Now that’s more like it. The New Jersey Devils went into Tampa Bay and took it to the Lightning.
Saturday night’s 5-3 victory over the Bolts was certainly done in convincing fashion.
True to their nature, the Lightning were trying to get under the skin of the Devils in the early goings of the game. However, the Devils displayed discipline, and quickly grabbed hold of the momentum early, which ultimately propelled New Jersey to their first victory of the season.
READ MORE: Gritsyuk, Brown Find Magic; Devils Overwhelm Lightning on the Rush
Let’s dive into the takeaways.
Strong on Pucks, Crashed the Net
As opposed to their effort on Thursday, the Devils were FAR better on the puck against the Lightning.
They sprinted to every puck, won most of their battles, were relentless on the forecheck to regain possession, and didn’t fork over nearly as many pucks as they did in Game 1.
That’s the kind of effort that’s difficult to replicate night after night. However, the best teams do it, and the Devils are looking to put themselves in that conversation.
The pressure the Devils applied to the Lightning all night resulted in a bevy of goals. They’re at their best when they’re on the rush, and the pressure on the puck resulted in six takeaways, and 16 Lightning giveaways.
And when they crash the net the way they did on Saturday, they find the rebounds from the plethora of offense they create on the outside.
Clean up that second period, and this was almost perfect Devils hockey.
Luke Hughes
What rust?
Luke Hughes is out here proving why the Devils paid him an average annual value of $9 million over the next seven seasons.
Hughes collected two assists on Saturday, and added two shots on goal. His cardio is stellar, skating 20:32, only behind Brett Pesce (21:30). Luke’s been excellent in transitioning the puck, distributing from the blueline, and he’s even been fine in the defensive zone.
He’ll need to clean up his first pass as he saw one intercepted in his own end. Otherwise, the youngest Hughes brother is already up to four points in what could be a huge, breakout season.
Timo Meier
What a bully.
Timo Meier wrecked havoc on the Lightning all night. The Bolts wanted to engage physically early, he matched their energy. They wanted to stifle the Devils’ offense, he scored the games first goal. And he did it at the top of Andre Vasilevskiy’s crease, cleaning up a rebound and refusing to be moved out by the Tampa Bay defenders.
Meier was simply a beast against the Lightning, and the Devils are going to need him to find this kind of game more often.
Arseny Gritsyuk & Connor Brown
Well, didn’t these two catch lightning in a bottle?
Arseny Gritsyuk was promoted on Saturday as a result of Evgenii Dadonov remaining out of the lineup with a fractured hand. He skated alongside Connor Brown, and there was instant chemistry.
Both skaters have speed to burn, and they made a living on the rush. Gritsyuk is a plus passer, and Brown has finishing ability in many ways. He displayed two tonight, redirecting a perfect pass from Gritsyuk, and then catching Vasilevskiy out of the position and finding twine.
Every time Gritsyuk is paired with someone new, he makes it hard to move him away from the newly formed chemistry. However, that seemingly means he works well with everyone, right?
Jacob Markstrom
Look, Jacob Markstrom is not inspiring confidence in anyone thus far.
He forked over six goals in the first game of the season, and allowed three goals on just 16 shots on Saturday. However, this isn’t completely out of the ordinary for the 35-year-old netminder.
Through the first seven games of the season for Markstrom in 2024-25, he averaged 3.14 goals against before he buckled down and played more consistent in goal.
Besides, he did only face 16 shots, and saw just nine pucks by the third period. It’s easy to get on Markstrom for stumbling a bit out of the gate here, but let’s not overreact just yet. If were still having this conversation in November, maybe the Devils should reconsider an extension. But for now, let’s see how he answers.
No, it’s not been encouraging. But, we’ve seen the kind of rabbit he can pull out of a hat. Let’s give him a few more games, eh?
Power Play Still Meh
Now, this one is much more alarming.
Thank goodness for the penalty kill, because the power play has been dreadful.
The Devils went 0/4 on the power play, scoreless again on Saturday night.
They just don’t look like they’re confidently handling the puck while on the man advantage right now. Their biggest fault is handling the puck at the blueline. They fumble too often, and are not confidently distributing top down. Plus, they leave too much space for defenders to intercept a pass, and it typically results in a shorthanded breakaway.
The Devils, at one point, had the best power play in the world last season. It quickly fell off, and it seems to have crept into this season. If they can figure it out, and match it to the 5-on-5 effort you saw on Saturday, look out!
