James Nichols
The New Jersey Devils hosted the Washington Capitals at the Prudential Center amid split squad action, while half of the training camp roster was in Montreal, Quebec to take on the Ottawa Senators.
The Devils got off to a supremely slow start, however, were buoyed by their power play that saw the game eventually tied at two with about four minutes left to play in the final frame.
The division rivals required overtime and then the shootout to settle the score, and Washington wins in five rounds.
It wasn’t pretty, but let’s explore who did stand out.
Devils Standouts
Shane Lachance
In his preseason debut, Shane Lachance skated on what appears to be the top line for the Utica Comets. We’re not writing him off the Devils’s roster just yet, but even Sheldon Keefe noted on Saturday they have an idea of their lines moving forward, and Lachance wasn’t in that mix.
Yet, he had his first shot to make an impression on Sunday afternoon, and he was noticeable out there. One thing you can’t teach is size, and at 6-foot-5, nearly 200-lbs, Lachance uses all of it to his advantage.
Lachance plants himself at the top of the goaltenders crease to screen and clean up rebounds. He wins his positional battles with his size and strength. He also does so along the walls for the same reasons.
In fact, Lachance got an opportunity on the first unit power play, and scored winning a battle at the top of Lindgren’s crease, and cleaning up a rebound.
The size makes him difficult to push off the puck as well. He won’t skate it in transition due to his average skating, but when cycling the puck in the offensive zone, he’s certainly got the size and hands to help maintain puck possession.
Lachance will be a problem for the opposition when he’s controlling the puck below the goal-line and at the top of the goaltenders crease.
Simon Nemec
There’s been a lot to like about Simon Nemec in the preseason.
For starters, you can see the confidence growing. He’s certainly a lot more assertive both with and without the puck, which has helped him move the puck up ice.
In the offensive zone, his feet are active, and he’s constantly cycling without moving himself out of position. He’s thus far pinched at the right time to make a play, and is certainly confident stick-handling the puck on a scoring chance.
In the neutral zone, his active stick has served as a quality disruptor. When puck carriers try to skate by him, Nemec has made sure to keep the play in front of him and even stripped a few pucks to negate zone entries.
The work along the boards and in the defensive zone has sufficed as well, keeping lanes clear for Jacob Markstrom and re-gaining puck possession.
He looks a lot more confident in himself than he did this time last season.
Seamus Casey
The thing that stood out about Seamus Casey the most on Sunday was his playmaking ability.
The Devils played a sheepish game against the Capitals, but Casey is one of the few who weren’t at fault. Everything you want to see from him was present. As an offensive defenseman, he wasn’t a liability in his own end, skated the puck well in transition, and was a net-positive in the offensive zone.
Jeremy Colliton deployed Casey as QB1 on the first unit power play, and he certainly handled it well as a distributor, and got pucks through shooting lanes.
He had one particular pretty play, receiving a pass from Jesper Bratt on the far wall, and quickly fed Jack Hughes on Charlie Lindgren’s back door.
Hughes mishandled the puck, but it was certainly a pretty pass by the rookie defenseman.
As of Sunday, he appears the clear Luke Hughes replacement.
