shortly after taking their third penalty of the period. In those six penalty killing minutes, the Devils allowed three shots and looked pretty decent, only giving up a couple of high-danger chances. Later in the period, David Rittich was scrambling around the crease and had a loose puck just about covered up when he was rammed and jammed with the puck into the net. As the Islanders began to celebrate (barreling over a linesman in the process), Rittich went chasing after the offenders, causing a bit of a scrum that led to a four-on-four sequence.
Late in that first period, though, Ethan Edwards took a hooking penalty on Calum Ritchie, which gave the Islanders a four-on-three at the start of the second period. With that power play, Cole Eiserman scored the first goal of the game. Rittich just got a bit stuck at the far post.
It would not take long for the Devils to tie the game. Ryan Schmelzer, captain of the Utica Comets, scored on a quick counterattack off a feed from Ben Steeves after a Devils power play had expired.
David Rittich largely did well to keep the game tied throughout the second except for an adventurous departure from the crease that probably would have been punished by a full-NHL squad. I think that the Devils could do without decisions like that one given the goaltender they had just moved on from during the summer. The Devils dominated the expected goals battle in the second period after having a rough time in the first period, so giving momentum away in spots like that during the regular season is to be avoided.
In the third period, the game was a bit more back-and-forth with Connor Brown scoring the game-winner. In what has been a bit of a usual move for him, Brown poked the puck loose at the blueline off of Marshall Warren’s stick, racing the other way for a breakaway. He beat Vitek Vanecek cleanly, putting the Devils up 2-1.
The Devils largely controlled play after that game-winner, including a two-minute power play where they had chances but did not convert. At the end of the game, the Islanders had Vanecek pulled for the extra attacker, but they were not able to do much with the opportunity, only putting up one shot on Rittich with the six-on-five. So, the Devils took this one at a 2-1 score.
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
Back at it Tomorrow
With this being a largely AHL-heavy lineup, the Devils seem to be saving more veterans for tomorrow night’s matchup against the New York Rangers. Today, Amadeus Lombardi led the way in expected goals percentage, trailed closely by Xavier Parent (with Parent leading by far in raw expected goals for at five-on-five). While I have not been noting Parent as a roster contender so far, today is a reminder not to count him out entirely. Parent is someone who plays with energy and has a drive to score, as he led the Devils in individual expected goals per all-situation 60 minutes today (2.044/60) despite not playing much on the power play.
And, to his credit, while I think he was a bit too hectic in net, David Rittich saved 1.82 goals above expected on 24 total shots against, per Natural Stat Trick. That is, statistically, a good first start for him.
Tomorrow, we should be seeing some of the top six. I am looking forward to it.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of the preseason opener? Did you watch? Did you attend? What was your experience if you were at the game? What did you think of Lombardi’s first preseason game? Silaev? What about the returning veterans in Brown, Glass, and Dillon? What did you think of Rittich? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
