Preseason: Devils Prevail in Washington

And just like that, the 2021-22 NHL season has gotten underway for the Devils.

First off, I am fully aware of the Mackenzie Blackwood situation. I wanted to reserve comment until someone with some sources identified him, It seems Blackwood beat us to the punch and outed himself. I will see what I want to say (if anything) and will talk about it at a later time.

Instead, we will talk about tonight’s preseason tilt between the Devils and the Washington Capitals in DC.

In goal, we got our first look at at Jonathan Bernier in net. He got the start and played the first two periods. Nico Daws played the third for the Devils. Bernier made 13 saves on 17 shots against (including 12-of-13 at even strength, 0-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-2 shorthanded) for a .765 save percentage.

Daws stopped all ten shots he faced – all at even strength.

For the Caps, Zach Fucale got the start and played the first two periods. He stopped 12-for-15 total (9-for-12 at even strength, 2-for-2 on the power play, 1-for-1 shorthanded) for an .800 save percentage.

Ilya Samsonov relieved him in the third and stopped 6-of-8 total (6-of-7 at 5-on-5 and let in the only power play shot he faced) for a .750 save percentage.

Jack Hughes was wearing an “A” tonight as a sign that management is starting to see potential in his leadership abilities, even if it is a preseason game.

Yegor Sharangovich picked up right where he left off, scoring the first goal of the preseason for the Devils 5:49 into the game. It came when Sharangovich cut in behind the Washington defense, taking a pass from Alexander Holtz and burying it over Fucale’s glove. That made it 1-0 Devils. Nikita Okhotiuk had the secondary assist.

In what would become a tit-for-tat tend throughout the night, the Caps immediately responded with John Carlson scoring at the 9:01 mark to tie the game at one apiece. It came with the Capitals shorthanded and saw Carlson poke the puck away from Nico Hischier just inside his own blueline and was off to the races. He skated in on a 2-on-1 and shot just under the crossbar, beating Bernier shorthanded to tie the game at one heading into the second period.

In the second, Jack Hughes gave the Devils back the lead just 45 seconds in. This came when Hughes picked off an own-zone D-to-D pass by Michal Kempny near the near faceoff dot. He cut in front and beat Fucale just under the crossbar to make it 2-1 Devils. That goal, like the Carlson goal, was unassisted.

But Washington would tie things again at the 3:15 mark. Carlson, this time on the power play, blasted a bomb from the point, with Evgeny Kuznetsov feeding him from the halfwall. The puck hit the post and bounced in off of Bernier’s backside to make it 2-2. Anthony Mantha had the secondary assist – cross ice to Kuznetsov.

But midway through, the Devils would again take the lead. Holtz, at the 12:33 mark, broke into the Washington zone on a 2-on-1. He took the shot himself, absolutely snapping it by Fucale to give the Devils back the 3-2 lead. Damon Severson had the primary assist while Sharangovich helped out with the secondary.

That lead lasted less than 30 seconds, however, as at 13:00, TJ Oshie was sprung behind the Devils’ defense by Hendrix Lapierre and shot under the catching glove of Bernier, beating him to make ti 3-3. Kempny had the secondary assist.

The Caps would take their first lead of the night when Mike Vecchione scored a power play goal with less than a minute to go in the second. Connor McMichael lost the puck on the entry and Lapierre picked it up after it was lost in a scramble in the slot. Vecchione got it and shot, beating Bernier to make it 4-3 Caps. Note that McMichael actually did not get credit for an assist here.

The Caps took the 4-3 lead into the third but it was not to last for them.

Dawson Mercer scored 5:35 into the frame from Andreas Johnsson (complete with new Anglicized last name). Mercer cut near the halfwall on the near side to the top of the near faceoff circle. He then powered towards the goal, shooting from an off angle and scoring – tying the game at four apiece.

This set up the dramatic (as dramatic as a preseason game can actually get) finish. With a little less than two minutes to go in regulation, Hischier gave the Devils the late 5-4 lead.

The Devils won a faceoff deep in the Washington end. Damon Severson ended up with the puck, finding Hischier down low. He kind of drifted unmarked towards the goal mouth and scored what was actually a very fast power play goal. A 4-on-4 had just expired with Nolan Foote coming out of the box and the Devils were on the man advantage for what amounted to three seconds before Hischier scored the goal.

Washington would pull Samsonov for the extra attacker, but time would simply expire on them.

The two teams did a quick shootout practice session, which Holtz “won” for New Jersey.

Holtz, with a goal and an assist and Sharangovich, with a goal and an assist, each tied for the team lead with two points each.

Sharangovich led in shots with four, hits were led by Mark Jankowski, Foote, Severson and Okhotiuk with two each. Jonas Siegenthaler led in blocked shots with three while Hughes had two takeaways, leading there. Kevin Bahl, Christian Jaros, Hughes, Foote and Jankowski each had the distinction of leading in giveaways with one each.

Teamwise, the Devils were outshot, 27-23, only won 34-percent of the game’s faceoffs, were 1-for-5 on the power play, had 18 team hits (just as many as the Capitals), 13 blocks to Washington’s eight and six giveaways to the Caps’ seven.

Next up, the Devils will face the rival New York Rangers on Friday, October 1 at 7 PM at Prudential Center. See you then!

2021 Prospects Challenge: Devils Inch by Bruins, 4-3

The Devils did not have their best game in their first contest of the 2021 Prospects Challenge. They got into some penalty trouble in their loss to the Buffalo Sabres and were not as decisive as they could have been in the 3-0 defeat.

But game two was another game and another chance to show what they could do.

They came to play in their 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins, cleaning up their game and shooting when the situation called for, passing when the situation called for that.

Akira Schmid got the start between the pipes for the Devils, with Nico Daws backing him up. Schmid made 27 saves on 30 Boston shots against for a .900 save percentage.

Down the rink from him was an old friend for the Devils. Jeremy Brodeur, son of Devils’ GOAT Martin and former member of the Binghamton Devils, went for the B’s. He was even still wearing his black-and-red equipment as pointed out by broadcaster Matt Loughlin. Brodeur made 28 saves on 32 shots against for an .875 percentage.

Boston was coming off of a 5-2 win over the Sabres yesterday and continued their hot streak when they got on the board first.

It came on the power play, as all of their goals were scored today, when Joe Masonius took a holding call about five minutes in.

At 11:58 of the first, Jakub Lauko took a shot from the far half wall. Jesper Froden, a 26-year-old out of Sweden, cut through the slot and tipped the shot from Lauko past Schmid to make it 1-0 Bruins.

A little bit after the Boston goal, with 9:10 gone by in the first, Masonius was called for an elbow against Ian McKinnon. He would answer the bell for that against McKinnon. They squared off, but Masonius was tripped up by an errant stick and there was no scrap. The teams did play four-on-four, though, due to Hudson taking a tripping penalty as well.

Before the first frame was up, New Jersey would tie up the game when Dawson Mercer scored at the 2:21 mark. It developed when Nolan Foote jarred a puck loose behind the Boston net and Alexander Holtz picked up the puck. He then quickly centered it to Mercer in the slot, who scored. It was the first goal of the tournament for the Devils and knotted the game at one apiece going into the second period.

The Devils would take the lead less than five minutes into the new frame when Holtz scored on the power play. Mercer got the puck to Nikita Okhotyuk, who whipped it to Holtz at the far half wall. Holtz, who is known for his shot, snapped one on net and beat Brodeur, exploding the water bottle on the net apart in the process. That gave the Devils their first lead of the tournament at 2-1.

Boston tied things six or so minutes after that when Froden scored again on the power play. Lauko and Froden played give-and-go along the right wall, with Froden giving it to Lauko and then heading for the net. He got it back scored from the slot. Fabian Lysell had the secondary assist on the goal that tied the game at two.

Less than a minute after Froden’s second goal, Foote made it 3-2 Devils when they recovered a turnover and headed for the Bruins’ zone. Mercer fed Foote, who was camped out at the near half wall. Foote let loose with a one-time bomb that blew past Brodeur to put the Devils up by one..

New Jersey would grab one more before the second was up to double up their lead.

Patrick Grasso made it 4-2 when the Devils crashed the net after Brodeur made the initial save on Tyler Irvine. The rebound came right out to Grasso, who buried it to give the Devils the two-goal lead with just 37 second to play in the second period.

The third period would see Boston grab another power play goal when Lauko, with 4:47 to play in regulation, took a pass from Lysell and snapped it by Schmid. Jack Ahcan had the secondary assist.

Brodeur was pulled for the extra skater with about two minutes to go in the game, but nothing came of it and our final was 4-3 Devils.

There was some pushing, shoving and grappling following the final whistle, but everyone cleared off of the ice in time and the tournament was over.

Mercer led the Devils in scoring with three points (a goal and two assists), while Spring Lake native Masonius led in penalty minutes with nine.

Next up, the Devils will return home via bus and, this week, training camp – the big camp – will begin!

We will see you Wednesday, the 29th as the Devils open the preseason against the Washington Capitals down in DC.