Devils Postgame
Devils Recap & Takeaways: NJD Sweeps NHL Global Series Over Sabres
The New Jersey Devils have started their season with back-to-back wins after defeating the Buffalo Sabres 3-1.
After a thrilling 4-1 win to open the season, the New Jersey Devils faced a quick turnaround for the second game of the NHL Global Series against the Buffalo Sabres.
With Jake Allen in the crease and Ondrej Palat out of the lineup for the birth of his child, the Devils go back-to-back against the Sabres, winning 3-1.
Devils Recap
The first noteworthy moment of the game came at the 6:02 mark when Brenden Dillon laid a massive hit on J.J. Paterka. The hit was reviewed for a five-minute major but after review, was changed to a minor penalty. It took until 8:18 of the second period before the 0-0 deadlock was broken. Sabres big-man Tage Thompson scored on a scramble in the crease that slid under Allen’s pad. It didn’t take long for the Devils to respond, and it’s a first career goal for rookie defenseman Seamus Casey on the powerplay.
It was goals in back-to-back games for Paul Cotter that broke the 1-1 tie off of a gorgeous goal from a Jack Hughes pass. Hughes would be involved again in an incredible and inevitable goal for his line after Timo Meier capitalized on a Jesper Bratt pass. Bratt took an outlet pass from Hughes, who then proceeded to wrap around the net and find Meier, who had a wide open net to tap it home. That would be enough for the Devils to see out the win, a dominant one at that, which saw them outshoot the Sabres 37-18.
Devils Takeaways
Meier – Hughes – Bratt Line
After a quiet game first game, the Meier – Hughes – Bratt line came out buzzing today. They controlled the ice when they were out there and were unafraid to shoot the puck. Those three combined for 19 of the Devils’ 37 shots and finished as the top three players in SOG.
After pushing and out-chancing the Sabres all game, they finally broke through for the third goal of the game. It was a goal that showed off the passing ability of Hughes to get the puck up the ice, the skating and edge work from Bratt, who took it full speed around Devon Levi and the net, and the IQ of Meier to get to the crease and park himself there.
Depth scoring hasn’t been a concern over these first two games, but as the season wears on, this line will need to come up big and fill the scoresheet.
Seamus Casey
Casey opened his season yesterday with a solid but quiet start to his career. He flashed some of his skating and puck skills in his debut, but today was a full-blown coming-out party.
His ability to quarterback a power play has been talked about for years now, and we got a glimpse of how effective he can be at it. Down 1-0 and on a powerplay that’s struggled a little, Casey came through big to tie the game.
His ability to shift his body while toe-dragging the puck around Alex Tuch before firing a wrist shot bar down was as veteran of a move as there is. Casey always seems to be in complete control and plays with the confidence rarely seen from young defenders. He’s only played a little over 12 minutes in each game, but Sheldon Keefe will likely start to utilize him more the longer he stays in the lineup.
Penalty Kill
What the Devils penalty kill would look like under a new coaching staff and new personnel was a mystery heading into the season, but two games in, and it’s been as good as anyone could have asked for.
After going 4/4 on the kill yesterday, the Devils PK unit shutout the Sabres again. Buffalo went 0/2 on the man advantage, but most impressively was the Devils ability to hold them without a SOG.
Keefe has brought a “power kill” style to his PK, which involves the forwards being more aggressive with winning the puck back in the neutral zone and at the blue line. It’s effective at stopping opposing teams from entering the zone and allows you to create offense shorthanded, which is exactly what they did. Jesper Bratt sprung himself loose on a breakaway but was unable to score. With the Devils offensive talent, this tactic gives them a chance to score more goals and stop opposing teams from setting up in their zone.
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