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The New Jersey Devils played a pair of preseason games Monday night.
They picked up a 4-3 overtime win at home over a watered down Boston Bruins squad, and fell 4-2 at the hands of the Canadiens in Montreal.
I was able to watch (and track) the latter so I’m going to focus on that, however I will share some noteworthy...notes from the Boston game.
Devils @ Canadiens:
1) Michael McLeod needs to put together a fantastic preseason to have any shot of cracking the Devils lineup. That’s just reality with all the talent and depth they have up front now. He certainly started off on the right note last night. McLeod was up against a solid Montreal squad featuring the likes of Shea Weber, Max Domi, and Jonathan Drouin, and Carey Price, and was one of the best players on the ice from start to finish. He used his speed effectively to drive the puck up ice and through the neutral zone. His assist actually came on a play where he did just that before dishing to a wide-open Will Butcher. McLeod was in the right place at the right time to pounce after a lucky bounce saw the puck left unattended just outside an open cage. Beyond the points, McLeod looked a lot more poised and controlled. He wasn’t flying around 100 miles per hour all game, overskating things, and taking himself out of the structure. He played smart, let plays develop, and was rewarded with a pair of points. McLeod was certainly the driver on his line, picking up four more shot contributions at 5v5 than any other linemate (will post the numbers below).
2) Nico Hischier has the look of a player ready to take off. I loved what I saw from him at both ends of the ice. He had great burst with the puck, was elusive, connected on a few chances with Kyle Palmieri, and always skated his ass off to get back and take away passing lanes or erase odd-man rush opportunities. Hischier led the team in 5v5 shot assists (6) and shot contributions (7).
3) Will Butcher also really stood out. He made good outlets all night – including a couple multi-zone passes to start rushes – and was not shy about activating offensively. He tied for the team-high with four shots on target and his goal was an absolute snipe. Everyone knows Butcher can pass. Now, he looks like a more dangerous shooter and didn’t hesitate to use it. Hopefully a sign of things to come.
4) As far as lesser players are concerned, I thought the Colton White - Matt Tennyson pairing had a pretty good night. Up front, John Hayden played a solid north-south game landing six hits and contributing to five shots at full-strength.
5) Data dump time. Here are the shot contribution numbers for the forwards (sorted by line).
And here are the defense numbers. A vintage Mirco Mueller offensive performance!
Devils vs Bruins
1) Travis and the Jespers definitely has a chance to be a thing. They took full advantage of a soft Bruins team, posting a 72.22 Corsi For% and 82.05 Expected Goals For% at 5v5 while also connecting on a goal. I want to see them face real competition but if this line can stick, we’ll probably be heading for a Pavel Zacha/Blake Coleman-led defensive 4th line.
2) Sami Vatanen and P.K. Subban fared well in their first game together. In more than 12 minutes paired, they helped the Devils control 75% of the attempts and 83% of the expected goals. It’s tough to get too excited about their success given the quality of opponents but they did what they were supposed to. We’ll see if they can keep it up against much deeper lineups in the next week or two.
3) Jack Hughes scored a pair of goals and did this, so we’ll call it a good debut.
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