The New Jersey Devils
showed fans what they had on deck waiting for them in Monday’s big win.
Offseason additions P.K. Subban, Jack Hughes, and Nikita Gusev made their first
appearances with the team and showed off what the team is capable of doing.
Wednesday, across the Hudson, the
New York Rangers showed off what they had, as well, but with big names like
Artemi Panarin, and Kaapo Kakko.
The Devils’, Nico Hischier scored
with only 37 seconds into the game. Hischier wasn’t the only one showing off his
stick skills; goals from Brett Seney, and new Devils comers Mikhail Maltsev and
Gusev showed this long-time rival that they are here and ready this season.
During
this game, the vibe was definitely not like a preseason game. The constant
battle for the puck and set ups for big plays did not feel like the old Devils
hockey we are used to seeing. It almost felt as if there was a fight for a
playoff spot. The rivals had a lot of high impact hits, punches, and hard
shots.
Continuing on with the rival over
the Hudson; fans wanted to see one thing tonight – Hughes vs. Kakko. The first
rounder and second rounder did not come face-to-face on the ice. Kakko got
plenty of playing time, even being part of key plays made by the Rangers for
the rival game. The first rounder, Jack Hughes, was not in the lineup for the
Wednesday night game.
A man
familiar to Devils fans was Cory Schneider, who made 27 saves in the first
two periods before being replaced by Evan Cormier in the third period. Cormier
finished with 12 saves in that time.
The Devils are coming home to
back-to-back home games this weekend. Fans will see if the newly revamped team
will keep showing off and what they have up their sleeves as they will host the
two New York teams. They play the Rangers on Friday and have a
highly-anticipated match against the New York Islanders when they visit on
Saturday.
