Last night, the New Jersey Devils swept their series of split-squad games which began their preseason slate. They took down the Philadelphia Flyers at home 6-0, and defeated the Canadiens on the road 4-2. The Devils looked impressive in both matchups, outshooting and out-chancing the opposition mightily in both contests.
Recap
Period One
The Devils came out flying in both games, but one score showed it more than the other. In the first six minutes of the home game against the Flyers the team potted four goals. Ondrej Palat, Erik Haula, Tyce Thompson, and Alexander Holtz all scored in quick succession to start the game.
Meanwhile, in Montreal, Joshua Roy opened the scoring for the Canadiens with a power play goal past Akira Schmid. About six minutes later, Joseph Gambardella scored for the Devils on a broken play to tie the game. The scores after one would be 4-0 at home and 1-1 on the road.
Period Two
The second period started out well for both squads as they each scored a power play goal in the opening four minutes. Timo Meier buried a great feed from Nico Hischier against the Flyers and Simon Nemec scored on a lucky bounce in Montreal.
Later on, the road squad would go up by a pair after Jack Hughes sliced his way through the Canadiens’ defense and found Dawson Mercer on the backdoor. Josh Andersen would score on a tap-in late in the period, but the Devils still held the lead 3-2.
That, along with dominating 5-0 at home, had Devils’ fans feeling good.
Period Three
Each Devils’ squad would add on a goal in the third period. At home, Michael McLeod put on the moves against Felix Sandstrom to make it 6-0. Meanwhile, on the road, New Jersey would score their third power play goal of the night. Jack Hughes picked up a loose puck and ripped it past a sprawling Habs netminder.
Despite some late pushes from both opposing teams, no other goals would be scored. The Devils took both games they played Monday by multiple goals.
Game Notes
Stars And Rookies Excelling
The Devils had almost all of their starters playing today in either game and almost all of them looked great. Jack Hughes and Tyler Toffoli had an immediate connection and the line of Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Alexander Holtz looked solid as well with a 57.89 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and 79.22 expected goals percentage (xG%).
Even some prospects looked good such as Simon Nemec. The young defenseman had a 63.16 CF% and a 79.09 xG%. Overall it was a great night to be a Devils fan as the team looked fantastic on both sides of the border.
Strong In Net
Goaltending looked great for the Devils as well. Four players minded the net overall and they had splendid nights. Erik Källgren and Vitek Vanecek each faced 11 shots stopping all of them. Schmid stopped 16 of the 18 he faced and Keith Kinkaid went 7-for-7 in his return to New Jersey.
Overall, the four combined to save 2.22 goals saved above expected (GSAx).
Note, Kevin Kinkaid left the game in Montreal early after a collision in the third period.
Next Up
The Devils continue their preseason slate on Thursday as they travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers. The game is set for 7:00 pm ET on MSG.