In the day’s biggest sporting event in South Philly, the New Jersey Devils surrendered a late lead and fell 4-3 in a shootout to the Philadelphia Flyers, wrapping up their 2025 preseason.
Despite the loss, there were plenty of positives. Outside of the Cotter–Glendening–Gritsyuk line and Jake Allen in net, the Devils’ lineup closely resembled what fans can expect from their AHL affiliate in Utica. That bodes well for the Comets, who held their own against what’s essentially Philly’s anticipated Opening Night roster.
Here’s how it all went down at Xfinity Mobile Arena:
FIRST PERIOD
Kevin Rooney started the scoring for the Devils, redirecting a high slot wrister from Ethan Edwards past Flyers netminder Dan Vladar. Edwards has had a strong training camp and preseason, and continued that trend today. One has to wonder if the Devils 4th round pick from 2020 makes the Opening Night roster at this point, given that Brett Pesce might not be ready for Thursday’s action in Raleigh. Unfortunately for the Devils, their lead was short-lived as Travis Sanheim beat Jake Allen late in the first period to tie the game at one, which would hold as the score through the first 20 minutes. However, with 7 seconds to go in the first period, Matvei Michkov went to the box for slashing the Devils’ Xavier Parent, giving New Jersey almost a full two minutes of power play time with a clean sheet of ice.
SECOND PERIOD
Devils Fans have been waiting to see the duo of Lenni Hämeenaho and Shane LaChance take the ice after the two prospects were banged up a few weeks ago during the Prospects Challenge. Right out of the gate in the second period, Lenni and LaChance did just that, combining for a gorgeous tic-tac-toe tally on the power play. Hämeenaho, the Devils 2023 second rounder, impressed throughout the game, recording the aforementioned goal and drawing a penalty in the second period. The Flyers would respond about 7 minutes later, as Travis Konecny tied the game following a delay-of-game penalty on New Jersey’s Topias Vilen. We would head to the third period tied at two.
THIRD PERIOD
The pairing of Arseny Gritsyuk and Paul Cotter has arguably been the story of New Jersey’s preseason — at least on the ice — and the two combined for a beautiful go-ahead goal just over halfway through the third period. Questions remained about how Gritsyuk’s game would translate to the NHL after his success overseas in the KHL, but throughout the preseason, he’s showcased smooth skating and excellent passing ability, and Cotter, who has always solid finishing ability, slammed a one-timer past Vladar off the feed from Grits. But once again, Philly would respond, as with the net empty, Konecny wired a gorgeous wrist shot past Jake Allen’s left shoulder, and as a result, 60 minutes would not be enough to decide this contest.
OT/SHOOTOUT
3v3 was definitely a tougher task for NJ, especially considering the differential in talent. Ultimately despite not getting any significant chances, the Devils pushed the game into the shootout. While Arseny Gritsyuk and Paul Cotter couldn’t convert their chances in the skills competition, Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny did, and thus Philly takes the preseason finale.
Other Notes
- Jake Allen was stellar once again, stopping 33 of the 36 shots he faced.
- It was a tough go for Devils defenseman Calen Addison, although he did record a secondary assist on Cotter’s goal. Addison had a few brutal turnovers that turned into prime chances for the Flyers, although he was bailed out by both his goaltender and the post in different occasions.
- The second line of LaChance-Rooney-Hämeenaho was consistently good. That reads like a potential first line in Utica.
With that, the preseason is a wrap, and all eyes are set on game 1 of 82 in Raleigh, as the Devils will begin this season where their last one ended, on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes.
