News Devils Team Notes

[New Jersey Devils]

Game Preview #12: New Jersey Devils @ Los Angeles Kings

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (8-3-0) vs. Los Angeles Kings (5-3-4)

The Time: 9:00pm ET

The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio

Last Devils Game​

New Jersey began the California portion of their road trip on Thursday in San Jose. A goal against in the first minute of the game, plus two more in the opening frame sunk the Devils in a terrible 5-2 loss. Dawson Mercer registered two power play goals for all the offense on the Devils’ side.

Last Kings Game​

Los Angeles was also in action on Thursday, falling in a shootout to the Red Wings, 4-3. The Kings were down 3-1 entering the final three minutes of regulation, but two goals in 40 seconds late in the third helped them secure a loser point to salvage something from their Thursday evening.

Friday Night News Dump: Markstrom Extended​

The Devils made a pretty significant announcement last night. If you missed it, I don’t blame you. The team announced it on a Friday night, which just so happened to be Halloween, which also just so happened to come during Game 6 of the World Series. But in the middle of all of that, New Jersey announced that they have signed Jacob Markstrom to a contract extension: 2 years, $6m AAV:

Enjoying a Swede treat on this fine Halloween evening.

: https://t.co/xTCdOqlkYC pic.twitter.com/VzCYuwHabi

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 1, 2025

This doesn’t really impact tonight’s game, but it’s such a significant development that we need to address it here. The timing isn’t the best as far as optics go. Markstrom is coming off one of his worst games as a Devil, and he’s struggled through substandard play and injuries early this season. Still, Markstrom showed in stretches last season (including the playoffs) that he can still be a high-end goalie in this league.

For me personally, I really like the two-year term, but the $6m AAV is a little rich for my blood. I guess I have to keep telling myself that in a rising cap environment, $6m AAV is the new $4m AAV, or something like that.

In any case, congrats to Markstrom. Here’s to hoping he can give New Jersey a few more good seasons to come.

Injuries Taking Their Toll​

The Devils have been ravaged by injuries since before the season even began. Johnny Kovacevic and Stefan Noesen began the year on the shelf, and they were quickly joined by Evgenii Dadonov, Zack MacEwen, Cody Glass, and most recently, Brett Pesce. It’s that last one that seems to be hitting the Devils the hardest. In the two games that Pesce has missed, New Jersey has given up eight(!) and five goals. Completely unacceptable defensive efforts, even if a large portion of the blame belongs to the goaltenders.

Pesce is expected to be out at least a month, so he’s not walking through that door to help the Devils defense anytime soon. It’s on the players still in the lineup to figure things out and stop bleeding chances and goals. It’s only two games, but it would behoove New Jersey to nip this in the bud starting tonight.

And now, we may have to add another injury to the list:

Connor Brown is questionable for Saturday at the moment.

Needed the day off today, says #NJDevils HC Keefe. And they’ll see tomorrow how he feels.

Keefe says not to read too much into today’s lines as Brown’s availability tomorrow will dictate what the makeup looks like.

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) October 31, 2025

Brown has been quite the offseason pickup for New Jersey. He won’t continue to shoot the lights out, but he’s a solid player with speed, skill, grit, and veteran leadership. Even if he isn’t a top of the lineup player, he will be missed if he can’t go tonight. Let’s hope whatever is ailing him heals soon.

In his absence, head coach Sheldon Keefe made some big changes to his lineup in practice yesterday:

Changes indeed for #NJDevils — though we will have to see how things might change again with Brown not on the ice today.

Each forward line has been tweaked.

And if today is any indication, it looks like Cholowski will draw in with Nemec while Casey will be an extra tomorrow. https://t.co/UR5toSEjM7 pic.twitter.com/3slJGtbCLu

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) October 31, 2025

I hesitate to put too much stock into this because Stein reported that Keefe said not to read too much into this. The lineup was the way it was apparently to accommodate Brown’s absence. If he’s in tonight, I expect the lineup to remain roughly the same. If he’s not, then perhaps we see something similar to this.

There’s also Dennis Cholowski seemingly being set to make his season debut tonight. He’s a very limited player but after the last two nights, it’s not like the defense begs to be kept together. We’ll see what Cholowski can bring this evening.

Some Big Guns Have Been Quiet​

I mentioned this briefly in the game recap of the San Jose game on Thursday, but I would really like to see Nico Hischier and Timo Meier get back in the goal column. Both players have gone seven games without scoring a goal, and while they contribute in many, many other ways, scoring goals would be a nice way to contribute some more. Hischier only has two goals on the season, and Meier only has three. I get that a lot of their energy is taken up every night by stopping the other team’s best players, but they were fed brutal minutes last year and still produced. In fact, Hischier registered a career-high in goals with 35, and while much of that was on the power play, the overall point remains that even with tough assignments, they are more than capable of finding the back of the net.

The good news is that Hischier is due. He is only shooting at 8.0% thus far, well below his career mark of 13.2%. Meier on the other hand is actually at 10.7%, which is basically at his career mark of 10.9%. So it doesn’t appear that he’s getting victimized by bad shooting luck. Which is a little concerning, but if there’s one thing we know about Meier, it’s that he is capable of scoring goals in bunches. Once he sees that next one go in, don’t be surprised to see him follow it up with a stretch of seven goals in five games or something like that.

Jack Hughes has carried the offense lately, and Jesper Bratt and Dawson Mercer have produced as well. But New Jersey needs their other big guns to start scoring goals again too. I have confidence in them, Hischier and Meier won’t be held down for long. But it would be nice if they can stop being held down tonight.

Is Luke Ready For Primetime?​

We’ve talked about Brett Pesce already, but now let’s talk about his defense partner, Luke Hughes. When I say primetime, I’m referring to being a true number one defenseman based on both traditional and advanced stats. It’s worth asking if he’s ready considering just how much the Devils now have invested in the young man. Again, all the small sample size caveats apply, but since Pesce went down, to me it’s been a mixed bag as far as what I’ve seen out of Hughes without his primary partner.

In the game on Tuesday in Colorado, Hughes actually didn’t look too bad based on the numbers at Natural Stat Trick. In that game, at 5-on-5 Hughes posted an Expected Goals For% of 54.30. The Devils also outscored Colorado 4-1 when Hughes was on the ice. Hughes was paired with Dougie Hamilton that night, and in 13:22 together at 5-on-5, Hughes’ xGF% was 68.77, and he was in the black in goals for, Corsi, Scoring Chances, and High Danger Corsi. In Thursday’s game, however, Hughes was paired with Seamus Casey, and boy did it not go well. Hughes posted a 5-on-5 xGF% of 14.31, which is shockingly bad. In 17:20 with Casey specifically, he put up a 19.72 xGF%. The Hughes-Casey pairing did not work in any way, and I would strongly suggest that Keefe not go with that pairing again.

The numbers at Hockey Stat Cards seem to back this data up. In the Colorado game, Hughes posted a Game Score of 3.18, second on the team behind only his partner, Hamilton. For those not familiar with Hockey Stat Cards’ Game Score model, 3.18 is a fantastic number. Meanwhile in the San Jose game, Hughes’ Game Score was -0.89, a really bad result.

So for Hughes, it’s been one great game and one bad game since Pesce went down. I will say, just based on my own personal eye test, I feel as though his numbers in the Colorado game are a little generous. Not to the point where I think he had a secretly bad game, but I do think it’s hard for me to point to Hughes and say he was truly dominant in that contest. Then again, he did get matched up against Colorado’s super-elite top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Martin “The Diver” Necas, and Artturi Lehkonen, along with a steady dose of the all-world Cale Makar-Devon Toews pairing. So maybe I’m being too harsh on Hughes given he posted really good numbers against arguably the toughest matchup in the league.

And even if we go by traditional stats, Hughes has zero goals and six assists through 11 games. His shots will start beating goaltenders again, but that’s still only slightly more than half a point per game production. Which is pretty much exactly what he’s produced in his first two seasons (47 points in 2023-24, 44 points last year). That’s not bad obviously, but that’s far from top of the league stuff. The only way you can get away with that level of production and still be considered a number one defenseman is if you’re also an elite shutdown guy. Think Jaccob Slavin or Gustav Forsling. Luke certainly isn’t on their level in that regard. Then again, if Hughes actually starts getting regular playing time on the top power play unit soon, instead of splitting time with Hamilton, he could see his production skyrocket.

So what does all this mean? Well in my eyes, it means that Hughes is not quite ready to be considered a true number one defenseman yet. He has all the tools, and he shows that elite production and ice-tilting ability in spurts, but not at a consistent level. He doesn’t appear to be able to carry his own pairing yet, though perhaps it’s unfair to expect him to carry a player as raw as Casey. Then again, it’s not like the Hughes-Casey pairing was going up against MacKinnon or McDavid, they were playing a woeful Sharks team. I really don’t think it would’ve been too much to ask for Hughes to have a good game against a team that bad regardless of who his partner is.

I want to make it clear, I am absolutely not giving up on Hughes. I still have confidence that he will be a star defenseman in this league very soon. But the numbers seem to indicate that he has thus far only been able to achieve star-level play when paired with another really good defenseman. For Hughes to be considered a true number one, he needs to thrive under tougher conditions.

Heavy Is The Head That Wears The Crown​

The Los Angeles Kings have been a very good team for half a decade now. They’ve made the playoffs every year since 2021-22, finishing with 99 points twice, 104 points once, and 105 points last season. They’ve built their team through terrific team defense, finishing second league-wide in goals allowed last season, third in 2023-24, 16th in 2022-23, and 9th in 2021-22. Even in their “down” year in 2022-23 they were still average.

The biggest problem for Los Angeles since they’ve become a perennial playoff team can be summed up in two words: Edmonton Oilers.

Over the past four seasons, the Kings have been eliminated by the Oilers in the first round every single year. Other fans have plenty of complaints about the current playoff format, but Kings fans probably have the biggest complaints of all. They just can’t seem to solve their Edmonton problem.

That problem cost general manager Rob Blake his job this past spring. In his place came longtime NHL executive Ken Holland. He went to work reshaping the team, which basically boiled down to the highly questioned signings of defensemen Cody Ceci (4-year, $4.5m AAV) and old pal Brian Dumoulin (3-year, $4m AAV). These two have effectively replaced (or at least that was the idea) shutdown ace Vladislav Gavrikov, who signed with the New York Rangers in free agency.

Aside from Ceci and Dumoulin, the rest of the team remains largely the same. They still haven’t solved their Oilers problem, but as we’ve discussed, this has still been one of the stronger teams in the league for years now. They hope this is the year they can finally get over the hump.

Abdicating The Throne​

With apologies to Cyrus The Great, Anze Kopitar has been the King of Kings for a long, long time in Los Angeles. But the future hall of famer’s reign is coming to an end, as he announced before the season that 2025-26 would be his last. Obviously Kopitar has slowed down in recent years (he only has five assists and zero goals in eight games this season for example), but he’s still been an effective player and invaluable leader for the Kings.

The heir apparent to Kopitar’s throne is Quinton Byfield. The second overall pick in 2020 has developed into a pretty darn good player over the past couple seasons. Over the past two years, he posted 43 goals and 109 points over 161 total games. Certainly not elite production, but respectable for a player his age. But that’s not what makes Byfield so dangerous.

Byfield is one of those players who just controls the run of play very well. A look through his Natural Stat Trick numbers show a player whose big 5-on-5 stats (Expected Goals For%, High Danger Corsi For%, Scoring Chances For%, Corsi For%) have all been in the mid-to-high-50’s since 2022-23. That’s excellent work for a player as young as Byfield. Meanwhile, a look at Byfield’s Hockey Stat Cards numbers have him above average in defensive impact, borderline elite in offensive impact, and borderline elite in overall impact. As far as traditional stats go, he’s got those 109 points over the past two seasons, and this year he’s leveled up a bit in terms of point production, registering 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 12 games, an 82-game pace of roughly 68 points.

Byfield is probably the most important Kings player of the next five to ten seasons. He’s a star in the making, and while he might not be a true star yet, he’s a dangerous player that the Devils should devote a sizeable amount of their gameplan to.

Keeping Kempe Contained​

Apart from Byfield, Adrian Kempe is the other big Kings forward to keep an eye on. Through 12 games, Kempe leads the team in points with 15, and is tied for the team lead in goals with five. Kempe has been a point machine for Los Angeles over the past few seasons, registering a career-high 41 goals in 2022-23 (67 total points that year), 75 points in 2023-24, and 73 points last season. He’s over a point per game pace in the early going, so he’ll need plenty of defensive attention as well.

Projected Lineup​

Here’s how the Kings lined up in their last game:

Tonight's projected @LAKings lines from DTLA. Forward Trevor Moore will miss tonight's game due to personal reasons:
: @FanDuelSN_West
: ESPN LA App, LA Kings App, @TuLigaRadio pic.twitter.com/37kIDxwj9u

— LA Kings PR (@LAKingsPR) October 31, 2025

I’m not sure if Trevor Moore will return to the lineup (he missed last game due to personal reasons). If he does, expect this lineup with Moore drawing back in for Jacob Moverare.

Your Take​

What do you make of tonight’s game? Are you confident the defense will right itself, or will they struggle to keep the puck out of their own net again? Who on the Devils are looking for to step up? Who on the Kings are you most intrigued by? As always, thanks for reading!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...review-12-new-jersey-devils-los-angeles-kings

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Game Preview #13: New Jersey Devils at Anaheim Ducks

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (9-3-0) at the Anaheim Ducks (6-3-1)

The Time: 8:00 PM ET (5:00 PM local)

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Hockey Network

Better Effort​

The New Jersey Devils had most breaks go their way last night against the Los Angeles Kings. Jacob Markstrom was excellent, keeping the Kings to one goal as the Devils took the 4-1 win. The Kings doubled their shots at 44 to 22, forcing Markstrom to earn that victory. Do the Devils want to play the same game tonight with Anaheim? I would not think so. The one thing that I do not think was really their fault that did not go their way last night was the penalties. The officials overlooked a couple obvious too many men situations for Los Angeles, contributing to some extended defensive shifts for the Devils, while New Jersey was called for four total penalties during the game. To date, the Devils are tied for the second-least power play opportunities in the league, tied with Pittsburgh at 31 and ahead of just the Columbus Blue Jackets with 26. They have had to kill 43 penalties, though, and the league average for both at the moment is 39. I am not going to be nice to referees and pretend this disparity reflects the reality of infractions on the ice.

But the Devils have to deal with it, or maybe they just don’t embellish enough to get calls in today’s NHL. Some better possession numbers might help them draw calls, too, but the lack of calls coming their way are also hurting their chances to gain and sustain possession. The Ducks are a rather average group on special teams, as they have eight goals on 40 power play opportunities and seven goals against in 33 penalty killing situations. They have scored two shorthanded goals and have allowed none. The Devils, of course, lead the league with four shorthanded goals, which brings their penalty killing differential to just -2 (tied with the Jets for best in the league) on 43 penalties. Their power play percentage is also tied with the Penguins for second in the league behind the Oilers.

The Ducks​

The Anaheim Ducks have gotten very lucky at even strength this season. Per Natural Stat Trick, they have good possession numbers at a 50.60 CF%, but they are a bit worse at getting their shots on goal, with a 230-246 shot disparity through 10 games. They have only been able to outshoot teams because of their penalty differential. Still, they are also performing well above their expected goal differential at even strength of 21.76-27.13 (44.51 xGF%), with a real differential of 22-23 at five-on-five. So far, they are also 4-2-0 against Eastern Conference teams, escaping with these wins despite a 36.25 xGF% at five-on-five and a 40.42 xGF% in all situations.

The big task for today is shutting down their top lines. Cutter Gauthier (six goals, 10 points), Mason McTavish (eight points), and Bennett Sennecke (five points) have tallied the most (89:37) minutes together, rolling with a 59.90 CF% and 4-2 goal differential. However, Leo Carlsson (five goals, 15 points) and Troy Terry (five goals, 13 points) lead their team in point production, and I expect them to be on a line with Chris Kreider. That line has only broken even in goals at even strength, but they have dominated possession with a 61.02 CF% through 28:51 together. Kreider, who is returning from a bout of hand, foot, and mouth disease, is having an excellent start to his season alongside Jacob Trouba. Both have six points, though Kreider has only played six out of 10 games, as he has scored five goals already, compared to the 22 goals he had for the Rangers last season. Jacob Trouba, meanwhile, has already matched his Rangers production from last year in 14 fewer games while playing much better defense in bigger minutes. He might be getting a bit lucky with his on-ice goal differential of 11-4 with his 50.73 xGF%, but the Ducks play their best hockey with Trouba on the ice.

The Devils will likely only have to deal with one big-hitting former Metropolitan Division right-handed defenseman tonight, though. Radko Gudas, Captain of the Ducks and regular cause of Devils injuries on illegal hits, has missed three games with a lower-body injury. The coach of the Ducks said that Gudas should be out for about a week from yesterday, alongside Mikael Granlund (lower-body) and Ryan Strome (upper-body). Granlund has only missed two games so far, but he already had eight points in eight games. Meanwhile, Strome has yet to play a game this season. Those injuries should make it easier for the Devils to win their matchups in the bottom six tonight, as the Ducks are a bit of a two-line show.

Key to the Game​

Tonight is the night the Devils’ fourth line needs to get going. They are going against a rather poor fourth-line center in Jansen Harkins, who throws a lot of hits but had a 10.00 CF% and 3.19 xGF% in his season debut. He should be on a line with Frank Vatrano, who is having a rotten start to the season with one point and a 28.88 xGF%. Meanwhile, the third line should not be outmatched by the Ryan Poehling-led group. The Devils are well-used to Poehling’s mediocrity, and he is on a line with an increasingly washed up Alex Killorn and a more promising young Nikita Nesterenko, who has four points in eight games. Still, Poehling’s third lines have not fared very well in terms of possession or expected goals, and running a guy like Arseny Gritsyuk loose against a poor bottom six should mean opportunities for the Devils to score. While the lines were pretty fluid last night (I saw a lot of mixtures down the stretch), I think the Devils should go with a look like this:

Noesen-Hughes-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Brown (if available)
Cotter-Mercer-Gritsyuk
Palat-Glendening-Halonen

Unfortunately, neither of the Palat-Hischier-Gritsyuk or Meier-Hischier-Mercer lines really created any offense last night, so I think more tinkering is needed there. With Juho Lammikko not playing much towards the end of the game, I do not think he should be centering the third line again tonight. With Brian Halonen earning his way to stay in the lineup with his goal, it would be nice to see him get a game with more of an offensive focus on his line. Palat, who finds himself suddenly without a home on Jack’s line (especially with Noesen looking consistently in the right spots there last night), needs to reinvent himself and work some scoring chances in the bottom six: he should have opportunities if he plays there against Anaheim’s weak bottom six tonight.

If Brown misses a second straight game, I would just recommend sliding the right wings up a line and dressing Lammikko on the fourth. Lammikko has not shown enough (he had a 12.31 xGF% last night in 6:55 at five-on-five) to play on the third line, and he did not even win draws in the faceoff dot. In order to keep Hischier and Hughes fresh enough for the end of the game today, they will need Dawson Mercer to play center and turn in good shifts at even strength. Maybe if they need to shorten the bench in the third, Mercer can move back to wing, but they need his minutes at center right now.

The Devils will have Jake Allen (5-1-0, .906 SV%, 2.39 GAA) starting tonight, while the Ducks should have Lukas Dostal (4-3-1, .909 SV%, 2.74 GAA) in net. If Dostal gets a rare rest, Petr Mrazek (2-0-0, .831 SV%, 5.52 GAA) is Anaheim’s backup. Mrazek last played on October 23, while Dostal has played three in a row (October 25, 28, and 31). With the Ducks on a homestand, next playing Florida on Tuesday, I expect to see Dostal.

Your Thoughts​

What do you think of tonight’s game? Will the Devils make any changes to their forward lines? Will Cholowski play again tonight, or is tonight a good time to use Seamus Casey? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...preview-13-new-jersey-devils-at-anaheim-ducks

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils Faceplant Into 4-1 Loss to Ducks

First Period​

After the New Jersey Devils got off to a good start in the game, getting the first three shots on goal, Beckett Sennecke blew by Simon Nemec and Dennis Cholowski to beat Jake Allen high. The Anaheim Ducks took a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game on their first shot of the game. Neither of the Devils’ third pair looked very good on this goal against.

The Hischier line had the best response in the next few minutes for the Devils, with both Hischier and Arseny Gritsyuk having great chances to score. On Hischier’s chance, Gritsyuk retrieved the puck below the goal line and backhanded it back out to Hischier for a point-blank shot, but Lukas Dostal made the save. The Devils eventually had something go in their favor when Sennecke was called for holding Jack Hughes, sending the Devils to the power play just after the halfway mark of the first.

Dawson Mercer and Dougie Hamilton were on the first power play with Hischier, Hughes, and Bratt. Hischier lost the first draw and the Devils had to take it from their own end, but Troy Terry quickly got a breakaway after a bad entry by the Devils. Allen made two big stops here, and the Devils continued to have trouble gaining the offensive zone until Bratt was called for offsides at the end of the first minute. The second unit came out, and Luke Hughes started the breakout from their own end after another clear by Anaheim. A shot from Luke Hughes trickled through the crease but was just too far on the other end from Stefan Noesen and rolled wide of the net. At the end of the power play, Gritsyuk got a pass across to Timo Meier for a one-timer, but Dostal made a glove save.

The Ducks took a 2-0 lead when the Devils got hemmed in their own zone after a bad change. Dawson Mercer finally had a chance to clear the puck out, but he passed towards Hischier in the middle, turning it over. Frank Vatrano fired off a one-timer, and the Ducks took the two-goal lead. Right after play resumed, Luke Hughes was called for tripping in the neutral zone, giving the Ducks a chance to put the game away early.

The Devils sent out Glendening, Bratt, Siegenthaler, and Hamilton to start the penalty kill. The Devils got a chance to go the other way early on, but Glendening was unable to feather the pass through to Bratt on a two-on-two rush. Mercer and Hischier came on while Siegenthaler and Hamilton did not change. The Ducks set up low, but Siegenthaler blocked a pass to Kreider. The Ducks went back high until a pass went through Jackson LaCombe to give the Devils a break. Dillon and Nemec changed on with Hughes and Palat to finish the kill, and they did finish the job to keep the score as it was. Luke Hughes sent a blind pass from the corner to the front of the net after he got out of the box, but Jack Hughes was just too late to redirect it into the net.

Second Period​

The Devils were hoping for a better second period, but they quickly fell down 3-0 after Timo Meier failed to get the puck out of the defensive zone with a chance on his stick. He tried to push it out again at the blueline, but the Ducks worked it back down to the goal line. Cutter Gauthier just slid it low, and the puck went under Allen’s pad.

Mason McTavish was temporarily sent to the box four and a half minutes into the period when it looked like Timo Meier took a high stick, but it was called back when Brenden Dillon was discovered to have been the one who high sticked Meier. Thus the game stayed at five-on-five. The Devils looked like they had a great chance to end the shutout when Stefan Noesen found Jack Hughes in the middle of the ice on a three-on-two rush, but Jack did not seem to get a great shot off, and it was frozen by Dostal with just a little rebound off of Bratt’s skate that was quickly swallowed back up.

When Allen was tested, the Ducks had some incredible chances. Sennecke was denied on a one-timer in the slot, and Kreider had a big chance after a terrible defensive zone turnover by Simon Nemec. Allen came up big on both occasions, and the Devils stayed somewhat in the game at that point. They ran out of steam as the period went on though, drying up almost entirely as they just tried to survive the end of the period, taking the game towards its merciful end.

Third Period​

Down three goals, the Devils still got off to a slow start in the final frame. The third line got their first good chance of the period, as Arseny Gritsyuk split the defense in the neutral zone and went on a two-on-one with Juho Lammikko. Gritsyuk sent the puck across but Dostal stopped Lammikko’s one-timer. On the other end, Ross Johnston got himself a breakaway, and his backhand went off of Allen’s left pad and the post.

Nico Hischier took an elbow from behind into the boards five and a half minutes into the period from Jansen Harkins, and Dawson Mercer immediately jumped in for retribution. Only the retribution was called, and the Ducks went to the power play. The Ducks did not threaten much here until late in the power play, when Jake Allen made a point-blank save on a one-timer. The Devils got the puck up to Mercer out of the box, who slid a pass across to Jack Hughes to make it a 3-1 game with over 12 minutes to play!

The Devils played frantically over the next few minutes, but they had no luck on their chances. Then, they started getting stuck in the neutral and defensive zones again. They finally got back into the offensive zone with five and a half minutes to play, and Dostal froze a weak shot from the boards to give the Devils a stoppage and a faceoff. They did not make good use of it, though, as Chris Kreider got off to a breakaway that was stopped by Allen.

The Devils had the net empty for the last two and a half minutes. They had a perfect chance to score when Lukas Dostal misplayed the puck with Stefan Noesen blocking his attempt at the empty net, and the Devils were unable to score as Dostal scrambled around the crease. The Ducks took it the other way, and Chris Kreider scored the Ducks’ fourth goal of the game, sealing the 4-1 Ducks win.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

Weak​

The Devils all shared in a common weakness today.

Jake Allen really needed to stop two of the three goals he gave up. The shot under the pad was a must-save, and he probably could have had the first shot by Sennecke, as well. This is not to say that Allen played a bad game on the whole (the Devils certainly did their part down the stretch to give him the appearance of good statistics on the night: it could have ended up a 6-1 or 7-1 game), but if he had some of his late-game saves in the first period, the Devils might not have given up halfway through the second period.

That visible decline in skating and connectivity halfway through the game was difficult to watch. Literally at the 30-minute mark, the Ducks started getting chance after chance, which continued until Dawson Mercer went after Jansen Harkins. Once Mercer came out of the box and set up the shutout-breaking goal for Jack Hughes, the Devils flipped a switch and suddenly started playing like it was the first period again. Then a bad decision by Jack Hughes in the defensive zone led to that momentum falling apart, and the Devils skated just like they did in that middle section of the game until they had the empty net.

By then, it is too late to pull a comeback together.

Thankfully, the Devils are no longer on the road after tonight. They have a three-game homestand starting on Thursday, giving them three days of rest, before they have a five-game Eastern Conference road trip. They won’t have to travel for a Western Conference game for a month and a half — their next such game is December 17 against Vegas.

Wasting Time: Cholowski-Nemec Must End​

A big step in the right direction, lineup-wise, would be fixing the third pairing. One of Dennis Cholowski and Simon Nemec might need to play, but not necessarily both of them. As a duo tonight, they had a 31.03 CF% and 16.40 xGF% and the goal against on Sennecke’s tally. They had a particularly bad effect on Jack Hughes’s line. When Jack Hughes played with Cholowski (8:03), the Devils were out-attempted 18 to six and outshot eight to three. So, Jack had a 12.44 xGF% with Cholowski on the ice compared to a 60.95 xGF% in the 12:31 he played without Cholowski.

Ethan Edwards is available. The Devils have Colton White. If they really need a left-handed defenseman to play with Nemec, it should not be Dennis Cholowski. It’s one thing to say that the Devils just need to kill some minutes with their third pairing. But when they are actively holding Jack Hughes back from creating offense (especially when already playing from behind), Sheldon Keefe needs to let Tom Fitzgerald that it’s time to go back to the drawing board. Brett Pesce will not be back for another three to five weeks.

Your Thoughts​

What did you think of tonight’s game? Did you think the Devils would look this poor? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/devils-game-recaps/62660/devils-faceplant-into-4-1-loss-to-ducks

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Enter The Dawg Pound: A Look At Dawson Mercer’s Start To The 2025-26 Season

Over the past two seasons, Dawson Mercer has not been able to reach the heights of his breakout 2022-23 campaign. That season, he posted 27 goals and 56 points, all while dominating the run of play on a line with Nico Hischier and Tomas Tatar for much of the season. It was an excellent sophomore campaign, and we all expected Mercer to continue improving in the years to come.

That, unfortunately, is not how it worked out. Mercer posted 33 points in 2023-24, and 36 points last season. He did score 20 and 19 goals in those years respectively, which is reasonable, but the fact that he could not even reach half a point per game was massively disappointing for a young player with so much potential. On top of that, his underlying numbers either stagnated or outright regressed. It wasn’t looking good for Mercer as far as developing into a true impact player.

But Mercer has indeed blossomed into an impact player to begin this season. He’s right around a point per game pace, which is a huge upswing in production. In fact, he’s second on the team in goals behind only Jack Hughes, which is a very pleasant surprise. He’s contributing on both special teams units, he’s helping shut down top competition, and he’s closing out games when the Devils are protecting a late lead. 2025-26 has been a very promising turnaround for Mercer.

So the next question is: How real is this? Is this early season success sustainable, or is this a flash in the pan? That’s what we’ll try to find out today. Let’s take a little deeper dive into Dawson Mercer’s season thus far. We will try and find out what seems real, what seems like a mirage, and what we can expect moving forward.

Note: All stats below are through November 2nd, meaning they do NOT include any stats from the Devils’ game late last night against the Anaheim Ducks.

Point Production​

This is the simplest part of Mercer’s game to analyze, so let’s start here.

Through the first four seasons of his career, Mercer averaged approximately 42 points per season. As mentioned above though, that number is carried a little bit by his 56-point 2022-23. Take that away, and it’s closer to the mid-30’s. Not nothing, but far from an impact player.

This season has been a complete turnaround. Mercer has eight goals and 13 points in 12 games. For Mercer to be averaging more than a point per game is pretty surprising considering his track record. What’s not a surprise is his goal to assist ratio. Over the last two seasons, Mercer finished with more goals than assists. Meanwhile he only collected two more assists than goals in 2022-23, and his rookie season saw him post 17 goals and 25 assists. That rookie year was his most “normal” looking season, and it still came reasonably close to being a 1:1 goal to assist ratio.

Mercer has always been much more of a scorer than a playmaker, so seeing him with eight goals and five assists should not be a surprise. No, the real surprise is just how much Mercer is lighting the lamp. Eight goals in 12 games is fantastic work. It’s hard to believe he keeps up a roughly 55-goal pace, but perhaps Mercer really has found another level.

The Funny Thing About His Goals​

So just taking a look at Mercer’s total goal number would lead you to believe he’s developed into a bonafide sniper. But here’s an interesting little quirk about Mercer’s eight goals so far:

Only one of them have come at 5-on-5.

That lone 5-on-5 tally came on October 28 at Colorado. Aside from that, Mercer has scored three power play goals, one traditional shorthanded goal, two traditional empty-net goals, and one shorthanded empty-net goal. Four of his five assists have come at 5-on-5 though, so at least he’s registering helpers at even strength.

They all count the same in the end, but I do think it would be nice if Mercer could start producing at 5-on-5 as well considering that is by far the most common game state in hockey. If he continues to be lethal on both special teams units, then 5-on-5 production doesn’t matter as much. But it’s hard to assume Mercer can sustain his level of production on special teams, especially on the penalty kill. He clearly has a nose for the net and a goal-scorer’s mentality. But thus far, that has not translated to 5-on-5 play.

The Elephant In The Room​

The other thing that clearly cannot be ignored about Dawson Mercer’s hot start is the fact that he is shooting at a remarkable 34.8% clip. That, quite simply, is unsustainable. Not even the greatest scorers in the game reach that level of shooting success. The highest shooting% Steven Stamkos has registered in a full season is 19.8%. For Alex Ovechkin, it’s 18.6%. For Auston Matthews, it’s 18.7%. Sam Reinhart posted a 24.5 shooting% in 2023-24, and that was looked at as fluky and unsustainable at the time. I think you get the picture: Mercer will absolutely not convert on just over one-third of his shots this season.

Through his first four seasons, Mercer has averaged a 14.1 shooting%, just in case you still had hopes that maybe I’m wrong and his newfound shooting prowess is sustainable. Mercer is shooting a tiny bit more this season, which is nice. He averaged 147.5 shots on goal through his first four seasons, and he has 23 shots in 12 contests this season, a pace of about 157 over a full campaign. Let’s say his shots on goal pace remains the same, but he converts at his career average from his first four seasons: 14.1%. That would mean that if Mercer plays a full 82-game slate again, over the last 70 games of his season, Mercer will score about 19 more goals. Add the eight tallies he’s already banked, and we’re looking at a roughly 27-goal season from Mercer, which would match his career high.

Obviously there’s a lot of speculation involved in those projections, but I don’t think any individual piece of speculation listed above is outlandish in any way. It’s fair to assume Mercer will come back down to earth, but also fair to expect him to still put up strong scoring numbers given what we’ve seen from him so far.

Under The Hood​

So that takes care of Mercer’s traditional counting stats. Now let’s take a look at his underlying metrics from a few different sources.

We’ll start with Natural Stat Trick, which might just be the more prominent public analytics model in North American hockey. Given how good Mercer has looked and how many points he’s collected over his first 12 games, you’d think his advanced numbers would look great. Unfortunately that is not actually the case (all numbers 5-on-5):

Corsi For%: 49.69%

Scoring Chances For%: 46.97%

High Danger Corsi For%: 50.00%

Expected Goals For%: 48.77%

His CF% and HDCF% are reasonable, but he’s not looking so hot in SCF% and xGF%. I will admit, this does not seem quite right to me. Based on the eye test, Mercer might not be absolutely dominating the run of play early this season, but I have felt as though New Jersey has been the better team when he’s on the ice. So to see him below breakeven in three categories and exactly breakeven in the last one doesn’t square.

Fortunately for both myself and anyone else who thinks Mercer is playing better than those numbers would indicate, other analytics models seem to agree. Over at Hockey Stat Cards, Mercer is currently tabbed at a +2.6 Overall Net Rating. For context, that is the single highest rating on the team, higher than even Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt. Breaking it down further, Mercer currently has a +1.5 Offensive rating, which puts him in the 93rd percentile league-wide, a stellar distinction. He’s also killing it defensively too, as his +1.1 Defensive Rating places him in roughly the 88th percentile. His Overall Rating of +2.6 has him in the 96th percentile, showing that at least by the Game Score model, Mercer has been one of the absolute best players in the NHL through 12 games.

Meanwhile, a look at Moneypuck shows that Mercer has at the very least contributed to a terrific top line in New Jersey. In about 87 minutes at 5-on-5 together, Mercer’s line with Hischier and Meier have posted a 59.5 xGF%. Among lines with at least 80 minutes played together, that is the seventh-best xGF% in the league. Obviously Hischier and Meier do a lot of the heavy lifting on that line, but Mercer’s contributions cannot be discounted. He is a big part of why that line has thrived.

And while we’re talking about that trio, it is important to keep in mind the absolutely brutal competition they are fed on a nightly basis. Head coach Sheldon Keefe uses them as the matchup line on other teams’ top players every game, so the fact that the Meier-Hischier-Mercer line controls play AND puts up points is terrific. Going back to Hockey Stat Cards for a second, they also have a metric that measures the quality of competition a player faces. In Mercer’s case, his Offensive QoC and Defensive QoC are in the 94th and 93rd percentile respectively. We all knew Mercer and his line face really tough competition, but if you were wondering how tough his deployment is compared to everyone else in the league, there’s your answer: Mercer has tougher matchups than roughly 94% of the rest of the NHL.

Final Thoughts And Your Take​

So at the end of the day, what are we to make of Dawson Mercer’s hot start to the season? To me, there are a few takeaways.

Number one, I think we can expect his goal-scoring numbers to really slow down. His shooting% is way out of whack, and he’s been getting some good puck luck on special teams. He should start burying pucks at 5-on-5 soon, but he won’t stay on a 50-plus goal pace for long.

Number two, While Natural Stat Trick doesn’t seem overly impressed with Mercer’s game thus far, other analytics metrics do. I do believe in NST’s model, but they are not perfect, and I think in this case their numbers underrate Mercer’s performance through 12 contests. I take comfort in the fact that multiple other analytics models think Mercer is doing well so far.

Number three, aside from when Mercer moonlights as the third-line center as he’s done in a few games due to injuries, I expect him to continue to eat brutal minutes on Nico Hischier’s wing. That will harm his point production, but if he can help shut down elite competition, a handful fewer goals and assists is a price worth paying. Especially if he can still contribute reasonably well on special teams once his shooting% bender ends.

So while I do not expect Mercer to produce at a point per game pace this season, I expect him to post a respectable amount of points, probably his most since his banner 2022-23 campaign. And I also expect him to continue to drive play well in the face of difficult matchups, which is an immensely valuable thing to contribute.

What do you make of Dawson Mercer’s season thus far? Do you agree that his goal-scoring should slow down soon? Do you agree that even without point production, what he’s done against top competition makes him very valuable? Overall, what do you expect out of him the rest of the way? As always, thanks for reading!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...at-dawson-mercers-start-to-the-2025-26-season

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils in the Details – 11/3/25: Calculated Risk Edition

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

The Devils rebounded from a pair of ugly losses with a solid 4-1 win over the Kings on Saturday. Jacob Markstrom made 43 saves (and tallied an assist!) in a bounce-back performance. [Devils NHL]

And then the Devils ended the weekend with a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Ducks on Sunday night. [Devils NHL]

Jacob Markstrom gets a two-year extension:

Enjoying a Swede treat on this fine Halloween evening.

: https://t.co/xTCdOqlkYC pic.twitter.com/VzCYuwHabi

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 1, 2025

“Jacob Markström has been up and down in his time as a New Jersey Devil, making his two-year extension a calculated risk.” [Devils on the Rush ($)]

A milestone for Luke Hughes:

Luke Hughes passes Brian Rafalski as the fastest defenseman in Devils history to reach 100 points pic.twitter.com/YIetBqefMk

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) November 2, 2025

“Jack Hughes is back from shoulder surgery, and he’s been excellent to start the season, ranking ninth in the NHL in offensive rating, according to colleague Dom Luszczyszyn’s model. ‘He’s playing like a top-five guy in the league right now,’ Scout 2 said. ‘He grabs the puck and people get out of their seats.’” [The Athletic ($)]

Hockey Links​

A scary moment on Saturday:

Chris Tanev is receiving medical attention on the ice after this play pic.twitter.com/nNiMM4BHzm

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 2, 2025

The Maple Leafs announced today that defenceman Chris Tanev was evaluated overnight in Philadelphia for precautionary purposes, has been discharged this morning, and will return home to Toronto.

— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) November 2, 2025

Matthew Schaefer might be good:

Matthew Schaefer netted the tying goal in the @NYIslanders' late comeback win and became the youngest defenseman in NHL history with a multi-goal game, besting Bobby Orr.#NHLStats: https://t.co/lkAJkC9aA9 pic.twitter.com/gBAoRQN2LF

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) November 3, 2025

“What’s one scary stat for each team? The Athletic posed that question this week to its NHL staff. Here’s what they said.” [The Athletic ($)]

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...n-the-details-11-3-25-calculated-risk-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: Comets End Winless Streak at 7 Games

The Utica Comets finally won their first game of the season. Prospects Lenni Hameenaho and Shane LaChance remain pointless.

Comets Win​

It took until Game 8 of the AHL season, but the Utica Comets have finally won their first game with a 3-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night. This followed another shutout loss for the Comets on Friday night, this time 4-0 against Syracuse. Newly returned Nico Daws was in net for both games. Angus Crookshank, Mike Hardman, and Jonathan Gruden scored for the Comets. Rookies center Matyas Melovsky and defenseman Ethan Edwards picked up assists.

Noticeably absent from the scoresheet again was Shane LaChance despite playing on the top line with Ryan Schmelzer and the goal-scorer Angus Crookshank. Lenni Hameenaho, who has been suiting up on mostly the Comets third line, did not play in the victory. Both prospects shined in training camp and looked to be on the verge of making the Devils. It should not take long for them to get back on track.

Around the Pool:​

• He’s not scoring [1 assist in 23 games] or playing anywhere near the same minutes under his new head coach, but defenseman Anton Silayev is still doing this.

Anton Silayev.

Putting people in bodybags.
pic.twitter.com/byYYt1qqOV

— Devils Insiders (@DevilsInsiders) October 17, 2025

• Forward Cam Squires drives to the net for his first ECHL goal of the season.

Cam Squires cashed in on the powerplay for his first career ECHL goal as the Adirondack Thunder defeated the Trois-Rivières Lions 4-1.

With 2 points in 3 games, the Charlottetown, PEI product is expected to only get better as the season progresses.
pic.twitter.com/2F2uWzP5rM

— Maritime Hockey (@HockeyMaritime) October 26, 2025

• Devils 2nd round pick in 2025, Conrad Fondrk is off to a nice start for Boston University this season with 5 points in 8 games including this power play snipe.

MIH: Conrad Fondrk's power-play goal cuts the Maine lead to 6-4 after two periods of play.

Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/NY6VCl83iN@hockey_east | @nesn | @espn#GoBU pic.twitter.com/iQhuD0BujN

— BU Game Day (@BUGameDay) November 2, 2025

• Lastly, goaltender Tyler Brennan is off to a fantastic start for Adirondack of the ECHL with a 2-1-1 record, 1.97 GAA and .910 SV%. A contract year, this may be the last chance for the 22-year-old goaltender to find his game if he wants to stay in the Devils system. Though the sample size is small, so far, he has done that at the ECHL level this year.

Your Take​

What do you think? Post your comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/u...t-update-comets-end-winless-streak-at-7-games

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2025-26 Gamethread #13: New Jersey Devils at Anaheim Ducks

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (9-3-0) vs. Anaheim Ducks (6-3-1)

The Time: 8:00pm ET (5:00 PM Local)

The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Network

The Game Preview: I wrote today’s preview.

The Song of the Day: We want the Devils to make it two in a row today, keeping the NHL teams of Orange County, California winless this weekend. Today’s song of the day is thus “Blackout” by Thrice.

The Rules: If you have been a reader here, you already know the rules. But for the rest, a reminder: please do not swear in the comment section, and keep comments relevant to the hockey game going on. Beyond that, do not attack any other commenters, and do not ask for or pass along illegal streams on this board.

LGD!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...ethread-13-new-jersey-devils-at-anaheim-ducks

 

[New Jersey Devils]

The Devils Need To Do a Better Job Of Starting Games On Time

The New Jersey Devils have lost four games this season out of the first thirteen they have played. Coincidentally, all four of those games have something in common.

What is that, you might ask?

The Devils tendency to give up the first goal within the first five minutes of the game.

It’s something that has already happened to this Devils team six times in thirteen contests in the first few weeks of the season, and that number jumps to seven if I expand that arbitrary “first five minutes” threshold to “first seven minutes” to include the goal John Tavares scored in the Toronto game that also put the Devils in a 1-0 hole. In almost half of the Devils games thus far in 2025-26, they’re immediately digging themselves a 1-0 hole that they now have to spend the remaining 55-ish or so minutes digging themselves out of.

It happened on Opening Night against a Carolina team that this Devils team still needs to show that they can beat in a best-of-seven playoff format.

It happened a couple times during the eight-game winning streak, but the Devils were able to overcome it in the Florida and San Jose games at Prudential Center.

It also happened three times on the now concluded California (plus Colorado) road trip. It happened in Colorado, San Jose, and Anaheim. The Devils lost all three games.

One can go back and look at the specifics of each game if they so choose to try to find a common thread. That common thread might be as simple as a defensive breakdown or an unlucky bounce or shoddy goaltending. I’m sure there’s a theme somewhere in there that connects all of them, but frankly, I don’t really care what it is. To me, its as simple as this.

These Devils haven’t shown yet that they can consistently start games on time.

I’m not even necessarily asking the Devils to score the first goal in the first few minutes. Of course, its nice when they actually do and they don’t have to chase the game the rest of the way as a result. But sometimes, its ok to battle to a 0-0 draw through the first 20 minutes.

What’s not ok is to allow William Eklund to score 2:25 into the game on home ice, and then a week later, he scores 42 seconds into the contest the next time you see him.

This isn’t a knock on Eklund, who is a very talented young player and might be finally putting it all together on a Sharks team that is better than their record would indicate. But the fact the same player is doing it to you twice in the span of a week before fans even have a chance to settle into their seats is a concern.

Sheldon Keefe alluded to injuries and fatigue catching up to the Devils when he spoke postgame after the loss to Anaheim, and there might be some truth to that. The Devils had played eight games in a span of thirteen days, with half of those coming on a long road trip. Brett Pesce and Cody Glass didn’t make the trip, and Connor Brown was banged up enough where he didn’t play in either of the games in Southern California. The Devils resiliency and depth have certainly been tested in the early portion of the season.

But citing injuries and the schedule as reasons is teetering closely to making excuses, and I don’t really have the time or patience for excuses. Especially when I ranted last year about how this team has consistently shown that they don’t manage or handle success all that well.

Every team is dealing with injuries. And while I’m not suggesting that the Devils don’t miss Pesce and Glass (and Evgenii Dadonov and Johnathan Kovacevic while we’re at it), the reality is that life goes on in the NHL. There are teams out there that have things far worse than the Devils right now. The Devils have been in far worse positions health-wise in the past than they are right now. Nobody is going to feel sympathetic that the Devils are missing players, and vice versa.

The schedule isn’t going to change barring an act of God. There will be those stretches where the Devils play three games in four nights, all in different cities. There will be instances where they’re tired, but you still have to grind through it. You still have to go out there and perform and do your job, and if you’re not ready from the opening faceoff, there’s too much talent across the league where even the worst teams are more than capable of making you pay for those mistakes.

It’s not that I doubt the Devils ability to come back if they do allow the first goal. The Devils have shown they can score goals in bunches, as they’re among the league leaders in goals per game. They’ve shown that their power play is still elite, as it currently sits 4th in the NHL (as of this writing). They lead the league in short-handed goals. They’re among the league leaders in empty-net goals, which is a testament to the fact that they have those leads where they’re in a position to make the other team pull their goaltender. And this is with a few notable guys on the roster who have yet to get going from a “finding the back of the net” perspective.

To me though, this comes back to the maturation of this group. And full disclaimer….get used to me bringing this up every week or every other week because it’s going to be a theme for me pertaining to this group this season. I’m going to hold this group to a certain standard, and it’s how I’m ultimately going to judge this team when its all said and done.

This road trip doesn’t, or at least it shouldn’t, give fuel to those people who are dying to say “see, this group is fraudulent and the same problems that have been there are still there”. But if the Devils want to be taken seriously as a contender, they do need to be consistently better than what they showed this past week. Part of that is being on top of your game and being ready to go from the drop of the puck to the final horn. If you get beat, you get beat. That’s going to happen. This is the hardest league in the world with the best players in the world, and the other team is trying to win the game. But you can’t beat yourselves consistently either, even if you have shown that you can bounce back, play well, get that equalizer, and then its off to the races.

The Devils aren’t necessarily putting hockey games out of reach by allowing an early goal as frequently as they have, but why make things harder for yourself than it needs to be? By bringing the right level of compete, urgency and energy earlier in these contests, and doing it consistently, they set themselves up better for success. That’s the next step that this group needs to take if they want to be considered one of the elite teams in the NHL.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...-to-do-a-better-job-of-starting-games-on-time

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils in the Details – 11/5/25: Catalyst Edition

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

“Injuries always seem to be a storyline for the New Jersey Devils, and they’re testing the team’s depth early in 2025-26.” [Devils on the Rush ($)]

“What’s making Arseny Gritsyuk such a good fit with the Devils? His adaptability is a key factor, says Arthur Staple on the latest Devils Rink Report.” [New Jersey Hockey Now]

“Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier are an overpowering 1-2-3 punch up front, but the Devils didn’t have enough secondary scoring outside of that elite trio last year. New Jersey’s middle-six forwards are performing at a far higher level in 2025-26, with Gritsyuk emerging as a key catalyst.” [The Athletic ($)]

The Hockey PDOcast: “Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Bryce Salvador to deep dive the first 13 games the Devils have played. They discuss the highs of the 8-game winning streak followed by the lows of their recent 4-game road trip, the impact of the injuries they’ve sustained along the way, getting the most out of how much Jack Hughes is creating on the top line, Arseny Gritsyuk’s usage, Dawson Mercer’s bounceback season, and the teams that have been most impressive from ice level viewings so far this season.” [Sportsnet]

“Four days ago, the New Jersey Devils inked veteran netminder Jacob Markstrom to a two-year contract with an AAV of $6 million. It was previously reported that the two sides were looking to get a deal done months ago, with the goalie’s camp seeking a longer term than what was given. Now that it’s been a few days, I’ve settled into my thoughts on the matter.” [Devils’ Advocates]

Hockey Links​

This was a bizarre one: “The Nashville Predators disagreed that a ‘weird’ Minnesota Wild overtime goal scored with the net displaced on Tuesday night should have counted.” [ESPN]

Never seen an NHL overtime game end like this. Was the puck bound to go in??? Unfortunate turn of events for Nashville in this loss. pic.twitter.com/hwFPRj38wR

— Nick Kieser (@KieserNick) November 5, 2025

#HockeyOps explains video review of Marcus Johansson's goal at 3:38 of overtime in the @PredsNHL / @mnwild game.https://t.co/Px8KUC51KN

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) November 5, 2025

Stars will get a Stadium Series game:

Get ready for a Texas Hockey turf takeover

The NHL Stadium Series is coming to AT&T Stadium in 2027! pic.twitter.com/5hRzBgt0Or

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 3, 2025

Some interesting nuggets about the Eastern Conference early on in the season: “Everyone is .500 or better – Yep, all 16 teams. A bunch of them have lost more than they’ve won, of course, but this is the NHL and that doesn’t have to matter. Not one team is below the mediocrity mark, compared to six teams in the West.” [The Athletic ($)]

You hate to see it: “J.T. Miller didn’t hold back following the New York Rangers’ 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night. Speaking with reporters after the game, Miller said the Rangers, who are now 6-6-2 through their first 14 games of the 2025-26 regular season, need to play better, and that it starts with him.” [Daily Faceoff]

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...evils-in-the-details-11-5-25-catalyst-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Sheldon Keefe Hasn’t Been Afraid of Being Critical of the New Jersey Devils…And That’s Good

The New Jersey Devils West Coast road trip did not go the way anyone would have wanted it to. Despite a great win in LA this past Saturday, a 1-3-0 record isn’t good enough for a team looking to be a true contender. Not only did the team look poor in most of those defeats, but it also prevented them from increasing their point lead over the teams behind them in the standings. Instead of having a six to eight or so point lead on the teams trailing them, the Devils now find themselves with only four points separating them and the teams at the bottom of the division standings. Not only were fans rightfully calling them out, but so was Head Coach Sheldon Keefe.

A couple of different articles have come out during the team’s most recent streak of play featuring Keefe’s comments regarding the team’s efforts not being good enough. He’s mentioned lack or urgency, the effort not being good, and the outcome being what the team deserves, among other remarks made to the media. He even went so far as to say the team was playing, “a lot of really bad hockey” lately. After watching the games, I’m hard pressed to disagree with him as well.

Now maybe it seems strange to hear a coach calling out a team that is currently sitting high in the NHL standings. The Devils at time of writing are tied for third on overall points, and fifth on points percentage. Yet, I think it’s actually a good thing to hear Keefe being critical. While the focal points of his comments have leaned more towards the defense, he’s not singling anyone out, and seems to be holding the group accountable as a whole right now. Hopefully this is the wake up call they need and we don’t get to a point where individual names are needing to be dropped. An early wake-up call is better than a late one or one that never comes as well. If the Devils start to realize their faults now, and begin cleaning up those sooner rather than later, it should lead to fewer games with poor starts and zone collapses like we saw on the road trip.

While I’m okay with Keefe calling out the players, I do hope he’s holding his coaching staff (and himself) just as accountable. Coaching decisions, line combinations and player deployment also play roles in team performance; while a lot of the road trip issues came from poor on ice decisions, putting players in spots where they weren’t going to be effective didn’t help either. I know injuries are also affecting deployment right now (we miss you Brett Pesce, get well soon), but if Keefe is holding the available players accountable, he should also be holding himself and his staff accountable for their missteps.

Once again, I’m happy to see the team being looked at through a critical lens so early in the season. Not only does it show that the team is trying to improve, but I prefer the honesty over excuses. Saying we’re not good enough is better than “not our night” or “tough building” any day of the week. Sheldon Keefe is keeping his standards high for the team in alignment with expectations for this Devils squad. Now let’s just hope that the criticism propels the Devils past their current adversity to become a stronger, more consistent team.

What are your thoughts on Sheldon Keefe choosing to be critical now; are you happy that he did it early while the Devils are high in the standings, or would you rather he have waited? Do you think there should be more blame on players, or coaches, or should it be shared? Are you hopeful that the coaching staff recognizing the team’s deficiencies now will lead to them fixing the problems sooner? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...itical-of-the-new-jersey-devilsand-thats-good

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt Power New Jersey Devils To 4-3 Overtime Win Over Montreal Canadiens

Thursday night at The Rock was an early-season heavyweight matchup. The New Jersey Devils entered with 18 points and a .692 points percentage, both tops in the Metropolitan Division. Their opponents, the Montreal Canadiens, entered with 19 points and a .731 points percentage, both tops in the entire Eastern Conference (and second in the entire NHL behind only the Colorado Avalanche). The battle of the East’s best did not disappoint, with lots of twists, lots of turns, and eventually a Jesper Bratt breakaway goal in overtime to lift the Devils to a 4-3 victory.

Let’s rewind to the beginning, we’ll circle back around to Bratt’s heroics. The night began about as well as you could have hoped, which I’m sure made Jared happy. After missing seven games, Cody Glass returned to the lineup tonight. Just in time, too, as the Devils’ once-vaunted defense had been taking on a lot of water in recent games. Getting one of their best defensive forwards back would certainly help that. But it wasn’t Glass’ defense that made a difference early on, it was his offense. Before the game was two minutes old, Glass wired a sick shot past Canadiens’ goaltender Jakub Dobes for a very early 1-0 lead. This was especially good news considering New Jersey started the evening 6-0-0 in games in which they scored first (spoiler alert: they would make it 7-0-0). It was wonderful to see Glass back in the lineup, and even more encouraging to see him produce so soon upon returning.

But the extremely good vibes would be short-lived. One minute and six seconds later, the Canadiens would tie the game on one of the flukiest plays you will ever see. Noah Dobson collected a loose puck along the far wall and flung it in the general vicinity of the net. His shot caromed off of Kirby Dach and high in the air, so high that no one on the ice knew where the puck was. So where was it exactly? It just so happened to take the absolutely perfect bounce, fluttering up and over Jacob Markstrom and into the net. It was a magic bullet shot, and it cost New Jersey their lead.

From there, the game settled down. New Jersey was the better team for the rest of the first period and into the second, but they just couldn’t finish plays off. If the Devils had lost tonight, one of the big storylines to me would have been the large amount of golden chances they just barely missed. There were numerous times this evening where a Devils player made a pass that would have set up a teammate with a five-alarm opportunity, but the pass was in a skate or to the wrong side of a stick or straight up fumbled. Something always seemed to happen to thwart a prime New Jersey chance, and if the Devils were just a little crisper this evening, we could’ve been looking at a lopsided win. Instead, we got a nailbiter, and while those missed opportunities and unlucky breaks would not have been the entire reason they lost, it would’ve been a big part of the story. Thankfully, New Jersey made it a moot point.

Eight minutes into the second period, the Devils would finally break through. Simon Nemec activated down the right flank and fired a shot toward the net. It ricocheted back to him behind the net, and he made an Elias-ian pass to Ondrej Palat right in front, who scored to put the Devils ahead.

No, none of what you just read is inaccurate. Palat actually scored a goal. For the Devils. In a game that counted. Granted, Nemec did the heavy lifting, but give credit to Palat for finally burying one. He looked so relieved too, and I don’t blame him. It’s ironic that Palat manages to find his scoring touch after being taken off the Hughes-Bratt line. No one’s complaining though, it was a big goal.

And by the way, I’m only barely exaggerating when I describe Nemec’s assist as Elias-ian:

This is one of my favorite goals of all time. Obviously there are some differences, but Elias’ pass here bears a striking resemblance to Nemec’s feed to Palat. Now if Nemec can actually make this play in Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Final too, then we’d really having something cooking here.

The middle frame would end with the Devils up 2-1, but the Canadiens would get the first two goals of the third period. The first of those two is one that Markstrom absolutely, unquestionably, indisputably needs to save. Jake Evans floated down the wing and threw a nothing shot on net. Somehow, Markstrom let it slip under his pads and in for a backbreaking goal. The first goal of the night was not one I blame Markstrom for, as mentioned, it was a fluky play. This one, however, is completely unacceptable. The fact that it came less than a minute into the final frame made it even worse, as it completely deflated the Devils right out of the gate in the third.

Then almost exactly halfway through the period, Oliver Kapanen would give Montreal the lead. Alex Newhook fired a soft shot on Markstrom from a tough angle, and Markstrom coughed up a room service rebound right to Kapanen in front, who backhanded it home for a 3-2 Canadiens advantage. It was yet another easily avoidable goal, and while the Devils weren’t dominating play in front of Markstrom, they were certainly playing well enough to win. Instead, they fell behind thanks to a couple of softies.

From there, Montreal was content to play prevent defense. They packed the house in front of their goaltender, blocked a million shots, broke up a million passes, and sent a million dump-ins deep into the Devils zone. Time was winding down and it looked like New Jersey was heading for a very frustrating loss. But with the net empty in the final minutes of the game, Timo Meier broke through. Meier had gone nine games without scoring a goal, which we have seen far too often from him during his time in New Jersey. We know he’s capable of scoring in bunches, we’ve witnessed it, but we know he’s also capable of prolonged cold spells, and he entered tonight’s contest in the middle of one of those. But just over a minute to go, Jack Hughes flung a pass into the crease, Dawson Mercer and several Canadiens all poked away at it, and it came to Meier at the side of the cage, and he roofed it past a sprawling Dobes to knot the game at three. It was a massive goal, and it secured at least a point for the Devils.

Then in overtime, Nico Hischier won the opening faceoff and New Jersey basically never gave the puck up. Montreal did have one opportunity with possession, but that was quickly snuffed out thanks to a great defensive play by Meier. He stood up Newhook inside the Devils’ blueline, which allowed Bratt to swoop in for the takeaway and skate all alone on Dobes for a breakaway. Bratt deked to his backhand, slipped a shot five-hole, and the New Jersey Devils skated away with a big 4-3 victory in their return from their west coast road trip.

It wasn’t a perfect game, but the Devils played well enough to get a win. They faded a little in the third, but after so many opportunities passed them by, they made their final two chances count. Meier secured one point, Bratt secured the other, and the Devils will wake up tomorrow at the very top of the Eastern Conference standings.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

The Game Highlights: Courtesy of NHL.com

Please, Make It Stop​

Another game, another injury.

As fun as this win was, it was not without a major cause for concern. Dougie Hamilton left a few minutes into the second period, and he did not return the rest of the game. According to the Natural Stat Trick shift chart, he took three shifts in the second period before exiting, his last coming about five minutes into the frame.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe did not give us an update on Hamilton after the game, aside from saying he will be evaluated tomorrow. NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky is saying it’s a lower-body injury though, so there’s that.

Hamilton’s time in New Jersey has unfortunately been marred by injuries since he came over in 2021. He’s only had one fully healthy season in red and black (2022-23) and I think we were all hoping 2025-26 would be his second, especially with Brett Pesce on the shelf for a while (put a pin in that for one second). Fingers crossed for good news on Hamilton tomorrow.

A Little More Clarity​

During tonight’s game, we also got this little nugget thanks to the magic of social media:

Hand/wrist injury for Pesce… https://t.co/Wjd3zhvYDA

— Ryan Novozinsky (@ryannovoNHL) November 7, 2025

So…yeah. Don’t expect Pesce back anytime soon.

Please Hit The Net​

I thought Luke Hughes had a pretty bad game tonight. He didn’t make any dynamic offensive plays, and while he was fine defensively, that’s not why the Devils just paid him $9m per season for the next seven years. Through the first 14 games of the season, Hughes is still searching for his first goal, which is concerning. I think Hughes not being able to hit the net is unfortunately starting to become A Thing:

I never caught this, but you're 100% right. pic.twitter.com/wmrRtpoB6j

— CJ Turtoro (@CJTDevil) November 3, 2025

According to Natural Stat Trick, Hughes had four shot attempts tonight. He ended with zero shots on goal. Every single one of his shots tonight was either blocked, or he missed the net.

Taking a look at his Hockey Reference page, prior to tonight’s game, Hughes had 23 shots on goal on 68 total shot attempts. Make it 23 shots on goal on 72 total attempts, meaning only 32% of his shot attempts actually make it to the goaltender. In comparison, Hamilton is up to 44% after tonight. Considering Hamilton is the player we all expect Hughes to replace in the very near future, I think this is a fair comparison.

Has Hughes always been this bad at hitting the net? In a word, yes. Hughes had 121 shots on goal on 328 attempts last season (37%), and 135 shots on goal on 401 attempts in his rookie year (34%). If Hughes really is going to ascend into the upper echelon of defensemen in the NHL, he needs to start figuring out how to avoid shin pads when he shoots the puck.

Pure Domination​

Some matchups are just inexplicably one-sided, and Devils vs. Canadiens is one of them. New Jersey entered tonight’s contest having won 16 of the last 20 meetings between these two squads. Make it 17 of 21 after tonight. Montreal must see New Jersey in their nightmares.

Home Sweet Home​

With their win tonight, the Devils remained perfect at home, having won their first six games at The Rock to start the season. They won’t go 41-0-0 in New Jersey this year, but establishing the Prudential Center as a tough place to play would go a long way toward making this a successful season for the Devils. Here’s hoping they can keep it going.

Next Time Out​

New Jersey is back in action on Saturday when they welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to town. Set your alarms, puck drop is scheduled for 12:30pm.

Your Take​

What did you think of tonight’s game? What is your level of concern on Dougie Hamilton injury? What about Jacob Markstrom’s play? Who on the Devils impressed you the most this evening? As always, thanks for reading!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...s-to-4-3-overtime-win-over-montreal-canadiens

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Snapshot #1: One Month Down and First to 10 Wins

Dear readers, the Metropolitan Division Snapshot is back. Over the years, John has run these on a weekly basis, but I am spreading them out a little bit (and combining this one with a short October review). From this post, the Division Snapshot should come out every two weekends, while the traditional “Month in Review” posts will return at the end of November.

Today marks one month passing since the start of the 2025-26 NHL season on October 7. The Devils, of course, started on October 9. Let’s look at the standings since then:

*Note: The Weeks Won for this week of the season may be changed in the next update based on how teams perform today and tomorrow.

The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes got off to roaring starts, while the Pittsburgh Penguins surprised many people with their resurgence under a new coaching staff. But really, did nobody think Crosby and Malkin had another surprise under their sleeve? The Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers also got off to decent, but unspectacular starts, and Philadelphia was able to leapfrog the Capitals last night. They are currently within striking distance of a playoff spot in the early stages of the season.

Rounding out the bottom of the division are the New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Rangers. All three teams are NHL .500, though the Islanders and Rangers have lost more games than they have won, including overtime and shootouts. The Islanders have lost twice in shootouts, while the Rangers have lost twice in regular overtime. Most shockingly, the Rangers have yet to win a single home game as of today, though they are 6-1-1 on the road.

That aside, here are the team schedules for the next two weeks:

With the crunch of the holidays coming and the Olympic break built into the February schedule, these are among the busiest weeks of the season. Still, the Penguins get quite a bit of a rest before they go to Stockholm for the NHL Global Series, after which they also have a bit of a break from games. Everyone else will be playing between five (Flyers) and eight (Islanders, Jackets, Rangers) games.

But how have the teams really been doing? What’s coming up? Let’s dive into all of them.

---

New Jersey Devils​

What Happened Last Month: The New Jersey Devils have managed injury after injury to make themselves the first team in the NHL to get to 10 wins. No, they do not have the most games played. The Penguins and several Western Conference teams have played 15 games, while the Boston Bruins have already played 16. Only the Colorado Avalanche have more points than the Devils, thanks to their five overtime losses. But the Devils were very close to not being the first team to 10 wins and very close to not being the first-place team in the Metropolitan today. As Jackson recapped last night, the Devils won a dramatic game against the Montreal Canadiens in overtime. Had they lost, the Penguins would be atop the Metropolitan Division, while the Canadiens would be the only team in the league with 10 wins. Thank you, Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt.

But it was not an easy time for the Devils, despite the wins and their perfect home record. Evgenii Dadonov got hurt in the first game of the season. Zack MacEwen got hurt in the next. Jake Allen left his first start with cramping, leading to Jacob Markstrom injuring himself in the final seconds of his relief appearance. Cody Glass missed seven games. Then Brett Pesce apparently broke something in his hand or wrist, while Connor Brown started missing games with an undisclosed injury. They were still able to go on an eight-game winning streak, beating the Lightning, Panthers, Oilers, Leafs, Wild, and Avalanche in the process.

The only down-side, games-wise, was the western road trip. The Devils were a bit lost to begin the trip after Pesce got hurt on October 26, which was their eighth win of the streak, as they gave up 13 goals in their first two games to the Avalanche (eight) and Sharks (five). The eight-goal game against the Avalanche was a bit disconcerting, as it was Markstrom’s first game back from an injury. But then Markstrom signed an extension, and he promptly played his best game of the season against the Los Angeles Kings. That turned out to be their only victory of the four-game trip.

What’s Coming Up This Fortnight: The Devils will battle for the top of the division against the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow afternoon before facing off against the Islanders on Monday. Then, the Devils kick off on a road trip, starting with Chicago on November 12. After that, they won’t be back home until the week of Thanksgiving, but this road trip will be along the east coast after the one game against the Blackhawks.

The Devil of the Month for October: Sans the Month in Review post for October, we will discuss our Devil on the Month here. With Jacob Markstrom falling quickly to injury this season, the New Jersey Devils needed a spark from the rest of their team to get going on the kind of winning streak that they had. And, yes, Jake Allen was great in that stretch. He had a .906 save percentage and a 2.39 goals against average for a 3.20 goals saved above average and 2.89 goals saved above expected. He did very well to earn his 5-1-0 record in October.

But Jack Hughes, man. Jack had 15 points in the 11 Devils games of October despite not looking quite like himself for the first few games of the season. But then he scored a big goal against the Florida Panthers, then scored two against Edmonton, and then had a hat trick against Toronto, finishing off the road trip with two crucial goals — including an overtime winner — against the Colorado Avalanche to get the winning streak to eight games. In total, he had nine goals, five primary assists, and one secondary assist in the month of October. That is Hart-pace stuff, and his 23.68 shooting percentage in October, while high, is not that far above an “unsustainable” point. It has since dropped to 20.00%. Could we be seeing a return of the lethal accuracy he showed in the 2021-22 season, when he had 15.8% of his shots hit the back of the net? Adding good team defense on top of that, and Jack Hughes was the All About the Jersey Devil of the Month for October 2025.

Pittsburgh Penguins​

What Happened Last Month: The Pittsburgh Penguins are back. Evgeni Malkin is a monster on the power play again, Sidney Crosby is as good as ever in the offensive end, and the Penguins have gotten some big contributions from Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau. Mantha, who signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal, has seven goals and 12 assists in 15 games. Is it sustainable? I think people have been long waiting for Mantha to hit that next level of production, considering his skill that people have raved about since he was in Detroit. Malkin already has nine power play points after only having 16 in 68 games last season. Brazeau, who is in year one of a two-year deal worth $1.5 million per season, had 12 points in 12 games before getting hurt on October 30, as he has now been placed on IR with the expectation that he returns in early October. In a more fortuitous development for the Penguins, though, 18-year old and 11th overall pick Benjamin Kindel has five goals and seven points in 13 games for the club while holding his own in the faceoff circle and getting involved on defense. Kindel also currently leads all qualified Penguins forwards in expected goals percentage at five-on-five at 56.34%.

Brazeau hitting IR is another tough blow for the Penguins, who have an even longer IR list than the Devils right now. Kevin Hayes was placed on injured reserve yesterday, though he may make his season debut against the Devils tomorrow. Tristan Jarry, who was actually having a good start to his season at 5-2-0 with a .911 save percentage, will not be back until December with a lower-body injury. The Penguins now have Sergei Murashov backing up Arturs Silovs, as Joel Blomqvist has been out for the start of the season. Luckily for the Penguins, Murashov was very promising in Russia and has been very good int he ECHL and AHL since arriving in North America last season. The Penguins are also missing Caleb Jones, who was playing third pairing minutes until he hit IR with a lower-body injury in late October, in addition to Rickard Rakell, who had eight points in nine games before getting hand surgery. He won’t be back until late December. The Penguins keep chugging along.

Have the Penguins had a tough schedule so far? Not really. They have beat the Kings, Panthers, and Wild, though they have yet to face a fellow true top team. But their stars are playing like stars. Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang are playing good defense and continuing to eat big minutes. For a team who was pretty much being divvied up for spare parts by every external armchair onlooker throughout the offseason, they look set to go on a playoff run. Rather than selling this season, they look like they should be buyers. Why not go for it one more time with Crosby, Malkin, and Letang?

What’s Coming Up This Fortnight: Tomorrow afternoon should be fun. The Penguins are a bit of an elder squad, though, so they might have an easier time waking up in time for the 12:30 start time. After the Devils game, the Penguins face the Kings in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon before traveling to Stockholm for the Global Series with the Predators. Nashville, a team that is seemingly falling apart in the locker room (between Erik Haula and Juuse Saros angrily yelling in Finnish in the locker room after an OT loss days before Ryan O’Reilly blasts himself for not being good enough) under head coach Andrew Brunette and GM Barry Trotz, is talented enough to keep up with anyone, but they do not seem to have the right people guiding them, and I expect Pittsburgh to take three or four points in Sweden. Let’s be real, a team that has Erik Haula (I miss him) almost tripling Steven Stamkos’s point production through 16 games is a team that is almost completely broken, and Pittsburgh’s veterans should eat them up with their breakfast smörgås.

Carolina Hurricanes​

What Happened Last Month: The Carolina Hurricanes started their season with a five-game winning streak. Since then, they are 4-4-0. Their injuries on the back-end may be starting to catch up with them, to some extent. Jaccob Slavin has not played since their second game of the season, and Shayne Gostisbehere had seven points in four games before leaving on October 18 with an injury after just four minutes of ice time. He tried to come back on October 28, but left after just seven minutes of ice time. Now, he has “no timetable” for return. K’Andre Miller has also missed six games, but is now back in the lineup playing top pairing minutes with Sean Walker. And in another unfortunate turn for their blueline, Jalen Chatfield left yesterday’s game with a head injury after an illegal check from Tyler Pitlick. In addition to their injuries on defense, they are missing William Carrier and Eric Robinson, who are on injured reserve.

At forward, Jackson Blake has fit like a glove in Carolina, disguising Andrei Svechnikov’s continued premature decline. Jordan Staal may be playing the best defensive hockey of his life, as the Hurricanes have only given up two goals in 13 games with him on the ice at five-on-five. But Taylor Hall has been slow since a hot start, with just two points in his last 10 games. The big fish of the offseason, Nikolaj Ehlers, only has two goals and six points in 13 games, finally scoring in a 3-0 win against the Rangers on November 4.

Their wins have largely come against struggling teams so far, losing twice to the Golden Knights and once to the Stars, while Frederik Andersen stole a shootout win against the Quebec Nordiques Colorado Avalanche for one of their three wins against playoff teams who have more wins than losses (also the Devils and Ducks, which they won before Gostisbehere’s injury). They also beat the Kings in overtime, who are technically in a playoff spot, but have lost nine of their 15 games.

What’s Coming Up This Fortnight: The Hurricanes have two real challanges over the next two weeks, playing the Maple Leafs in Toronto on the back-half of a back-to-back on Sunday before facing the Edmonton Oilers in Raleigh on the back-half of a back-to-back next Saturday. Otherwise, they have home games against the Sabres, Capitals, and Canucks over the next week, while they go on the road to face the Bruins and Wild later in the fortnight. I am still waiting for the Wild to turn it around, given their talent, but they have yet to do so. Might it happen by the time they play Carolina?

Philadelphia Flyers​

What Happened Last Month: I will say it right now: I do not believe in the Philadelphia Flyers. Do you want a team to put on the “fraud watch” board? It’s the Flyers. They currently possess the second wild card spot, but they are tied with the Canadiens, Senators, Rangers, and Sabres for the fewest regulation wins in the Eastern Conference. Their five regulation and overtime wins are better than just the Senators and Sabres. Even the Sharks, who have two regulation wins as the second worst team in the whole league, have as many ROW as the Flyers. The Flyers have the 26th ranked offense in the league by goals per 60 minutes played in all situations as well as in five-on-five play. They have had good special teams so far, but take more penalties than they draw. Most of all, I do not believe Dan Vladar will continue to run with a .917 save percentage, and there is only so long that the team can lean on Travis Sanheim for over 26 minutes a game to keep chances against down.

Trevor Zegras is doing well to lead their offense, but Matvei Michkov is off to a much worse start under Rick Tocchet, who is giving him nearly two fewer minutes of ice time per night than John Tortorella did. I guess Michkov really doesn’t want to play the dump-and-chase game. What a shock it is that the coach who almost managed to ruin Clayton Keller is now doing it again with one of the most talented players in the league. The Flyers will continue to play muck-up, mediocre hockey until they finish sixth or worse in the division. But for now, they are in a decent spot. They did beat the Panthers, Wild, and Kraken in October. I won’t give them too much credit for the shootout wins over the Penguins and Canadiens. Until they start playing Michkov on the top line and modernize their offense enough to get out of possession hell, I won’t believe in them.

What’s Coming Up This Fortnight: The Flyers play Ottawa tomorrow afternoon, but their real tests are next week with a home game against the Oilers and a road back-to-back against the Blues and Stars that Friday and Saturday. Then, they get a four-day break before a home game against the Blues. So, they’ll be nice and rested for when they face the Devils in Philadelphia beyond this fortnight. Will they still be in a playoff spot? I doubt it.

Washington Capitals​

What Happened Last Month: The Washington Capitals have some great top-end forwards. Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome are both scoring at over a point per game, and they also have Aleksei Protas and Alex Ovechkin not too far off. Ovechkin, of course, recently scored his 900th career goal in the NHL, and he may even reach 1700 points if more of his shots start hitting the back of the net (currently at 1633). Unfortunately, they will be without Pierre-Luc Dubois for a large chunk of the season, so it may be difficult for them to replicate last year’s regular season success. Their success will be built off of their solid defense, which includes John Carlson, Jakob Chychrun, Martin Fehervary, and Matt Roy, as the four provide a great mix of offense in both shooting and passing ability from Chychrun and Carlson, while Fehervary and Roy play incredibly solid defense. Their goaltending has been very good to start the season, as well, as Logan Thompson is playing at an insane .938 save percentage and 1.45 goals against average, while Charlie Lindgren has struggled in a more defined backup role than the split platoon he played last season. Thompson has been so consistently great in net that he has a 1.45 GAA despite not yet recording a shutout this season.

Like other teams mentioned here, the Capitals have not yet had quite the difficult schedule that the Devils have had to play through. They did beat the Lightning in overtime, and they handily beat the Wild and Kraken. But with losses to the Canucks, Stars, Senators, Islanders, and Penguins, they have largely not done as well against equally skilled or better competition. The Capitals currently struggle down the lineup, with very little production from their bottom six. If Dubois ends up being out multiple months, I can imagine them being out of a playoff spot down the stretch. They do not have the centers to make up for his absence, unless maybe Nicklas Backstrom (currently with 13 points in 18 SHL games in his first hockey in about two years) were to make an unexpected return to the NHL. The trade market might not open up until Dubois is closer to a return, and some serious damage might be made against their playoff hopes by then.

What’s Coming Up This Fortnight: The Capitals have a chance to right the ship and prove themselves in a brutal stretch here. They are currently in the middle of a road trip, which features games against the Lightning, Hurricanes, and Panthers over the next week. Then, they return home to play the Devils, Kings, and Oilers before finishing the fortnight with an away game in Montreal the night after they face Edmonton. If they rise above here, they will have established themselves as resilient enough to compete for a playoff spot even without Dubois.

New York Islanders​

What Happened Last Month: Matthew Schaefer is very good. With five goals and 11 points in 13 games, Schaefer is displaying his incredible skating and offensive abilities to at least make the Islanders a very interesting watch. With a robust offense that features Bo Horvat, with nine goals and 15 points, alongside good starts to the year by Mat Barzal, Kyle Palmieri, and others, the Islanders should actually be disappointed they are this far down the standings. In short, Ilya Sorokin has been bad. He is 3-4-2 with an .879 save percentage. Is some of that due to bizarrely trading Noah Dobson away for Emil Heineman, thinking they could replace Dobson on the right side with Tony DeAngelo? Probably. I was not with Mathieu Darche on that one — a mistake that I don’t think Lou Lamoriello would have ever made, no matter if Heineman is a serviceable third-line scoring forward.

(Noah Dobson is Noah Dobson. But a first-round pick could be anything! It could even be Noah Dobson!)

The Islanders had a great run in the middle of October, beating the Oilers, Senators, Sharks, and Red Wings in a stretch of four games where they scored 20 goals. Aside from that, it has been mostly rough, as they only have 23 goals in their other nine games. They started the year with a three-game losing streak against the Penguins, Capitals, and Jets, while they followed their winning streak up with a shootout loss to the Flyers and two more in regulation to the Bruins and Hurricanes. They did get back on the board with a win over Washington on Halloween, and they continued to improve their divisional record with a win over Columbus a couple days later. The Islanders, I think, are an unpredictable team, who can both beat or lose to anyone in a much more random fashion than most teams in the league.

What’s Coming Up This Fortnight: Like the Capitals, the Islanders have a tough stretch ahead. They kick off a back-to-back tonight at home against the Wild before playing tomorrow night against the Rangers at the Garden. Then, they go to Newark on Monday night to play the Devils before going on a western road trip. They will face the Knights and Mammoth in a back-to-back before playing the Avalanche, Stars, and Red Wings the following week. Needless to say, they would probably be happy with a .500 points percentage in these two weeks, as their schedule lightens up with a long home stand afterwards.

Columbus Blue Jackets​

What Happened Last Month: The Columbus Blue Jackets are just not all there yet. They have some good players. Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov are fun to watch on offense, and Zach Werenski is fantastic on the back-end. Sean Monahan and Charlie Coyle is looking like a good top six center duo. But some of their younger players, like Adam Fantilli, are just not ready to bring the team to the next stage of competitiveness, while one of their veterans in Boone Jenner is not what who he once was. They are getting good blueline play from Ivan Provorov, Denton Mateychuk, and Damon Severson, but depth among the defense is as hard to come by as it is at forward. Through a month, they still have not settled on a third pairing due to a lack of quality personnel, leading to a combined 2.93 goals against average for their goaltenders despite a .912 team save percentage.

The Jackets did have some impressive wins in October. They beat the Wild, Lightning, Stars, and Maple Leafs, though they lost to the Devils, Avalanche, and Capitals. They are now coming off of a resounding loss to the Calgary Flames, and they will have to reset themselves while in the midst of a western Canadian road trip.

What’s Coming Up This Fortnight: The Blue Jackets next face the Canucks on Saturday night before facing the Oilers and Kraken in a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday. Then, they have a home set against the Oilers, Rangers, and Canadians. Then the NHL schedulers massively screw them over with a road back-end to a back-to-back on November 18 in Winnipeg, just 24 hours after they play the Canadians. Then, they continue a four-game road trip with a game against Toronto to end their fortnight.

New York Rangers​

Oh boy.

What Happened Last Month: Big thanks to James Dolan for being too preoccupied to see how poorly Chris Drury is running his team. Despite the propaganda of the worst hockey minds of the internet, trading K’Andre Miller for a first-round pick and Scott Morrow was an incredibly poor decision for a team who presumably wants to win before Artemi Panarin leaves in free agency. (K’Andre Miller is K’Andre Miller. But a conditional first-round pick could be—). Mika Ziabejad is still terrible at even strength, and Vincent Trocheck has been out with an upper-body injury. Artemi Panarin only has seven points in 14 games. J.T. Miller looks like a slow version of the kid the Rangers traded away for Tampa Bay to properly develop instead of the 100-point center he became in Vancouver. Alexis Lafreneire got his bag and decided to go full-Yakupov. If the Rangers didn’t have Adam Fox, Igor Shesterkin, and Jonathan Quick, they might have zero wins.

As someone who was glued to the television for the entirety of Cory Schneider’s tenure with the New Jersey Devils, I know how it feels, but the Rangers should be ashamed of having the league-worst offense while having the names they have on their roster. But maybe it’s just their fault. Maybe Chris Drury and Peter Laviolette never knew what they were doing, and now Mike Sullivan has the worst roster of the Drury era to work with. Meanwhile, Chris Kreider has nine goals in nine games in Anaheim, while Jacob Trouba has a league-leading +13 rating with three goals and eight points in 13 games without much power play usage to speak of.

As of today, the Rangers are winless at home. They have only won on the road, winning good games agains the Penguins and Canadiens while beating the Oilers in overtime in a good western Canada-plus-Seattle performance, where they took six of eight points. The Rangers should be better than this, but they have been shutout in four of their six road games, and the only times they scored at home were against the Wild (31st-ranked defense) and Sharks (31st-ranked team). Based on their first month, I would say they could tank for Gavin McKenna, but they would probably need to trade Shesterkin and Fox to pull that off, and that is obviously not on the table and would also be very sad to watch.

What The Next Fortnight Looks Like: The Rangers have a back-to-back starting tonight in Detroit, followed by a match with the Islanders tomorrow night. Then, they play Nashville at home before playing two road games against the Lightning and Blue Jackets, coming back home for a back-half of a back-to-back against the Red Wings. Then, they go west to play the Knights and Avalanche. They have some winnable games, but some more tough contests. If they falter, they will likely still be at the bottom of the Division on Thanksgiving, by which point Trocheck might be returning. They are in a tough spot.

---

Your Thoughts​

Thus concludes the first Metropolitan Division Snapshot of the 2025-26 season, which will proceed to be updated on a bi-weekly/fortnight basis. What do you think of the state of the Division right now? Do you think anyone is performing well above or below their ability? Will the Devils still be atop the board in two weeks? Will the Flyers fall down the standings? Will the Penguins stay where they are? How will Carolina continue to manage their injuries? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...napshot-1-one-month-down-and-first-to-10-wins

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils in the Details – 11/7/25: The Comeback Edition

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

A late goal from Timo Meier got the Devils to overtime against the Canadiens, and Jesper Bratt finished things off as New Jersey took a 4-3 win on Thursday. [Devils NHL]

Our requisite injury:

It’s a lower body injury for Dougie Hamilton, I’m told.#NJDevils

— Ryan Novozinsky (@ryannovoNHL) November 7, 2025

“Jonas Siegenthaler was arguably the best defensive defenseman in the NHL a season ago, but he’s struggling through the first 13 games of the 2025-26 campaign. What’s gone wrong, and is he due to turn it around soon?” [Devils on the Rush ($)]

“Things started out OK this season but (Nemec’s) game has really fallen off of late. He was absolutely atrocious the past couple of games – so much so that his underlying numbers are worse than a year ago.” [Infernal Access ($)]

Hockey Links​

Well then!

Sidney Crosby now leads the NHL with 11 goals on the season

38 years old. Age is just a number for Sid pic.twitter.com/xk3OZRnUw1

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 7, 2025

It was even a slick goal!

900 NHL GOALS FOR ALEX OVECHKIN!!! pic.twitter.com/4HeKNfluoF

— NHL (@NHL) November 6, 2025

HE DID IT

ALEX OVECHKIN'S THE FIRST PLAYER TO EVER SCORE 900 GOALS! pic.twitter.com/7jB6tkD3rV

— NHL (@NHL) November 6, 2025

Incredible stuff:

Jordan Binnington nearly kept Ovechkin’s 900th puck
pic.twitter.com/NsCDfev9Vv

— FanDuel (@FanDuel) November 6, 2025

“Whether it’s due to injury, a struggling starter, a backup pushing for a greater role, or some other reason, here are some of the goalies we’re keeping an eye on as the season progresses.” [Sportsnet]

An early look at the 2026 draft class: [The Athletic ($)]

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...s-in-the-details-11-7-25-the-comeback-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Jake Allen Dominant in Goal in 2-1 Devils Shootout Win Over Penguins

First Period​

The third line had the first good chances of the game, with Ondrej Palat firing a one-timer that was fought off by Arturs Silovs before Cody Glass came cutting down the left side for another good shot that Silovs froze. The Devils had the better run of play early on, but the third pairing of Dennis Cholowski and Colton White was quickly shown to be subpar, and not because of the freshly-called up Colton White. Cholowski turned the puck over on his very first shift, causing the Jack Hughes line to get stuck in the defensive zone yet again before a hit by Noesen in the neutral zone led to a Penguins icing.

Stefan Noesen had Jack Hughes on a two-on-one almost eight minutes into the period. Noesen passed it back to Hughes after drawing Silovs low, but Hughes tried making a move to the backhand and lost the puck. Near the halfway point, Dennis Cholowski completely missed an easy puck by the boards, forcing Jake Allen to make a big save on Ville Koivunen with White rushing over to defend the unexpected one-on-one.

Play was stopped a minute later when Brenden Dillon threw a giant hit in the offensive zone on Tommy Novak as Novak was reaching for a puck by the blueline, leading to a fight between him and Anthony Mantha while Blake Lizotte went off on the rush. Allen stood strong, fighting off the shot before Dillon punched Mantha’s face a few times. No minor penalties were called on the play, and the Devils had to manage themselves without their top pair defenseman for five minutes. Meanwhile, no instigator penalty was called on Mantha.

Timo Meier took a crosscheck while firing a slap shot with over six and a half minutes to play, leading to him slowly getting off the ice, but no penalty was called. The Penguins proceeded to put a lot of pressure on the Devils, with a deflection chance for Crosby going just wide after Rust took two shots on goal, but the Devils kept the game tied. Meier, however, returned for his next shift a minute and a half later, after a TV timeout.

Jake Allen made a huge save on Ville Koivunen with under two and a half minutes to play. Siegenthaler had his back turned to him, and the puck came off Malkin’s skate right to Koivunen, who shot it into Allen’s glove. This freed Brenden Dillon from the box, with the Penguins putting up 8 shots on goal in the time he was unavailable. Then, Arseny Gritsyuk went rushing and chasing Kris Letang back into his own zone in the last minute of the game, sneaking behind and stealing a pass. He went to the forehand and roofed the puck! The Devils took the lead on their first shot in five minutes.

Second Period​

Nico Hischier was hooked at the offensive blueline by Erik Karlsson, leading to a penalty call in the first minute of the period. Timo Meier joined the first wave of the power play to begin this afternoon, and the Devils set up after winning the puck from a faceoff loss. A bad pass from Luke Hughes to Bratt forced them back. Bratt regained the zone but was hit into the boards by Letang, and the Devils managed to keep possession for a Meier one-timer that was saved. Jack Hughes later looked for a redirection for Meier, but the deflection went wide. The rest of the power play was not noteworthy, and Paul Cotter went figure skating with open ice to shoot, not shooting and circling the zone instead, wasting their possession afterwards.

Arseny Gritsyuk slipped up at the blueline off a faceoff draw almost eight minutes into the period, and Anthony Mantha went on a partial breakaway with Colton White backchecking as fast as he could from the far side. Allen came out to challenge with White cutting down the angle, and Mantha’s shot went wide.

After Dennis Cholowski was unable to clear the defensive zone while paired with Luke Hughes, the Penguins tied the game with a high shot from Ryan Graves that deflected off of Ondrej Palat’s shoulder. The Penguins almost took the lead when the fourth line got utterly hemmed in on the following shift, but Jake Allen came up big with a glove save just a minute after he was run over to no call by Benjamin Kindel.

The Devils had a chance to retake the lead in the final minute of the game, as Luke Hughes found his brother for a chance below the faceoff dot with Silovs out of position to make the stop. Silovs still dove over for the glove save, and the game remained tied through the end of the period.

Third Period​

The third period started off slowly, with some wide-angled attempts by Timo Meier and an icing by Pittsburgh. After Siegenthaler fought off Anthony Mantha on a rush, Stefan Noesen set up Jack Hughes after Jesper Bratt fell down, but Silovs made the save. Then, Stefan Noesen was sent off for slashing for two minutes, and Connor Clifton got away with a hit on Noesen after the whistle.

The Devils won the defensive zone draw and cleared the puck. An offsides delayed the Penguins from setting back up, but Pittsburgh won the neutral zone draw and gained the offensive zone. Evgeni Malkin had a shot saved by Allen, but Luke Hughes shot the puck off Brenden Dillon, allowing Sidney Crosby a chance from the point that was frozen by Allen. Simon Nemec blocked an Erik Karlsson shot attempt after the following draw, but the Devils could not clear the zone until Luke Glendening averted a scoring chance with Allen diving around by backhanding the puck from the crease to center ice. The Devils survived the penalty.

Stefan Noesen had a great shift, forcing Silovs to make a couple big saves while Noesen fought off two Penguins by the crease to get some whacks in. The Hughes line came back and had a good shift, but Dennis Cholowski could not bury his backhand try. Then, Nico Hischier left the game after diving to block a shot with his head. I don’t even know what commentary to add to that — that’s just what happened.

marky and luke’s little pats pic.twitter.com/pgZTsb7q7A

— ¹³ faith₊˚⟡ (@hischiersdevils) November 8, 2025

Cody Glass was cross checked in the head with a bit over seven minutes to play, and Evgeni Malkin was very angry about being called for it. Dawson Mercer had a chance early on and shot the puck for a rebound, but nobody was around to clean it up. The Devils cycled without many shot attempts until a one-timer by Luke Hughes was deflected out of play at the end of the first minute. As Nico Hischier returned to the bench, Timo Meier ripped a one-timer off of Silovs and the iron, but it stayed out. After the power play, the teams went back and forth but were unable to score a winning goal.

Overtime​

The Devils took possession to start three-on-three, and Hischier had a shot blocked early. The Devils kept possession through the first change, though, and Jack Hughes entered the zone and shot from a sharp angle. Silovs stopped it, and Luke Hughes blocked a shot by Novak on the other end. The Penguins continued to pressure, preventing the Devils from changing, and Jake Allen had to make three outstanding stops on Ben Kindel, including a diving poke check.

A generous change by Evgeni Malkin cut down a chance for Timo Meier while four Penguins were on the ice. The Devils kept possession, though, but they had to go back to center. Luke Hughes later spun a backhand pass to Paul Cotter on a rush, but Cotter was unable to finish. A desperate last-second slap shot by Jack Hughes (after a great dive by Simon Nemec) was saved by Silovs, sending the game to a shootout.

Shootout​

Paul Cotter went first for the New Jersey Devils. He made a great dipsy-doodle fake to his forehand to score!

Bryan Rust followed, and Allen stuck out the pad to stop him!

Jesper Bratt went second, and he slickly put the Devils up two!

Sidney Crosby tried to save the game for Pittsburgh. He went wide, and the Devils won on Allen’s pad stop!

Woof.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

JAKE ALLEN​

The Devils did their best today, I think, considering the circumstances. They are now missing Dougie Hamilton while Brett Pesce, Connor Brown, and Evgenii Dadonov are still out of the lineup, and they had to run a pretty rough defensive lineup as a result. They pulled this off thanks to the outstanding, steady performance of Jake Allen. He was never in the wrong spot today, and could have had a shutout if not for an extremely unfortunate bounce off of Ondrej Palat.

The stats say that Allen only faced 2.32 expected goals against. It felt like a lot more, and when you consider how much offensive zone possession time the Penguins had, I’m sure Sheldon Keefe and the Devils felt like it could have been three or four goals for Pittsburgh on the 34 shots they had on goal. He had to be locked in for the majority of the game, as the Devils were just playing to limit the danger that Pittsburgh sent his way. It worked — they kept this game going long enough to get the shootout win, even if I was dreading a heartbreaking goal against after Pittsburgh’s fluke of a game-tying goal in the second period.

Paul Cotter’s Redemption​

I was blasting Paul Cotter’s performance throughout today’s game on account of him seeming to hold the puck too long, hurting some possessions and causing turnovers while the fourth line was repeatedly hemmed in. I have written before that Cotter has incredible skill, and I still believe that, but I think he has again gotten too into his own head when he has the puck. Shoot it! Dump it! Do something!

But Cotter almost finished the game in overtime, and probably would have if not for a great backcheck against the feed he got from Luke Hughes. Then, his shootout move was absolutely disgusting. And I’m not someone who likes to give shootouts much attention (I would still prefer a longer overtime at four-on-four), but this was for the Metropolitan Division lead. Had Cotter and Bratt not scored there, Pittsburgh might be atop the board right now.

He also had the best quote of the post-game:

I’m not sure Nico is necessarily the guy who should be blocking pucks with his head, but I mean that’s the type of stuff that’s happening.

Some faster decision making from Cotter during the game would turn him into a regular 20-goal scorer. He has the hands to be a net-driving power forward, and he has even more speed than hands.

The Elephant in the Room​

Dennis Cholowski had another bad game today. Let’s see some breakdowns on his with-or-without-you’s (WOWYs):

• Jack Hughes: 20.55 xGF% with Cholowski, 73.23 xGF% without Cholowski
• Luke Hughes: 73.49 xGF% with Dillon, 0.00 xGF% and a goal against with Cholowski
• Cody Glass: 15.56 xGF% and a goal against with Cholowski, 83.08 xGF% without Cholowski
  • Think it’s Luke Hughes’s fault? Glass had a 66.82 xGF% with Luke on the ice, including Cholowski’s drag.
• Juho Lammikko: 31.29 xGF% with Cholowski, 53.97 xGF% without Cholowski

You can say that you don’t believe in advanced stats, but no matter who you look at, Cholowski makes them perform worse on the ice. The Devils’ options are limited, but I think today’s game showed how essential it is for them to find a better stopgap on the third pairing. He missed pucks left and right, had a few turnovers, and just looks too slow out there.

Nico Hischier​

Nico Hischier means everything to the New Jersey Devils, but he needs to be a lot more careful about (literally) throwing himself into danger like he did in the third period today. He has already been looking a little slower than usual, probably fighting through something nagging, and the team cannot afford him missing time due to an injury. I thought his line was a little disappointing again today, though it seemed like they were largely deferring to Timo Meier, who almost had a third period goal when he wrapped around the net. In Hischier’s case, I do not think it’s enough that teams don’t score against him. He’s not a 35-year old defensive center. If Hischier or his linemates are not scoring, the team will have a tough time winning games. They pulled this one out, but I wouldn’t count on too many wins with a scoreless top six. That said…

Give Gritsyuk More Ice Time!​

Arseny Gritsyuk is now regularly near the top of the board in terms of expected goals percentage, Devils shots on goal, and other indicators of offensive threat. With his fantastic goal today, he showed again why playing a tick under 14 minutes a night is not enough for him. I did like how Noesen worked with the Hughes line today, but the Meier-Hischier-Mercer line has not been as good since Mercer moved to center and then back to wing. With the fourth line in desperate need of a makeover, I think it might not be a terrible idea to have Mercer center a third line, using Glass as a fourth-line center (and he’d probably be the best 4C in the league). This would allow Arseny Gritsyuk to get top six minutes again.

And it’s not a linemates thing. I think Ondrej Palat and Cody Glass have looked very good with Gritsyuk. Maybe it’s a fourth line overusage thing, preventing that line from getting enough looks. But whatever it takes, I would like to see Gritsyuk playing more. He had a bit over 16 minutes today, which draws his season average up closer to 14 minutes a night, but that needs to be the consistent approach.

Stick Taps for Nemo and Luke​

You might not have been impressed with their game today, but they made a lot of defensive plays (such as the dive by Nemec in overtime) and ate up a lot of minutes for the Devils tonight. Luke Hughes led the team with 29:39 tonight, while Nemec played 26:39. In the future, Brenden Dillon should probably strive to avoid five-minute fighting majors while the team is already down multiple defensemen, but these guys playing a breakeven game while playing overly-inflated minutes was one of the things that needed to happen for the Devils to win today.

Your Thoughts​

What did you think of today’s game? Did you think the Devils would pull it off? Who were your top players of the night? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...goal-in-2-1-devils-shootout-win-over-penguins

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2025-26 Gamethread #15: New Jersey Devils vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (10-4-0) versus the Pittsburgh Penguins (9-4-2)

The Time: 12:30 PM ET

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Hockey Network

The Game Preview: I wrote today’s preview.

The Song of the Day: If you’re in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, savor today. It looks like it may be one of the last warm, sunny afternoons before winter. So, today’s song of the day is Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks. It’s just not the summertime, but I wish it was for a day.

The Rules: If you have been a reader here, you already know the rules. But for the rest, a reminder: please do not swear in the comment section, and keep comments relevant to the hockey game going on. Beyond that, do not attack any other commenters, and do not ask for or pass along illegal streams on this board.

LGD!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...d-14-new-jersey-devils-vs-pittsburgh-penguins

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Game Preview #15: New Jersey Devils vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (10-4-0) versus the Pittsburgh Penguins (9-4-2)

The Time: 12:30 PM ET

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN

Hamilton Down​

There was no update yesterday on Dougie Hamilton, who left Thursday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens with a lower-body injury. Per Sheldon Keefe, Hamilton was being evaluated yesterday, so we should have some word on him today, whether or not he is available. With Colton White already in New Jersey, the Devils simply shifted their defensemen around to accommodate the newest injury. The resulting defensive pairs are…not pretty.

No changes to the forward lines #NJDevils today as Brown remains out.

Without Dougie Hamilton, everything shifts on defense with White drawing in.

MacEwen and Halonen are skating as a fourth D-pair. pic.twitter.com/7PpA1vabmn

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) November 7, 2025

Still, the Devils have to work with what they have available. Do I think they should call up someone like Ethan Edwards or Seamus Casey, who were paired together in a 3-0 Utica Comets victory last night? Yes. Do I think they’ll do it? Well, not in time for this game. If the Devils are to win this game without Dougie Hamilton, it will be by relegating that third pairing to play with bottom six lines only, as the now-temporarily defunct Cholowski-Nemec pairing has had disastrous impacts and results in their minutes with Jack Hughes’s line. On top of that, I would expect Siegenthaler, Dillon, and Hughes to all hover around 25-30 minutes played this afternoon if it is a particularly close game.

The Penguins​

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to a great start this season. I invite everyone to read what I wrote about them yesterday in the Division Snapshot. From there, there are some important injury notes on their roster:

Brazeau hitting IR is another tough blow for the Penguins, who have an even longer IR list than the Devils right now. Kevin Hayes was placed on injured reserve yesterday, though he may make his season debut against the Devils tomorrow. Tristan Jarry, who was actually having a good start to his season at 5-2-0 with a .911 save percentage, will not be back until December with a lower-body injury. The Penguins now have Sergei Murashov backing up Arturs Silovs, as Joel Blomqvist has been out for the start of the season. Luckily for the Penguins, Murashov was very promising in Russia and has been very good in the ECHL and AHL since arriving in North America last season. The Penguins are also missing Caleb Jones, who was playing third pairing minutes until he hit IR with a lower-body injury in late October, in addition to Rickard Rakell, who had eight points in nine games before getting hand surgery. He won’t be back until late December. The Penguins keep chugging along.

With 18-year old rookie Benjamin Kindel making a big impact on the Penguins alongside free agent pickup Anthony Mantha, the Penguins still have the players to keep their top six performing well. Their bottom six, however, still looks a little more suspect after those injuries, though Connor Dewar has chipped in some goals from the wing. The Penguins are always a threat to score when Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang are on the ice, though, and that is still about three-quarters of the game.

The last time the Devils played the Penguins, they hard-matched Cody Glass on Sidney Crosby due to Jack Hughes’s absence, and Glass did very well that night. I wonder if Keefe will go to the same look today, allowing Jack Hughes to feast on one of the Penguins’ bottom six lines. Otherwise, I would expect Nico Hischier to get the minutes against Crosby and Rust.

First Period Performance​

As has been recently written about around here, the Devils need to make sure they show up for the first period. This is even more important with it being a 12:30 start time. If the Devils let the elder Penguins have free run in the first period, either Jake Allen or Jacob Markstrom (I’m presuming Allen based on the slightly short rest since Thursday) will have to come up big for them. I would prefer to see the Devils get out to an early lead, though, as this game is for the Metropolitan Division points lead.

Your Thoughts​

What do you think of today’s matinee? Will you be there or will you be watching from home? Do you think the Devils will win? Who are you looking for a big performance from? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...w-15-new-jersey-devils-vs-pittsburgh-penguins