The New Jersey Devils visited the New York Islanders for their first road game of the preseason on Friday. The Islanders dressed a heavier NHL lineup, with the likes of Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, Ilya Sorokin in goal, and rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer. Whereas, Juho Lammikko assumed 1C duties for the Devils, with Paul Cotter and Arseny Gristyuk flanking him on the wings.
Still, it was a strong night from the red and black, defeating their division rival 4-2.
So, who stood out?
Devils Standouts
Luke Glendening
Every night thus far, Luke Glendening has been Mr. Reliable.
The veteran forward working on a professional tryout contract (PTO) opened the scoring for the Devils. He received a pass on the rush and quickly made good of it inside the dots from the right circle.
Glendening, who isn’t a known scorer, beat Ilya Sorokin clean on the Devils’ first shot.
And then Glendening did what he does best. For the remainder of the game, the 36-year-old forward played a reliable defensive game, forechecking well in the neutral zone and defending on the Devils’ end of the ice.
Against a stronger Islanders roster Friday night, this was an impressive game for Glendening in his pursuit for an NHL contract.
Seamus Casey
What a splendid preseason debut by Seamus Casey, who is seemingly the underdog in this roster battle.
Casey hadn’t played before Friday after an injury tweak in the prospect challenge. However, his first taste of game action among NHLers, he was quickly impacting the game.
The Devils rookie defenseman was the one who sprung Glendening for the early goal, saucing the puck over an Islander defender and on the back of the veteran’s stick to give the Devils an early lead.
He showed excellent puck transition, ability to walk to blueline, playmaking prowess, and was even impressive defensively.
On one shift in the first period, the Islanders had a chance for a 3-on-2 rush heading toward the Devils’ blueline. However, Casey met the Islanders with a well-placed stick check, and negated the chance by sending the puck in the other direction.
A couple of more games like this, and the Devils’ management is going to have to make a couple of difficult decisions.
Arseny Gritsyuk
Yeah, it was just another good showing from Arseny Gritsyuk.
In 20-plus minutes of ice-time, he put four shots on goal, scored on his best chance on a breakaway, and was active and effective in the offensive zone all night.
He’s just fine in the neutral and defensive zone. Against an NHL heavier lineup, you love to see this kind of night from Gritsyuk.
Nathan Legare
What’s the best way to make an impact as a player who knows he won’t crack the top-9 of the Devils lineup? Adding a goal and an assist to seven hits.
That’s what Nathan Legare did.
Legare was a physical menace all night, which made itself mostly present on the forecheck. He helped retrieve pucks and send them to the offensive zone, thus rewarded with two points.
In a dogfight, Legare was a dog on Friday.
Jake Allen
Jake Allen is in mid-season form, evidently.
He surrendered one goal on 11 shots, and it came at the end of a shift where the Devils defense couldn’t clear the puck for nearly a two-minute span.
Allen’s preseason has consisted of calm, cool, and collected goaltending. There’s no need to analyze his game anymore. You know what you’re getting with the veteran netminder. It’s why the Devils extended him for five years at age-35. He’s a luxury to have as the 1B/backup to Jacob Markstrom.
Jakub Malek
Which brings us to Jakub Malek, who relieved Allen halfway through the Devils’ third preseason game.
It was Malek’s first game on North American ice, and he looked strong He made 11/12 saves being positionally sound, moving well laterally, and his overall size helped cover the net.
He didn’t face much in terms of high-danger chances, but the long and medium-range shots he faced were mostly turned aside.
He’s not as quick footed as Allen who he relieved, but you can see the tools that just need some sharpening.
