SAL'S QUICK HITS: BACK TO JERSEY WITH 4 POINTS

October 06, 2024

Bryce Salvador


What an outstanding first two games in Prague!

Everything that we needed to go right went right, and the Devils’ business trip was a huge success on so many levels. In particular, these first two Ws squashed all potential negative storylines and instead provided the team with a bit of house money to play with.

Here are some quick hitters for you!

Did an excellent job in managing to get his entire team to buy in. His “Intense, detailed, sprinting” brand of hockey seems to be resonating throughout the lineup. The fact of the matter is that it was the best all-around six periods of hockey that I’ve seen from any Devils team in a long, long time. Yes, it is only two games, but you, the Devils fans, deserved to finally have two fun games back-to-back to enjoy!After two games, GM Fitz looks like an absolute genius and is the front-runner for the GM of the Year award. Every single player he brought in this offseason had their fingerprints on one, if not both, of the games in Prague. (Minus Pesce, of course, as he’s still working his way back from surgery!)

Markstrom (Brick Wall), Kovavcevic (sorry, meant Kovechkin), Dillon (Tough As Nails), Casey (Outstandingly Good), Tatar (Spicy Tuna), Noesen (Doing It All), and last, but by no means the least, Cotter (Definitely “Mitts” and not “Meat”).
Each goalie got a W, and ultimately, this was the most vital souvenir I wanted the Devils to take away from this trip! (Ok, I’m not going to lie, I would have loved a Rolex watch for being the 1st Star of the game!)

Markstorm
With the Devils up 2-zip in Game 1, Markstrom made an outstanding highlight-reel save on Aube-Kubel with about 02:30 left in the first period. 

This moment told me that this season will finally be different in terms of the Devils getting those huge, timely saves they’ve desperately been missing for years now.

Allen
Jake Allen didn’t have to work nearly as hard as Marky did in Game 1, but make no mistake—he made timely saves at crucial moments in Game 2. Ultimately, this W will go a long way psychologically for Allen, following what seemed to be a tough preseason for him. It stopped any potential “bad preseason creeping into the regular season” narrative that would have come his way should the team have lost Game 2 with NJD#34 between the pipes. His ability to help the team pick up 2 PTS in the second half of a back-to-back will also be critical for HC Keefe, as he can now feel comfortable turning to his “1B” in this situation, regardless of Marky’s performance/result the prior night. 

Lastly on the goaltending note, I also thought the team played better in front of Jake in Game 2 than they did Marky in Game 1. I was glad to see this, as it foreshadowed to me that the team will play well in front of both goalies this season.

Timo - Jack - Bratt
Coming into this season, this was the line I had the biggest concern for in terms of connecting at the onset. Of all 4 FW lines, It may take this trio the longest time to find their chemistry offensively. After a combined 0 PTS in Game 1, I was already cringing about how they would handle potentially leaving the two games in Prague with goose eggs in the point columns. But, man, were they ever dominant in Game 2! It’s safe to say they got their mojo going, and it was great to see them get rewarded with a goal!!!

Tatar - Nico - Mercer
Through the first two games, this was the best overall line for the Devils. The Captain was back playing in his “Selke Finalist” form, Tatar was a workhorse, and Mercer was a Dawg on a bone! They immediately regained the chemistry they had in the 2022-23 season, which is exactly what HC Keefe was hoping would happen when he reunited this line. For me, Mercer was the most noticeable, hardest-working Devil player in all situations. I hope to be able to say again shortly, “Have Mercer On Them!”

Palat - Haula - Noesen
I loved this line’s energy in the one game they played together. To me, they need to establish themselves as the heartbeat of this team each and every night. This veteran, gritty sandpaper line with some sneaky offense should be able to eat other teams’ 3 & 4th-liners’ lunch game in and game out.

Cotter - Lazar - Bastian
Wow, wow, wow. This, too, is a fun energy line. They did it all: hit everything that moved, won their puck battles, defended well in key moments of the game, and factored in on key goals!!! If they can bring this brand of hockey to most games moving forward, they will outright be the best 4th line in the league. Yes, I know, mastermind HC Keefe will have other plans for Cotter if he keeps playing the same way he did over these past two games!

Without L.Hughes and Brett Pesce, I will admit, I didn’t know what to expect going into Game 1 of the regular season. One thing was for sure: if you had told me that when Pesce returns, I would have trouble immediately being able to tell you which D should be taken out of the lineup, I would have called you crazy. 

Dillon - Hamilton
Game 2 was a prime example of why Fitzy went after UFA Brendon Dillon this summer. This is a guy who single-handedly toughens up the NJD backend when he’s in the lineup. He throws bone-crushing hits (then backs those hits up with his fists) and blocks a ton of high-danger shots. On top of that, and most importantly, he can defend any team’s top players in any situation. This might be the D-partner Dougie has been waiting for at 5v5.

Siegenthaler - Kovacevic
This has been by far the most surprising D-pairing for me. In the Devils’ first two games, they literally became HC Keefe’s top shutdown pair at both 5v5 and on the PK. I can already tell by Keefe’s comments that he likes Kovacevic (or as he calls him, “Kovechkin”) and that Siegs could have a bounce-back season should he get to stay with Kovy when everyone is healthy.

Casey - Nemec
These two young guns played extremely well in Prague, especially when you consider the fact that they had never played together before Game 1. For Casey to excel like he did (on his off side, mind you!) only surprised me because he looked like a D player with a season or two under his belt while playing in Game 1 of his professional career. I expected this level of execution from Casey around games 20-30, not Games 1 & 2! I pointed out in a recent article that “visually,” he projects to play ahead of Nemec in offensive situations like PP2 and in situations where the Devils are pushing for offense. And after two games, that does appear to be the case.
It’s a rare luxury to be this deep on the back end. That being said, Devils’ management and coaching staff now have to bring out the surgical tools to ensure everything remains working together as nicely as it has so far. I, for one, don’t want the job of figuring things out once Pesce comes back! As I say this, though, I do know from personal experience that roster situations always seem to have a funny way of working themselves out. 

I know, I know, I’m getting waaaaay too excited about the Devils after only two games, but why not?! It’s been a long time since I’ve had that much fun calling two Devils games with Bill & Dano! And my new partner, Rachel, might be a good luck charm ;-) 

Enjoy the week, and see you next Thursday for the home opener!

- Sal


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