The New Jersey Devils finished up their preseason slate on Saturday in Philadelphia against the Flyers. With a squad featuring a minimal amount of regulars New Jersey took Philadelphia to a shootout, but ultimately fell 4-3. With the loss the Devils end their preseason schedule with a 3-2-2 record.
Recap
First Period
The Devils and Flyers alternated goals late in the first frame. Kevin Rooney redirected home an Ethan Edwards point shot to get the scoring started. It was a nice passing play by Edwards and Austin Strand at the point. While Rooney redirected the shot, the big-bodied Shane Lachance was skating in front of the Flyers’ goaltender to cause a nice screen.
Philadelphia scored just a couple minutes after the Rooney tally to tie the game. Jett Luchanko found a cutting Travis Sanheim who then beat Jake Allen from the slot. Jonathan Gruden was unable to tie up Sanheim, as the defenseman fought through Gruden with ease.
Allen had to make 10 stops on 11 Philadelphia shots in the opening period. On the flip side, the Devils also had 11 shots.
Second Period
Due to a late Matvei Michkov slashing penalty on Xavier Parent in period one New Jersey carried a power play over into the second frame. The Devils the Flyers pay as they struck just 40 seconds into the second frame. Top prospect Lenni Hameenaho cashed in a beautiful pass by Lachance to the door step. Calen Addison picked up the secondary assist as he quickly got the puck over to Lachance.
The Flyers once again responded and tied the game back up on a power play of their own. Topias Vilen flipped the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. Following that, on the man advantage Michkov made a nifty pass from behind the net and found Travis Konecny for the score.
The Philadelphia lineup, which featured many regulars, took over in the second period. They outshot New Jersey 10-2 forcing Allen to make several strong saves. Despite that, the score remained tied at two after two periods.
Third Period
As had been the case in the game’s first two periods the Devils and Flyers alternated goals in the third frame as well. Gritsyuk capitalized on a misplay by Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar and slid the puck to Paul Cotter who then found the back of the net. It was Cotter’s third goal of the preseason and the young Gritsyuk’s third assist.
The Devils looked to be on their way to an impressive victory, however, Philadelphia was able to capitalize with the empty net. Konecny scored his second of the game tying the game with 1:53 left in the contest.
The Devils responded in the third period after a lackluster second. Both New Jersey and Philadelphia had 11 shots in the third frame.
Overtime/Shootout
Neither team were able to capitalize during the five minutes three-on-three overtime period. The Flyers did outshoot the Devils 4-1, but Allen stood tall.
In the shootout, Vladar held the Devils scoreless while Trevor Zegras and Konecny each scored. Konency’s, specifically, was the game-decider.
Game Notes
Strong In Net
Jake Allen was superb for the Devils last season as he posted a 19.07 goals saved above expected, according to Evolving Hockey, which ranked 14th among 98 goaltenders. In the offseason New Jersey made it a priority to re-sign the 35-year-old as he is once again slated to be the back-up to starter Jacob Markstrom.
In three preseason games Allen was terrific. In all he stopped 53-of-58 which is good for a 0.914 save percentage. If Markstrom remains healthy there is a real chance the Devils own one of the best goaltending duos in the league entering the season.
Top Prospects Impressing
In our preseason prospect rankings Gritsyuk came in ranked No. 2 while Hameenaho and Lachance came in at No. 4 and 7 respectively. Each had their hand in almost carrying a Devils lineup littered with minor leaguers to victory on Sunday.
Gritsyuk picked up his third assist of the preseason on the Cotter goal. Meanwhile, Hameenaho scored a tap-in on the power play and Lachance played a role both on Hameenaho’s power play tally as well was a big body in front on Rooney’s redirect goal to open the scoring.
It’s likely that both Hameenaho and Lachance will begin the season with Utica in the AHL. However, Gritsyuk will surely be in the team’s opening night lineup. It is extremely likely each will factor in at the NHL level sometime this year.
What’s Next
With the preseason slate concluding the next up for the Devils is the beginning of the regular season. New Jersey opens the season Thursday, October 9 in Raleigh against the Carolina Hurricanes. The game is set for a 7:30 pm ET puck drop and can be viewed on ESPN+ and Hulu.