The New Jersey Devils suffered their first loss of the preseason on Wednesday night as they fell, 4-3, to the New York Rangers.
The Devils held their own against a better lineup -- shots were even and they took the Rangers to extra time -- but ultimately fell short as they allowed a power play marker just a few ticks away from a shootout.
Some thoughts and takeaways from the game:
1) Jimmy Hayes had a solid bounce-back game following a four-penalty showing in his debut. He scored a nice deflection goal (credit to Damon Severson for getting his shot through -- he did that all night), picked up an assist on Brian Gibbons' marker, tallied four shots on target, and stayed out of the box(!). If he continues to play like that, he could very well earn himself a contract.
2) I was a little disappointed with Michael McLeod. He wasn't bad...he just wasn't good. He had a couple nice rushes through the neutral zone but was pretty quiet otherwise despite playing more than 18 minutes, five of which came on the power play. He has to play *really* well in order to make the team and he didn't do that vs the Rangers.
3) Pavel Zacha was quite impressive in his preseason debut. He showed great hand-eye coordination batting in Drew Stafford's aerial pass, he recorded a game-high six shots on goal and had no problem handling the extra responsibilities that come with playing center. He was always back to support the defense and did a nice job providing them with easy outlets.
Love this from Pavel Zacha. Down low to provide an easy outlet for the D, then hits Gibbons in stride to create good scoring opportunity. pic.twitter.com/m7VHHJpa8J
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) September 21, 2017
4) Some of the youth the Devils are inserting into the lineup has fans optimistic about their chances of surprising this season, but as long as Ben Lovejoy continues to be a 20-minute guy (or anywhere close) they're not going to be very good. Despite playing a Rangers team dressing ~half their regular lineup, Lovejoy struggled immensely. He had just one controlled zone exit in five attempts, was torched by Chris Kreider on his 2nd-period goal, and was the team's worst player in possession.
Here are the 5v5 numbers from Devils @ Rangers. Bless Damon Severson's soul. pic.twitter.com/eGWVtUTn0n
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) September 21, 2017
5) Stafford was surprisingly one of the best players on the ice. He was very effective moving the puck (he picked up a pair of assists, one of which came on a nice drop-pass to Gibbons in the slot), he led the team in hits, and was the Devils' best player in the neutral zone.
5v5 zone entry numbers from Devils vs Rangers. Stafford was surprisingly good in the neutral zone. pic.twitter.com/mpct0IYB0s
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) September 21, 2017