Preseason: Devils Edge Rangers, 4-3

The Devils rolled into Manhattan for their third preseason game of 2019 to take on the Rangers. While it might still only be preseason, the rivalry is still strong and any Devils fan worth their salt would want to see the Devils come out on top.

One of the subtexts now, of course, is Kaapo Kakko versus Jack Hughes. Unfortunately, Hughes was out of the lineup for the Devils tonight as management and the coaching staff had to rotate other guys in to get a look at.

In another move, this time on the ice, Sami Vatanen was moved back to his natural right side after playing the left side versus Boston on Monday when he was paired with PK Subban. Subban, too, did not play tonight.

The Devils kicked things off scoring in the first minute and the final minute of the first period. The early goal came just 37 seconds in and was all Nico Hischier. Nico banked the puck off the far half wall to Vatanen at the point. Vatanen went D-to-D with Will Butcher who shot. Nico then tipped the puck by Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev to make it 1-0 Devils.

The goal in the final minute (with four seconds remaining on the clock) was a real beauty that you owe it to yourself to look up on the NHL website. It came from Mikhail Maltsev unassisted. Maltsev was in hard on the forecheck, intercepting the puck and getting tripped up for his troubles. He collected the puck from his knees, used his strength to get to his feet and scored around Georgiev. That gave the Devils a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

In between those goals were a few scraps. The first came at the 6:36 mark and saw Brandon Baddock of the Devils take on Michael Haley. Haley had gone after Connor Carrick and Baddock stood up for his teammate by going toe-to-toe with Haley.

The second fight came after Nick Jones of the Rangers went low on John Hayden on a hit along the boards. Kevin Rooney stepped up to take him on.

Another key of the first period was the Rangers’ power play. Really, all night, they peppered Devils goaltending (and the posts) with shots. They wound up 1-for-4 on the man advantage with 12 shots. The Devils were 0-for-1 with four shots.

The Rangers’ big free agent signing, Artemi Panarin got them on the board 7:33 into the second on the power play. New York won the faceoff in the Devils’ zone, worked the puck around the perimeter, getting it to Panarin who just blasted a shot by Cory Schneider. Jacob Trouba and Kakko had the assists. That cut the Devils’ lead to 2-1.

Panarin would leave the game later on with a mild groin strain. He did not return.

But the Devils would get that one back when their own Russian import scored on a 2-on-1 with Baddock. Baddock skated around Brady Skjei, who made a cardinal mistake as a defenseman by leaving his feet trying to play the 2-on-1. Baddock calmly passed around him, getting it to Nikita Gusev, who tipped the puck by Georgiev to make it 3-1 Devils. Vatanen had the secondary assist.

Following that goal, which came at roughly the midway point of the game, the Rangers pulled Georgiev in favor of Igor Shesterkin to give him some minutes.

Haley would get the Rangers within one again when he scored at 12:36 of the second. The goal came after miscommunication between Cory and the defense left the goalie behind the goal cage on a hard around. Haley grabbed the loose puck and calmly put it into the open net. Greg McKegg had the lone assist for that goal. It was now 3-2.

The Devils would get their game winner just 3:55 into the third period. Brett Seney scored on a goal mouth scramble as the Devils drove hard to the net. That made it 4-2.

The Rangers would get one more when Boo Nieves threw the puck in front. Lias Andersson collected the puck with his skate and fired it past Evan Cormier (who had come in for the Devils to play the third). Vitali Kravtsov had the other assist on that goal, which gave us our final of 4-3.

The Rangers would pull Shesterkin with about 2:14 to play, but to no avail as the Devils were able to escape from New York with a 4-3 victory.

The Rangers threw a total of 42 shots at New Jersey goaltending. Schneider stopped 27 of the 29 he saw while Cormier was 12-for-13. The Devils managed 24 shots on Ranger goaltending.

The Devils did their damage in the faceoff circle, winning 52-percent of the draws. They were outhit 27-25, but had more blocked shots at 15 to the Rangers’ nine. The giveaways were about even, with the Rangers having 15 to the Devils’ 14.

Individually, Will Butcher led all Devils in ice time with 22:39 while Nico Hischier led the forwards with 19:59. Gusev, Butcher and Vatanen were all a plus-3 to lead that category. Hischier led in shots with three while Hayden led in hits with five. Hayden also led in hits with four. Two defensemen led in takeaways with two, Damon Severson and Vatanen.

Next up for the Devils, it’s these same New York Rangers, this time at Prudential Center on Friday. We will see you then.

Devils Make Trade on Second Day of Draft, Finish Picks

The Devils made some moves on the second day of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, which included a trade for a player and eight more picks.

The day began with the Devils trading a third round pick (which became Connor Hall, 77th overall) to Pittsburgh for forward Beau Bennett. Bennett is a 24-year-old 6-foot 2-inch, 195-pound native of Gardena, California who played 33 regular season games for the Penguins last season. He posted six goals and six assists (12 points) and had 10 penalty minutes. He played one playoff game for the Pens this year. He has spent the last three seasons since leaving the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League (where he spent one year) and the University of Denver (where he spent two) between Pittsburgh and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He was the Pens’ first choice (20th overall) in the 2010 Draft. He has 129 NHL regular season games and 21 Stanley Cup Playoff games in his career.

The Devils then got down to the business of the rest of their draft picks. They took Nathan Bastian in the second round (41st overall). He was a teammate of Michael McLeod on the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads last season and, according to Central Scouting’s Matt Ryan: “is a big, strong forward who possesses good hands and a scoring touch. He has good hockey sense and underrated passing ability. He has taken on a leadership role within his team and provides them with size and skill up front.” The right wing is 18-years-old and a 6-foot 4-inch, 205-pound native of Kitchener, Ontario.

In the third round, with the pick obtained from Ottawa yesterday, New Jersey selected Brandon Gignac, a center from the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes. The 5-foot 10-inch, 173-pound native of Repentigny, Quebec had 24 goals and 37 assists for 61 points in 67 games last season for Shawinigan. Add to that 41 penalty minutes. He is 18-years-old and had a final rank by the Central Scouting Bureau of 98, meaning he was chosen 18 spots above where he was ranked.

The Devils went the European route in the fourth round, choosing Russian left winger Mikhail Maltsev 102nd overall. Maltsev, 18-years-old and a native of St. Petersburg played the last two years with the SKA St. Petersburg Under-17 team and the Russian Under-18 team. In 2015-16, the 6-foot 3-inch, 198-pound winger had 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in 29 games played for the Russian Under-18 team. He had 20 penalty minutes to go with that. He was ranked 37th amongst all European skaters, but it is always a risk to draft a Russian player due to the fact that they might decide to stay and play in the KHL.

For their second pick in the fourth round, 105th overall, the Devils took a goaltender, Evan Cormier of the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL. The 6-foot 3-inch, 202-pound goalie, who catches with his left hand is 18-years-old and a native of Bowmanville, Ontario. Last season for Saginaw, he played in 58 games and had a 3.72 goals against average and a .890 save percentage to go along with one shutout in 3,246 minutes. He played some time of his OHL career with the North Bay Battalion, but did not see much action there. Choosing a goalie is kind of a strange choice, as the Devils are already packed at that position, but they may see something in this kid that they like.

In the fifth round, 132nd overall, the Devils went back to Russia to choose 18-year-old defenseman Yegor Rykov. The 6-foot 2-inch, 205-pound native of Vidnoe, Russia spent the bulk of last season with SKA St. Petersburg 2 of the Russian junior league, playing 20 games for them and scoring 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points. He also had 10 penalty minutes. Again, like goaltending, the Devils are loaded at the blueline, so this is a matter of seeing the best player available at that point in the Draft (he was ranked 36th amongst European skaters) and taking him. Again, the KHL signing possibility always plays a role with the Russian players.

For the seventh round, 162nd overall, the Devils chose Jesper Bratt of AIK of the Sweden-2 league. Bratt is a winger who can play either side, shoots left and is 18-years-old. He is 5-foot 10-inches and weighs 171-pounds. He is a native of Stockholm, Sweden and, in 48 games for AIK last season, had 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points and 6 penalty minutes.

Finally, in for their seventh round pick, 192nd overall, the Devils took defenseman Jeremy Davies of the Bloomington Thunder of the USHL. The 19-year-old blueliner from Montreal is 5-foot 10-inches and weighs 180-pounds. He put up some good numbers for Bloomington, in 60 games; he had 13 goals and 36 assists for 49 points and 48 penalty minutes.

A nice mix for the Devils and time will tell exactly where the future of these players lies, be it in the NHL in New Jersey, elsewhere or outside the NHL. The Devils addressed some needs and also stocked up in places where they already have a bit of a logjam within the system.

Congratulations to each of the players drafted by the New Jersey Devils over the last two days!