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The Chicago Blackhawks used a lot of what will be their regular-season lineup against the Minnesota Wild on Monday night at the United Center. The Wild, for the second straight game, dressed a group of mostly AHL players. 

15 seconds into the game, the Wild scored a goal to make it 1-0. Bobby Brink redirected a shot past Spencer Knight to put the Blackhawks behind. It was a goal that can be blamed on a defensive zone turnover, but those things are going to happen early in the preseason. 

Eventually, the Blackhawks took a too many men on the ice penalty, which they had served by Nick Lardis. When Lardis exited the box following a good penalty kill, he stripped the puck from a Wild defender and earned himself a breakaway. 

Early in the sequence, Lardis was tripped. It is unclear whether the ref was going to call a normal tripping penalty or a penalty shot, but it is a moot point because Lardis sniped home the tying goal. 

During the off-season, it was known that Lardis worked on skating and strength. That was on display with the takeaway and the speed to find himself in alone. It isn't crazy to think that he can flirt with 30 goals if he stays healthy. 

In the second period, the Blackhawks gave themselves a 2-1 lead thanks to a goal scored by Bowen Byram. This is his first preseason game in a Chicago sweater, and he made a great first impression with his go-ahead goal. 

On the play, Sam Rinzel and Ryan Greene made a nice play to circle the puck around the offensive zone before finding Byram with a lane to the net. 

With a 2-1 lead in the third period, the Blackhawks had a chance to close out their first win of the exhibition season. Results don't truly matter when the games don't count, but the NHL lineup came in expecting to beat the AHL version of the Wild. 

Just 24 seconds into the third, Byram scored his second of the game to put the Blackhawks up 3-1. He was trying to make a backdoor pass to Roman Kantserov, but it deflected into the net off a Minnesota Wild defender. 

Although Kantserov didn't get the goal, he did collect an assist on the play. He moved the puck to Alex Vlasic, who found Byram before it ended up being a goal. 

At that point, it looked like the Blackhawks were going to walk out of the United Center with a preseason victory. But the Wild youngsters had other ideas. 

Maxim Shabanov and Bobby Brink (his second of the game) added goals to tie the game tied back up at 3. It is too early to read into certain things, but the Blackhawks did have a problem with third-period leads in 2025-26. 

60 minutes wasn't enough. After going to overtime back in St. Paul on Saturday, the two teams did it again in Chicago on Monday. 

In overtime, the Blackhawks had the puck off the draw and never gave it up before Bowen Byram fired it home for the hat trick 29 seconds into the extra frame. The Blackhawks, with the hat trick goal by Byram, won their first game of the preseason. 

It wasn't pretty, and most exhibition games aren't, but there was a lot for head coach Jeff Blashill to like. For one, Bowen Byram is an offensive defenseman who gives the Blackhawks an element they haven't had in a while. They also have forwards and complementary defensemen who will help Byram take full advantage of his skills. 

First impressions are everything. He isn't going to have a hat trick, or even have a point, in every game, but he showed how much more dynamic he can make the team overall. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

tripped him, still couldn't stop him 😏 pic.twitter.com/BaPWOMoc28

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 22, 2026

hawks fans, meet bowen byram 🤝 pic.twitter.com/a0YTbK3P1p

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 22, 2026

another one thank you https://t.co/DxSIIIGnsMpic.twitter.com/1YUhwAHB9l

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 22, 2026

BOWEN BYRAM COMPLETES THE HAT TRICK IN OVERTIME‼️ pic.twitter.com/L1escuI0PQ

— NHL (@NHL) September 22, 2026

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Chicago Blackhawks are past their two preseason games against the Minnesota Wild. Now, they have a home and home with the St. Louis Blues to close out the preseason. The next game will be on Thursday, when they pay a visit to St. Louis for preseason game 3. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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In a tightly contested pre-season where prospects are typically at the forefront, a longtime Pittsburgh Penguins'  veteran drove the bus for the team in game one.

Forward Bryan Rust notched a goal and two assists as the Penguins defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1, in their first pre-season game of 2026. The win gives them six consecutive victories in the pre-season, which, according to Penguins' historian Bob Grove, is tied for the third-longest streak in franchise history.

Rust was joined on the scoresheet by Connor Dewar, Avery Hayes, and Elmer Soderblom, who secured the win at the end with an empty-net goal from just above the goal line. Jake Richard scored the lone goal for the Sabres, which came on a power play late in the second period.

All in all, it was a complete effort to start what is a short pre-season as well as a condensed one. The Penguins play the Detroit Red Wings at home Tuesday before going on the road to face the Columbus Blue Jackets and Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and Friday.

"The coaches are making sure we know that, when you blink, camp's going to be over," Hayes said. "You don't want to regret anything, you kind of want to attack every day with the mindset that you don't know what's coming tomorrow. So, you just gotta attack every day with 100 percent."

Midway through the first period, Andrei Kuzmenko - playing on a line with Ben Kindel and Rust until Kindel didn't come out for the second period - fed a puck to Rust, who attacked the offensive zone with purpose. He stickhandled his way through several Sabres and left one on a platter for Dewar, who ripped it home from the slot to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead. 

Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) on XThis feed from Rusty 🤌

The score remained 1-0 until midway through the second period, when Buffalo took a pair of penalties to give the Penguins a brief five-on-three. Just 18 seconds into the five-on-three, a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play from Kris Letang to Hendrix Lapierre to Rust, waiting in the low slot area, made it 2-0. 

Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) on XConsider this your reminder... IN RUST WE TRUST‼️

After the late goal by Richard, the Penguins were in the offensive zone with time waning in the middle frame. With less than five seconds to go, Hayes forced a turnover by Sabres' defenseman Dennis Gilbert behind the net and looped to just above the goal line, where he sniped a top-shelf shot over the right shoulder of goaltender Alex Lyon to restore the two-goal lead, which the Penguins were able to protect the rest of the way.

"It's just an extra effort play with almost no time left in the period," Rust said. "Those things can be momentum-killers if you're the one it happens against, or it can be a momentum-builder. And, I think for us, that was huge.

"Obviously, it's a pre-season game, but you can see that he just outworked everybody on the ice, and then he sniped. The more he does that, the more he's going to impact this team in just the most positive way."

Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) on XA-very good time to bring back the Avery puns 🙂‍↕️

Here are a few notes and observations from game one of the pre-season:

- Rust was the best player in this game, and it wasn't particularly close. Throughout the entirety of camp so far, he's arguably been the most noticeable player, which says a lot about the 34-year-old veteran.

It's been said many times that he possesses a lot of Crosby-like qualities. His effort in training camp as if he's still a kid trying to make the team is one of them, and it sets a great example for the younger guys, like Hayes, trying to make this team. 

'Leadership' can be an overstated quality, but that's not the case with Rust. He is a true leader for this locker room in every sense of the word.

- As mentioned before, Kindel did not return for the second period after sustaining a lower-body injury. Head coach Dan Muse could not provide an update on Kindel after the game, as he is still being evaluated.

Obviously, this would be a huge loss for the Penguins if he misses any chunk of time. He looked shot out of a cannon in that first period, and it would be yet another blow to their center depth with Blake Lizotte already out week-to-week.

Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) on XBen Kindel (lower body) will not return to tonight's game.

- That said, this is exactly why having so much forward depth is a net positive for the Penguins. And the guy who took Kindel's place on that line, Tristan Broz, got a chance to show out for the final two periods between Kuzmenko and Rust.

And he was really, really, solid out there. He looks comfortable in all three zones, he's a smart player who almost always makes clean reads, and he's got a rocket of a shot, too. He looked right at home on that first power play unit.

"He was good," Rust said. "You can tell he's a really good hockey player. Thinks the game at a high level, makes really good plays out there. I think the more he gets comfortable, the better he's going to be."

If Lizotte is not ready to go for the season-opener, I think Broz has a nice path to fill that role. And, if Kindel is out, you can pretty much pencil him in for an NHL roster spot to begin the season along with Filip Hallander, who also had a nice showing Monday.

Former Penguins' Forward, Beloved In Locker Room, Announces RetirementShortly after the end of his <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' tenure, a former NHL forward has decided to call it a career. 

- To go back to Hayes for a second, I predicted that this guy would crack the opening night roster because his play in these games would force the organization's hand at keeping him up.

I'll stand by that. Hayes just has that extra gear, and he's a type of feisty and relentless yet skilled bottom-six player that the Penguins have lacked for a good spell.

- This was a good performance by both Sergei Murashov and Joel Blomqvist, who split the game. Murashov stopped all 12 shots he faced, while Blomqvist stopped 10 of 11 and didn't really have much of a chance on the goal, as he appeared to be screened a bit.

The battle between these two through four days has been a legitimate one. Both looked comfortable, poised, and ready to go. 

5 Predictions For 2026 Penguins' Training CampThe Penguins have a lot of questions and intrigue heading into camp this year.

- Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke were relatively quiet as a pairing in this one. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. 

Both - especially Pickering - look substantially better defensively than they did at this time last year. Pickering made all the right decisions Monday, his gap control was excellent, and he was counted upon on the penalty kill and in defensive situations, handling it like a champ.

As for Brunicke, there was a small but telling third-period play with around 12 minutes left. He went to pinch down the right wall on a puck, but glanced over his shoulder to make sure he was covered before fully committing. It sounds like something so simple, but that's not something he was doing last year. In fact, his decision-making as far as joining the rush and jumping into the play was pretty much perfect on Monday.

Both look NHL-ready. Even if they start the season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS), it won't be long before they're full-time NHLers.

Penguins' Training Camp: 5 Standouts Through 3 DaysWith pre-season games next up on the slate, five players have earned themselves an opportunity in those games.

- Of note, Ryan Graves led all Penguins' skaters in ice time Monday with 22:33. This wasn't a bad performance by Graves, even if he didn't stand out. 

But second in ice time? That would be Chase Pietila, who played an excellent game. I feel like there aren't too many people who are talking about this guy, but he is so smart on the blue line, very risk-averse, and solid as a rock defensively. 

He's someone to watch in WBS this season. He's not flashy, but he does all the right things.

- Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will both be in Tuesday's lineup against Detroit, as will several other veterans. 

Another two exciting names? Liam and Markus Ruck.

Those two will be interesting to watch in this one, as they will be surrounded by NHL regulars. If I was a betting person, I'd wager that Calvert centers the Rucks, but we shall see.

Of note, a forward and a defenseman have to be scratched. Hopefully, one of the twins isn't the odd guy out.

Penguins Announce Roster For Pre-season Game Against Red WingsThe Pittsburgh Penguins have announced their roster for Tuesday's game against the Detroit Red Wings.

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!   

The Senators opened their abbreviated preseason schedule with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Monday night’s Kraft Hockeyville game in Trois-Rivières, Que.

Cole Caufield scored twice for Montreal, tying the game midway through the third period before delivering the dagger in overtime.

The crowd inside Colisée Vidéotron was firmly behind the Canadiens, but the Senators briefly took the wind out of their sails in the early moments.

Newcomer William Eklund wasted no time endearing himself to Sens Nation, scoring just 89 seconds into his first preseason appearance with the Sens. Eklund fed the puck to Dylan Cozens, who sprinted behind the net and then slipped a gorgeous feed back to Eklund, who finished the play to give the Senators an early 1-0 lead.

But Montreal completely controlled the rest of the period, responding three minutes later when defenseman Jayden Struble beat Samuel Ersson with a low short-side shot to tie the game.

The score remained deadlocked until late in the second period, when Cozens went from setup man to scorer. His first of the preseason restored the Sens' lead and capped a two-point night for the Workhorse.

The Senators carried that 2-1 advantage into the third period, until Caufield went to work. His tying goal was a harmless-looking shot along the ice, but it somehow eluded Sens goalie Samuel Ersson, who may have been anticipating a cross-crease pass instead.

Caufield's game-winning goal came on a hard, low wrist shot under the stick of Ridly Greig and past Ersson.

Both teams dressed fairly strong NHL lineups, but the game was filled with glitchy moments, which is standard for a preseason opener. That was particularly evident on special teams.

Montreal finished 1-for-6 on the power play, while Ottawa went 0-for-4. 

The Habs controlled much of the play on the night, outshooting the Sens 36-20. Ersson went the distance in his first appearance and turned aside 33 shots, and Travis Green told reporters after the game that he was the Sens' best player on the night.

The Senators will be back in action Wednesday night with a pair of split-squad games against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Most of the Sens' top players are expected to remain at home to face Toronto at Canadian Tire Centre, while the rest of the group will visit the Maple Leafs. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

The Sens will then get another go at the Habs when the teams close out their preseason schedules Saturday night. That will also be a split-squad arrangement, with games taking place simultaneously in Ottawa and Montreal at 7 p.m.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News

This article was first published in The Hockey News. For more Sens coverage at The Hockey News, click on one of the latest THN Ottawa headlines below:

- Travis Green Wastes No Time Reuniting Eklund and Zetterlund
- Senators Add Local Veteran Ben Hutton On Professional Tryout
- Camp Begins: Shorter Preseason, No Fitness Tests, And Very Few Jobs To Be Won
- ‘I Didn’t Want To Be Anywhere Else’: Batherson Explains Eight-Year Commitment To Senators

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Hockey is officially back for the Detroit Red Wings, who wrapped up Training Camp this week, and opened the abbreviated preseason schedule with a Monday evening matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

With a lineup consisting largely of young players competing for roster spots, the Red Wings fell 1-0 to the Blue Jackets in a shootout at Nationwide Arena.

Game two tomorrow in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/khpItc1OCx

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 22, 2026

Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Nate Danielson, and John Leonard were all denied by Blue Jackets goaltender Pheonix Copley in the shootout following a scoreless overtime. 

The only puck that entered the net in the entire contest was courtesy of Columbus forward Conor Garland, who beat Michal Postava with a blocker-side shot. 

Garland threw a change up for the game winner 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NXknUhX3cu

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) September 22, 2026

Goaltender Daniil Tarasov, whom the Red Wings signed to a one-year contract earlier in the summer, played the first 40 minutes of the night and turned aside all 15 shots he faced; he was replaced as planned for the third period by Postava. 

Meanwhile, Jet Greaves stopped all 16 Detroit shots for Columbus before giving way in the third to Copley. 

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

Notably, Postava channeled his inner Dominik Hasek late in the third period when he raced well beyond the slot to corral the puck, colliding with Blue Jackets forward Josh Eernisse and sending him flying head over heels in a near carbon copy of a December 2007 play involving the Hall of Fame goaltender and Minnesota Wild forward Marian Gaborik.

Postava hahaha#LGRWpic.twitter.com/7y8F7qU5Wr

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) September 22, 2026

The Red Wings registered 11 shots in the first period but managed just five in the second and two in the third; they didn't record a shot during the five-minute overtime.

While Detroit went scoreless in three power-play opportunities, they killed off all five Columbus chances with the man-advantage. 

Among the Red Wings regulars who saw action were J.T. Compher, Michael Rasmussen, Jacob Bernard-Docker, and Keegan Kolesar; Rasmussen led all Red Wings players with five shots. 

Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and John Leonard had two shots each. Meanwhile, Dominik Shine and Kienan Draper each picked up five-minute fighting majors. 

Detroit will be right back in action Tuesday night when it visits the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena; their first home preseason game will be Thursday against the divisional rival Buffalo Sabres. 

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When the Rangers worked on special teams for the first time in training camp Monday, plenty of pieces from the past remained. Adam Fox quarterbacked the top unit. Mika Zibanejad was perched on the flank on his one-timer side. They’re the constants that have transcended coaches. Two others from the top line last year — when the Blueshirts finished with the No. 5 clip in the league — returned too: J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafrenière. 

But there was also an element of intrigue. A bit of unknown, when Pavel Dorofeyev and his left-handed shot replaced Vincent Trocheck and his right-handed one. Defenseman Sean Durzi, who was acquired in the Trocheck trade in July, quarterbacked the second unit alongside Gabe Perreault, Will Cuylle, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen. And head coach Mike Sullivan said he thinks the unit once again “can be a difference-maker for us.” 

“The power play was one of the bright spots of our team last year fairly consistently,” Sullivan said Monday after the non-game group — with mostly NHL players — practiced ahead of the preseason opener against the Devils. “It took us a little while to get it going [at] the beginning of the year versus after that. I thought the second half of the year in particular was excellent. 

“We lost a right-handed shot versus a lefty, and that’s gonna change some of the things that we do with it. But very capable guys. I think they have an opportunity to be very impactful for our team.” 

Still, it’ll serve as a significantly different unit from the ones that featured Artemi Panarin ripping shots into the net or Chris Kreider hovering at the net front or Trocheck roaming in the bumper. But the power play, after dipping to No. 28 in the league (17.6 percent) in the final year of Peter Laviolette, experienced a revival — even with all the shifting parts — in 2025-26 under Sullivan and assistant coach David Quinn. 

The Rangers unveiled their first unit Monday with Miller in the bumper and Lafrenière at the net front — a spot where he thrived late last season. That left Dorofeyev, who scored 20 goals with the man advantage last year with the Golden Knights, to operate on the other flank. The first pair of reps from the top unit Monday ended with goals from Zibanejad and Lafrenière too. 

“To be away from it for so long and then coming back and feeling like it’s kinda clicking, it was good,” Zibanejad told The Post. “Obviously will be up and down throughout the season and score when we don’t deserve it and not score when we probably deserve it a little bit more. We know the story. We know how this usually works.” 

The Rangers announced that they’ll wear a Garden of Dreams Foundation patch as their official one this season, replacing Mark Messier’s “Game 7” patch from 2025-26. 

“It was an honor to have Game 7 as our Jersey Patch Partner last season, given our relationship with Rangers legend Mark Messier, and look forward to featuring the Foundation this year,” a Rangers spokesperson said in a statement.

To start off, things were looking good for the Philadelphia Flyers in their preseason opener against the Washington Capitals, but they quickly ran out of steam and fell flat on their faces. It was all downhill from there in a thoroughly unimpressive 5-2 loss.

Veteran newcomer Jack Studnicka got the Flyers off to about as good a start as they could have asked for, cashing in from close range on the power play just 2:35 into the contest to put Philadelphia up 1-0. Rookies Jett Luchanko and Cole Knuble, who have been impressive as of late, collected the assists.

Aliaksei Protas answered for Washington on a 5-on-3 power play after the Flyers got themselves in penalty trouble, and big-money youngster Ryan Leonard gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead on a laser through traffic to end the period.

David Jiricek had some trouble boxing out the much bigger and stronger Protas in front of Joseph Woll on the goal, but Flyers forward Riley Thompson also had a bad angle and allowed Leonard to walk around in the slot to pick his shot to begin with.

Early in the second period, Knuble pulled the Flyers even by cleaning up a long-range Oliver Bonk shot, but the Flyers just never truly built or maintained any momentum after that.

Bonk got caught on a bad pinch that sent Dylan Strome in alone on Woll for a score, and Jonny Brodzinski buried the Capitals' final two goals of the night past Carson Bjarnason, who relieved Woll for the final 20 minutes.

Overall, it was just a bad night for the Flyers, and one that certainly resembled a group that has been going hard and competing throughout training camp.

Flyers notes and an injury

The Flyers had a chance to seize momentum after Capitals forward Andrew Cristall was given a five-minute major penalty for cross checking and a game misconduct for bopping Hunter McDonald in the mouth after a hard hit on Leonard, but the Flyers failed to score.

Forward Denver Barkey, who opened the game as the Flyers' top center, left the game early in the second period and did not return, and players like Alex Bump and Porter Martone were total nonfactors.

Offensively, Knuble, Luchanko, Jiricek, Bonk, and Studnicka were the only players who made things happen more than a handful of times. Luchanko and Studnicka were each particularly impressive with their assertiveness at both ends of the ice.

Both Bonk and Jiricek had their shaky moments defensively, but it is paramount we keep in mind that these are 21- and 22-year-old defensemen who need time and trust as they continue to develop.

Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet did not have an update on Barkey after the game, and the Flyers will be right back to it on Tuesday night when they face the Boston Bruins at TD Garden at 7 p.m.

Expect that game roster to consist primarily of players who did not play in Monday night's game against the Capitals.

The first look at the Devils’ rivalry with the New York Rangers this season was not the most exciting one. It is preseason, after all, but the teams came into tonight with opposite approaches. For the Devils, tonight was a night for the majority of their NHL club to get their legs under them. For the Rangers, tonight was largely headlined by their youth and AHLers. At times, this game might have looked primed for the Rangers’ B-team to pull off the seemingly unavoidable “upset” (if there is such a thing in preseason), given the low scoring. But with some Devils still putting in what seemed like a regular effort, the skill imbalance won out in the end.

In the first period, the Devils shut down the Rangers entirely, but did not create a whole lot for themselves either. Jake Allen only had to stop three shots in his allotted 20 minutes, and the big story of that period was the injury to Adam Sykora of the Rangers. Utica Comets defenseman Mikael Diotte caught him reaching for the puck by the boards, leading to him leaving the game with a lower-body injury. Sykora did not return, and I was worried that this hit was going to lead to some retaliation from the likes of Matt Rempe or one of the other physical players on the Rangers’ bench. This never really came to pass, though.

In the second period, after Nico Daws came into the game, things started opening up a bit on both ends. Nico Hischier took the puck from Timo Meier and whacked it towards the net, giving the Devils the lead halfway through the game off a deflection at the side of the crease. It was not the best goal ever, but it was fitting to see this particular group finally get going with a Nico Hischier shot.

The lead did not last too long, though, with Nico Daws giving up a rough goal to Anton Blidh. Blidh had not even crossed the faceoff circle on his entry of the offensive zone, beating Daws cleanly on the glove side. At this point, it was the ninth shot that Daws had seen, though he had not had to stop any extremely dangerous chances.

Before the period was over, Timo Meier made a play to take advantage of a really poor lapse in focus and tracking by Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand. Luke Evangelista was working behind the net, and the puck came loose to Timo Meier. When Meier wrapped quickly around the net, Garand was caught somehow unaware that he might need to make a save, giving up an easy five-hole score to Meier. I would not expect it to come this easy often in the regular season.

Things were largely more of the same in the third. The Devils outchanced the Rangers consistently and seemed to have the puck for most of the time. But time and time again, the shots were just a little off, sometimes hitting the iron, but sometimes hitting Garand right in his equipment. And eventually, the Devils were finally caught giving up a bad shot to the Rangers, and Drew Fortescue tied it back up with a shot through a screen. Siegenthaler was out a little far to block the shot, and nobody had Carey Terrance in front of Daws.

Despite drawing a hooking call on Arseny Gritsyuk not long after the goal (which itself should have been holding the stick), the Rangers did not get much in the way of scoring chances after this. The Devils shut them down on their power play, nearly scoring one shorthanded as Jesper Boqvist put a breakaway chance off the post. The top line of Evangelista, Hischier, and Meier wore the Rangers down for an offensive shift that spanned 1:18 of game time a few minutes after the penalty expired, leading to Rangers icing the puck, which brought the Hughes line on. Taking advantage of the tired defenders, Jack Hughes took the puck from Bratt at the blueline and beat Glen Gawdin wide before pivoting at the goal line and sneaking the puck into the net off of Gawdin’s stick. It was a classic opportunistic Jack Hughes goal, and it largely put the game away for the Devils.

Would I have liked to see more goals? Sure. But the Devils controlled just under two thirds of the shots on goal and expected goals tonight, and they largely held the Rangers to low-danger shots. Daws only faced two high-danger shots on goal, and Allen faced zero. For that, Daws may have dinged his stock allowing two goals as the team compares him and David Rittich as potential number two goalies with Jack Allen, but it is just a preseason game and he will have another chance to prove himself (and hopefully against a higher volume of shots). As for the Devils offense, they were content to take any shot, working from the blueline often but scoring on three of their ten high-danger shots on goal. In a regular season game, I would expect them to push a little harder for the net given the sheer amount of possession time they had.

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

Stock Up?

Jesper Boqvist looked pretty great tonight, and he only missed scoring a goal on his breakaway because of that peksy iron. He moved throughout the game with great speed, and he generally looked like the Devil playing at the fastest individual pace tonight. That fourth line might not have moved the puck between each other as well, but I mostly chalk that up to Marc McLaughlin being a bit more limited in that area. Noesen, meanwhile, played pretty well but needs to be put in a position where he can make more plays around the net. In another preseason game, I think I would like to see this possible fourth line setup of Boqvist and Noesen centered by Evan Rodrigues or Cody Glass. Overall, I was also much not too convinced by the cohesiveness of the Mercer-Rodrigues-Gritsyuk line, and that also makes me want to see Gritsyuk back with Glass for a look before the preseason is over.

Mantha and Evangelista

With the big storyline coming into this game being how the new forwards looked on their lines, I would say that I honestly hope for better in their second games. Mantha in particular took zero shots attempts in 15:33 of ice time, while Evangelista at least got on the scoresheet and worked along the boards. However, I did like Mantha getting involved defensively, and I thought he drew a lot of attention away from Jack just by fighting for position by the net, while I thought Evangelista could have put pressure on the Rangers during his line’s great shift in the third had he not fanned on a scoring chance. So, both players brought something to the table while still having something to do better.

Onto The Third

On Thursday, the Devils will play their third preseason game of the year. I would expect a more balanced lineup between NHLers and AHLers as the Devils go to Madison Square Garden, and it might be a good opportunity to get Daws a bigger challenge against a presumably NHL-heavy Rangers lineup. But for now, the Devils are undefeated in the preseason after this rather uneven affair.

Your Thoughts

What did you think of tonight’s game? Did you watch? Who stood out to you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.