First Periods
Quebec: Dawson Mercer had the first few chances of the game for the New Jersey Devils, looking good from the center spot. Romanov was eventually tested by some high-low action that led to Fabian Zetterlund digging away at him in the crease, but Romanov kept the puck out. Unfortunately, five minutes in, the Devils still seemed to have a lot of trouble possessing the puck and getting into the offensive zone, as they just continually pushed Ottawa back and then played a of defense up and down the ice.
Cholowski and Addison had some point shots blocked almost eight minutes into the game as the Devils began pushing into the offensive end again. The Devils were still struggling to get shots on goal, but they seemed to have more juice by the halfway point of the period. Georgi Romanov, however, continued to have to make saves, with him making a nice one on a centering try from a sharp angle. The Devils eventually went to the penalty kill, as Cholowski went to the box for a hook. The Devils were able to initially push Ottawa back, sending the puck out a couple times in the first minute. Romanov eventually made a breakaway save on David Perron, and the Devils survived the kill.
Late in the period, the Senators continued to hold the Devils to few chances as New Jersey was having trouble stringing enough passes together. Nathan Legare, who had a good game against the Islanders, got the second shot on goal for the Devils in the final 30 seconds or so, as he got in close from a sharp-ish angle on the rush and forced Ullmark to make a pad save. After another save for Romanov on the other end, the period ended with shots at 11-2, Ottawa.
Newark: The Devils and Capitals went back and forth in the first few minutes, but no great chances came out of the skating. The Capitals did a good job of blocking shots, and Ramus Sandin had the first good shot of the game with a wrist shot off the iron on a rush play. Just a bit over seven minutes into the game, Aleksei Protas had to leave the ice after being shaken up. Brian Halonen had a chance to get to a loose puck by Lindgren almost nine minutes into the period, but he was a bit too slow to the puck on the rush and the chance went nowhere.
Topias Vilen got the puck at the top of the faceoff circle for a shot though traffic, and Shane LaChance and Lenni Hameenaho went digging at the puck, but it was frozen by Lindgren. Just as Cholowski was going to the box in the other game, Kurtis MacDermid took a two-minute penalty for holding in the defensive zone. The Capitals had a good start to their power play, but a shot that deflected off the glass went out of the zone to give the Devils a chance to change. After that change, the Devils looked much better until a late turnover had to be saved by Simon Nemec, who got the puck back to the blueline. Just after the kill, before MacDermid could really leave the box, Jacob Markstrom was left down on the ice as the Capitals were pushing, and former Devil Graeme Clarke roofed the puck to make it 1-0, Capitals.
Brian Halonen had a chance to one-time the puck after Shane LaChance dug the puck out of the wall and set him up, but Halonen fanned on the shot. The Devils were thus held to two shots in the first period to Washington’s 10, as the Capitals took a 1-0 lead into intermission.
Second Periods
Quebec: Still struggling to get shots on goal against the Senators, the Devils were too weak with their passes and too reliant on Romanov bailing them out. The Devils, however, went to the power play just over three minutes into the period. The Mercer-led unit had trouble, again, keeping the puck in the offensive zone. They were bailed out a bit by a second penalty almost a minute into Ottawa’s first, sending them to a five-on-three. Cholowski took a one-timer from Legare that was gloved by Ullmark. Lammikko was kicked from the next draw, and Connor Brown won it back. Cholowski took another shot on goal that was stopped by Ullmark, and the Devils were caught on an offsides after being pushed to center ice. After play returned to five-on-four, the Devils just missed on setting Cotter up, cutting to the net, and the penalties were killed with two shots on goal, both from Cholowski.
Thomas Bordeleau had a very nice rush and shot, with moving traffic towards the net, but nobody could clean up the rebound. Romanov had to face Tim Stutzle on a penalty shot after Calen Addison took Stutzle down on a breakaway, leading to a collision in the crease. Romanov shook the contact off, got ready, and stopped Stutzle on a move to the forehand.
Jordan Spence took an interference penalty with 7:06 to play, and the Devils sent their power play back out Glass won the draw, and he worked from the wall, dropping the puck off for Dadonov, who set Mercer up for a one-timer in the slot that was stopped by Ullmark’s shoulder. The Devils had trouble getting chances afterwards, going up and down the ice and even taking an icing call towards the end of the power play. The Devils looked stronger on the attack after the penalty expired, but they could not convert with Ullmark flopping around in his crease on a rush play. At the end of the period, after Romanov made a big stop on a tipped shot by Brady Tkachuk, off a feed on the rush from Claude Giroux, Evgenii Dadonov faked a wraparound, sliding the puck through the crease to Connor Brown, who was stopped by a diving Linus Ullmark, keeping the game tied through two periods.
Newark: The Devils went back and forth, up and down the ice, with the Capitals in the first few minutes, but Ryan Leonard got a goal on the first shot of the second period on a rush chance after Palat lost the puck on the wall, with Topias Vilen unprepared for Leonard’s burst of speed. After a slow period, the Devils finally to a delayed penalty with under six minutes to play. The Devils got Hischier on with the Hughes line, but they were unable to get a good shot on goal. Andrw Cristall went to the box for a trip. After a TV timeout, play resumed with a power play faceoff, and Nico Hischier scored in the slot off a feed from Hughes, just seconds after the draw! The Devils made it 2-1.
Third Periods
Quebec: Austin Strand took a tripping penalty three minutes or so into the final frame, and Romanov made another big stop off the faceoff draw for the penalty. The Devils’ penalty kill did a great job of keeping Ottawa at bay for the two minutes, killing another penalty. At even strength, a minute after the kill, Connor Brown tried to shoot for a Mercer deflection, but Mercer could not get on the puck. After a later faceoff, Xavier Parent was denied on a low shot.
The Devils went to the penalty kill with just over five minutes to play, as Connor Brown took a tripping call. Romanov was still on tested again on this penalty kill, going post to post to deny Tkachuk in the first 30 seconds. But then, Stephen Halliday scored a go-ahead goal on a shot that tricked Romanov after Calen Addison knocked the puck to Halliday while deterring an initial drive to the net by Stutzle as Colton White came over to help. The Senators then got their empty netter from Olle Lycksell after a drop pass from Edwards to Addison was picked off at the blueline. Again, the passing was too weak, and it cost the Devils again, sealing this game at 2-0.
Newark: The Devils won the opening draw in the third period and the Hughes line went n the attack, now with Palat in place of Gritsyuk. A shot from Hughes went wide, and Palat almost slowed the puck down enough to keep possession continuous. But Casey brought the puck back from center ice to the offensive zone, and Nemec took a shot that was sent wide by Lindgren. On the other end, Nico Daws took over for Markstrom. After a few heavy hit attempts (Nico Hischier had flipped over Dylan McIlrath, and Ostipov tried to throw a hit in the neutral zone before Brian Halonen was sent into the wall on a rush), Ilya Protas went to the box for a dangerous trip at the end boards. On the power play, Jack Hughes had a chance at the side of the net, but he wasn’t able to get the puck over Lindgren’s pad.
Timo Meier rang a low one-timer off the iron, and the top unit stayed on the ice for about the entire power play. They were just unable to connect on their final passes to create chances, and the penalty was killed with only one shot on goal. Arseny Gritsyuk took a goaltending interference penalty about eight minutes in, and the Devils looked good on the kill. At one point, Bratt and Hughes had a two-on-none for about 125 feet, but their back-and-forth passing led to a pad stop on Bratt by Lindgren.
The Devils got a late power play, with six minutes left, when Clarke tripped Dillon in the neutral zone. The Devils had to take the puck from their own end, and Seamus Casey set Hughes up for a one-timer that went wide and out of the zone. Hischier later had a shot saved by Lindgren’s pad, and it came back out for Gritsyuk, who could not get the puck through traffic. Just as the penalty expired, Jack Hughes took the puck from the faceoff circle and shot through a Shane LaChance screen. LaChance batted the puck into the net to tie the game! However, Washington challenged for goaltender interference. The call was confirmed, and LaChance had his goal, and the Devils had a power play again on the delay of game call!
The Devils did not get a good chance on their second power play, bringing the game to the final two minutes. Hischier centered LaChance and Hameenaho, who worked hard on the wall. Hischier was set up for two shots, with the second going square off the corner of the iron! And the game went to overtime.
Overtime in Newark
Timo Meier was tripped by Pierre-Luc Dubois early in overtime, sending the Devils to a four-on-three power play. Seamus Casey sailed a shot over the net and out of play about 30 seconds into the power play. The Devils had trouble moving the puck for a bit, but they had several chances at the end of the power play after Daws bailed them out on a shorthanded rush. Hischier and Hughes both had shots denied by Lindgren before the penalty expired, and play was at four-on-four until a Meier shot was deflected out of play. Hameenaho had a shot deflected out of play on a rush after taking a drop pass from Palat before Hischier and Hughes went out with Nemec for an offensive zone faceoff, and Hughes drew another penalty on Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois went at Hughes, and Hischier went at Dubois, and the power play was wiped off. The Devils were unable to score at even strength, and play went to a shootout.
Jack Hughes went first, beating Lindgren over the shoulder after a lot of regular stickhandling. 1-0, Devils.
Dubois went first for Washington, beating Nico Daws over the blocker to make it 1-1.
Jesper Bratt led off the second round, and he was denied on a backhand.
Ryan Leonard tricked Daws a bit with his handles, pulling Daws out of position for a shot past the blocker, making it 2-1, Capitals.
Arseny Gritsyuk went third, keeping the game alive with a simple move and a shot over Lindgren’s glove.
Jakob Chychrun went third for Washington. He went wide and slow, telegraphing a slap shot that went off the pad.
Timo Meier went fourth. He lost the puck a bit and was stopped low.
Aleksei Protas went fourth for Washington. He made a simple move that was saved at the pad.
Nico Hischier came on for the fifth attempt. He went slow and tried to pull last-second to the backhand, but was denied.
Andrew Cristall went last for Washington, winning the game on a backhand over Daws’s pad.
Short Thoughts
I may come back to this later to give some more thoughts, but I was rather disappointed by the group in Quebec today. With several players who needed to impress to lock down a spot, their offensive push was really poor, and Georgi Romanov was really the star of the show for the Devils up there today. I did not really love what I saw from the defensemen, but the forwards were even worse with their difficulties with puck movement. As for the team in New Jersey, I was really encouraged by LaChance, Melovsky, and Hameenaho, who outshot Washington 5-2 as a line, while LaChance scored a goal just after a power play by batting a puck in the air into the net. With that goal in his preseason debut alongside strong possession numbers at five-on-five, LaChance probably put himself into the conversation to start the year in New Jersey as the team seeks out players to round out the roster.
Highlights in New Jersey
Your Thoughts
Were you able to watch the games? What did you think? Or did you attend the Devils game at the Prudential Center? Who stuck out to you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
