Introduction
Last night the New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals in their preseason opener 5-4. It was a fun one to watch for Devils’ fans. But just in case you missed it, catch up with our recap and takeaways below:
Recap
Period One
1-0 NJ, Sharangovich (Holtz, Okhoituk), 5:49 of period one.
1-1, Carlson (unassisted), SHG at 9:01 of period one.
Period Two
2-1 NJ, Hughes (unassisted), 0:45 of period two.
2-2, Carlson (Kuznetsov, Mantha), PPG at 3:15 of period two.
3-2 NJ, Holtz (Severson, Sharangovich), 12:33 of period two.
3-3, Oshie (Lapierre, Kempny), 13:00 of period two.
4-3 WSH, Vecchione (Lapierre), PPG at 19:09 of period two.
Period Three
4-4, Mercer (Johnsson), 5:35 of period three.
5-4, Hischier (Severson), PPG at 18:48 of period three.
The Good
Jack Hughes and Yegor Sharangovich
I didn’t want to give either of these guys their own segment because them being good was kind of expected, but Jack Hughes and Yegor Sharangovich were terrific. Hughes was zipping the puck around and nabbed a nice backhand roof-job goal early in the second. Sharangovich had a couple of points including the opening goal which was really spectacular. The two showed great chemistry and fantastic skill that hopefully they carry over into the regular season.
The 2020 NHL Draft
The Devils seventh and 18th picks in the draft both played tonight and both got pretty good looks. They both also played very well. Holtz had an absolute snipe on a two-on-one along with a beautiful assist to set up the opening goal of the game. He showed off his laser of a shot again in the practice shootout the NHL is allowing at the conclusion of every preseason game.
Mercer also kept up his play from training camp thus far. He showed off his elite hockey-IQ and good shot last night, nabbing a nice top shelf goal in the third to even the game. Even 2020 3rd round goaltender Nico Daws played great in the 20 minutes of action he got in the third.
They Won
This isn’t about a specific player, just that the Devils beat the Capitals last night who had a lot of their NHL guys playing. It’s preseason so obviously not actually everyone. However, winning when they faced off against Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Oshie, Carlson, Mantha, Samsonov, Jensen, and Kempny isn’t a small feat.
The Bad
Nico’s Line
Hischier of course scored the game winner with just over a minute left on the clock, but besides that he was mostly invisible last night. The only other time he was noticeable is when he turned over the puck that led to the Capitals’ first goal. Vesey and Clarke, who were his wingers, were ok, but didn’t really show off either.
Some of the Other Youngsters
While the Devils top prospects played well for the most part, some of their other young guys did not. Most noticeably on the backend Nikita Okhoituk, Riley Walsh and Kevin Bahl all were definitely lackluster. In terms of forwards I wanted to see a little more from Fabian Zetterlund and Marian Studenic. At the end of the day, you will be less likely to be noticed when you have the least and second least total time on ice.
What’s Next?
Preseason game number two, at the Prudential Center, versus the New York Rangers at 7:00 PM ET on NHL Network.