Category: New Jersey Devils

Breaking News: NJ Devils trade Andy Greene to NY Islanders

Good evening Devils fans! Well, the right before game time news magic continues! Lucky me, I’m here to experience it live and in person! The New Jersey Devils announced about two hours before tonight’s six o’clock game that they had traded their captain and first pairing defenseman to the New York Islanders in exchange for a second round pick and prospect David Quenneville. Here is the link to what the NJ Devils have announced today:

NJ Devils Announcement

Interim General Manager Tom Fitzgerald speaks:

My reaction:

When I arrived to Prudential Center tonight to watch and cover tonight’s game, I literally found out about the trade the minute I parked at 4:15pm! First of all, I’m amazed at the return they got for Andy Greene who’s game has been in decline for a while and getting a second round pick is a miracle! This move gives more opportunities to defensive youth like Will Butcher and Mirco Mueller on the blue line. This to me also signals the coming of top defensive prospect Ty Smith to play full time in the NHL next season.

New Jersey clearly is in a rebuilding mode and are looking to further inject more youth into their lineup and minor league system as well. It won’t be surprising to me to see more names dealt at the trade deadline such as Blake Coleman, Travis Zajac, and possibly even P.K. Subban. All I know is this, there are more moves coming and it will be interesting to see what else happens especially on February 24th which is the NHL Trade Deadline.

Game Recap: New Jersey Devils @ Carolina Hurricanes 2/14/20

New Jersey Devils (21-26-10 52pts) vs Carolina Hurricanes (33-21-3 69pts)

Game Recap:

Happy Valentines Day Devils fans! Tonight your New Jersey Devils head south for one game as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes. Unfortunately for the Devils things didn’t go as good as their victory against the Red Wings last night. Carolina got on the board quickly as Nino Niedereiter slapped one behind Devils goalie Louis Domingue. Mirco Mueller tied the fame for the Devils as he jumped into the play and put the puck in on a feed from Travis Zajac in front of the net. Being tied didn’t last long as Warren Forgle scored his eleventh goal of the season. To give the Canes a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.

Carolina expanded onto their lead as they got a goal from Andrei Svechnikov in the second period. Svechnikov is really coming into his own during his sophomore season and scored his twenty-third on the season. Martin Necas and Joel Edmonson would score in the third period as well. New Jersey did get their second goal of the game as Joey Anderson got his first goal of the season. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New Jersey Devils by a final score of 5-2. New Jersey is back in action on Sunday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets and are hopeful Nico Hischier will make his return to the lineup then.

Lineups:

New Jersey Devils

Carolina Hurricanes

Game Highlights

Final Stats: NJ- CAR-

Shots: 37 31

Hits: 8 17

Power Play: 0/4 0/2

Faceoffs: 43.8% 56.2%

Game Recap: New Jersey Devils v.s Detroit Red Wings 2/13/20

New Jersey Devils (21-25-10 52pts) vs Detroit Red Wings (14-41-4 32pts)

Game Recap:

Good evening Devils fans! Your New Jersey Devils take on an “Original Six” opponent in the Detroit Red Wings. The first period featured no scoring despite the Red Wings outshooting the Devils 12-4. The game would start off scoreless heading into period two.

Andreas Athanasiou would get the struggling Red Wings on the board first. Athanasiou’s goal would be his eight on the season and the only one so far as the Detroit Red Wings lead the New Jersey Devils 1-0 after two periods.

However, New Jersey would respond with four unanswered goals to come back and get the victory in the third and final period 4-1. Devils goals came from Andy Greene, Jesper Bratt, and Wayne Simmonds twice. The Devils are back in action tomorrow night as they head south to take on the Carolina Hurricanes before coming right back home.

Lineups:

New Jersey Devils

Detroit Red Wings

Game Highlights:

Final Stats: NJ-4 DET-1

Shots: 26 26

Hits: 25 15

Power Play: 1/6 1/4

Faceoffs: 33.3% 66.7%

Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Los Angeles Kings 2/8/20

New Jersey Devils (20-24-10 50pts) vs Los Angeles Kings (19-32-5 43pts)

Game Recap:

Good evening Devils fans! Tonight your New Jersey Devils take on the Los Angeles Kings as they return to “The Rock” after a brief one game road trip. The Devils are coming off their best performance of the season as they shutout the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 and are hoping to string along more victories. New Jersey is still without star center Nico Hischier & defenseman Sami Vatanen who’ve both been battling the injury bug lately. Period one featured no scoring however, the Devils despite being outshot 13-8 had the better offensive chances on their special teams.

The second period saw the Devils getting their offense going as they scored three times. Nikita Gusev scores first on a beautiful pass from the point towards the left circle where he one timed a shot into the back of the net. Blake Coleman scores moments later as he scored his twenty first goal of the season on the power play. Finally, Kyle Palmieri would score his twentieth goal of the season on a double deflection which bounced off a shot to Jack Hughes’ stick and then Palmieri’s stick. after two periods, the New Jersey Devils would lead 3-0 over the Los Angeles Kings.

Period three saw the Devils continue to shutdown the Kings offense and maintain the strong defensive effort from the previous game against the Flyers. The Kings weren’t able to get much going offensively all game as the Devils limited their chances and kept them from scoring in the high danger areas. MacKenzie Blackwood gets his second straight shutout as he made thirty four saves as the Devils defeated the Kings 3-0. New Jersey is back in action on Tuesday night at home against the Florida Panthers.

Lineups:

New Jersey Devils

 

Los Angeles Kings

 

Game Highlights

 

 

 

Final Stats: NJ-3 LA-0

Shots: 37 34

Hits: 22 18

Power Play: 1/4 0/3

Faceoffs: 42% 58%

Game Recap: New Jersey Devils @ Philadelphia Flyers 2/6/20

New Jersey Devils 19-24-10 48pts) @ Philadelphia Flyers (29-18-7 65pts)

Game Recap:

Good evening Devils fans! Tonight your New Jersey Devils Head out on the road for one game to take on Metropolitan Division rivals in the Philadelphia Flyers. New Jersey would get on the board first as Blake Coleman would score his twentieth goal on the season to give the Devils a 1-0 lead which would stand after the first period.

In the second period, New Jersey added onto their lead while on the power play. Damon Severson scored on a beautiful end to end rush as he gave the Devils a 2-0. Goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood assisted on the play and Severson’s goal would be the only one of the period.

Period three saw the Devils explode for three more goals and seal the deal for the victory. Pavel Zacha scored on a breakaway short handed and Miles Wood scored twice. MacKenzie Blackwood was amazing in goal tonight as he made 46 saves and earned the shutout. Defensively the Devils were great and were outstanding on the penalty kill by killing off all four penalties called against them. Tonight’s win by a final score of 5-0 ends a short three game losing streak for the New Jersey Devils. The Devils return home for a three game home stand beginning on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings.

Lineups:

New Jersey Devils

Philadelphia Flyers

Game Highlights

https://twitter.com/njdevils/status/1225574868432883712?s=21

Final Stats: NJ-5 PHI-0

Shots: 19 46

Hits: 16 18

Power Play: 1/3 0/4

Faceoffs: 32.1% 67.9%

Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Montreal Canadiens 2/4/20

New Jersey Devils (18-24-10 46pts) Montreal Canadiens (25-23-7 57pts)

Game Recap:

Good evening Devils fans! Tonight your New Jersey Devils welcome in the Montreal Canadiens for this evening’s matchup. Miles Wood would open up the scoring for the Devils as he snapped a shot behind Canadiens goaltender Charlie Lindgren for a 1-0 lead. That lead would stand up for the rest of the period.

New Jersey added you their lead in the second period as Kyle Palmieri and Jesper Bratt would increase the lead to 3-0 Devils. However, Montreal made things interesting by scoring twice on goals by Joel Armia and Nate Thompson to pull things within one goal. The Devils would lead the Canadiens 3-2 heading into period three.

Nick Cousins and Christian Folin each scored to help give the Canadiens their first lead of the game. New Jersey would not back down however. With Louis Domingue pulled for the extra attacker, Kyle Palmieri scored his second goal of the game to tie the score up 4-4 to force overtime. Each teams had their chances to win in overtime but either could convert and the game would go to a shootout where the Canadiens Ilya Kovalchuk’s would score the game winner to give Montreal a 5-4 victory over the Devils. The Devils are back in action Thursday evening as they take on the Philadelphia Flyers on the road.

Lineups:

New Jersey Devils

Montreal Canadiens

Game Highlights

Final Stats: NJ-4 MTL-5

Shots: 24 36

Hits: 7 27

PP: 2/5 0/2

Faceoffs: 45.8% 54.2%

NJ Devils: 2000 Stanley Cup Night Recap

Last night, the New Jersey Devils honored the 20th Anniversary of the 1999-2000 Stanley Cup championship winning team. The evening certainly did not disappoint for Devils fans! Myself as well as my pal Mike, who runs TXHT and traveled to NJ with me, had a great time! The ceremony itself was very well done! The Devils did a great job honoring one of the best Devils teams ever and made the night memorable yet simple which was great! Here are some of my highlights on the night:

 

Petr Sykora skating with the Stanley Cup

My absolute favorite moment of the night was Petr Sykora of the famous “A line” finally getting his moment to skate with the Stanley Cup as a member of the New Jersey Devils during the ceremony. If you remember, Sykora was knocked out of Game 6 in the 2000 Stanley Cup finals on a hit by Dallas Stars defenseman Derian Hatcher in the first period and obviously didn’t get to lift the Stanley Cup with his teammates as he was at the hospital being checked out for medical treatment. It was just so awesome to see and you had a feeling this moment was going to happen.

 

Replica Stanley Cup Championship Rings

Besides the game and ceremony itself, the replica Stanley Cup championship rings was another big reason to go to this game. Each fan in attendance received one. These rings were made really well and looked absolutely amazing! Looking at them reminded me off all the great moments of this cup run as a kid growing up in New Jersey rooting for the Devils.

 

Stanley Cup Photo Op

Getting to see the Stanley Cup in person a second time was absolutely awesome! I got to see, touch, and take a photo with the Stanley Cup before after the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup back in 2018. Being able to take a pic with it this time in a Devils jersey was just as awesome as I’m a fan of both the Devils and Capitals.

 

The Ceremony Itself

As a kid growing up in Northern New Jersey rooting for the Devils, tonight was absolutely awesome being able to relive all the great moments from this specific Stanley Cup winning Devils team. Memories came to mind such as the series with the Maple Leafs, Scott Stevens controversial hit on Eric Lindros, Patrik Elias’ game winning goal in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, and obviously Jason Arnott’s Stanley Cup winning goal in double overtime in game 6 to bring the cup home to New Jersey. It was just nice getting to see this group of guys together again as a reminder of what they were able to accomplish collectively as a group. The ceremony was done in such a simplistic way and honored the team without overdoing things with so much content. It was done absolutely perfect!

 

Overall: I absolutely enjoyed this experience and was glad to be in attendance to experience this! Unfortunately I didn’t get to go to the parade to celebrate the Stanley Cup championship twenty years ago but, I feel like this more than made up for it. So many wonderful memories were brought up and reminded me of why I became a Devils fan in the first place!

Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Dallas Stars 2/1/20

New Jersey Devils (18-24-9 45pts) vs Dallas Stars (29-18-4 62pts)

Game Recap:

Good evening Devils fans! Tonight, your New Jersey Devils host the Dallas Stars in the second game of their three game home stand. Also, the 1999-2000 Stanley Cup winning New Jersey Devils were also being honored tonight for the twentieth anniversary of that championship victory. There certainly are a lot of fond memories of that year when the Devils won the cup. Onto the game where midway through the first period, Kevin Rooney got the Devils on the board as he scored while the Devils were short handed on the penalty kill. That would be the only goal of the period as the Devils would lead 1-0 over the Stars.

In the second period, Dallas would tie the game 1-1 as Corey Perry fed the puck to Jason Dickinson who would bury the shot from the slot into the back of the net. That would be the only scoring until rookie Joel Kiviranta would give the Stars a 2-1 lead as he scored his first NHL goal at the 5:04 mark. The one goal lead wouldn’t stand as Devils center Nico Hischier would tie the game up 2-2 and force overtime.

In overtime, Joe Pavelski would score the game winner and give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 victory in this rematch of the 1999-2000 Stanley Cup finals. New Jersey is back in action on Tuesday night as they welcome in the Montreal Canadiens to the Garden State.

Lineups:

New Jersey Devils

Dallas Stars

Game Highlights:

Final Stats: NJ-2 DAL-3

Shots: 31 31

Hits: 19 10

PP: 0/3 0/2

Faceoffs: 40.4% 59.6%

Game Recap: New Jersey Devils vs Nashville Predators 1/30/20

New Jersey Devils (18-24-8 44pts) vs Nashville Predators (24-19-7 55pts)

Game Recap:

Good evening Devils fans! Tonight your New Jersey Devils welcome back former Head Coach John Hynes and his Nashville Predators. This is the first time John Hynes has been back in New Jersey since he was fired by the Devils on December 3rd, 2020. Nashville would get on the board early as Matias Ekholm would give the Predators an early 1-0 lead. The early goal wouldn’t keep the Devils down as Pavel Zacha would score his fourth on the season to tie up the score. However, Filip Forsberg would give the Predators their lead back and would head into the second period up 2-1.

Period two was a back and forth of scoring between these two teams. Pavel Zacha would tie things up 2-2 and scored his second of the game for the Devils. A couple minutes later, Nikita Gusev gave the Devils their first lead of the game on the power play. However, Nick Bonino would tie the game up for the Predators. Jesper Bratt helped his team regain their league and head into the third period up 4-3.

The high scoring from the previous period continued in the third period. Matt Duchne evened things up 4-4 for the Preds. Moments later, John Hayden added his second goal of the season and give the Devils a 5-4 lead. However, that would be the last time they would lead as Filip Forsberg scored his second of the game and would force overtime and a shootout as well. Speaking of which, Nashville would go onto defeat the Devils in a shootout as they would get the shootout winner from Matt Duchene. New Jersey is back in action on Saturday as they host the Dallas Stars. The New Jersey Devils that night will be honoring and remembering the 99-00 Stanley Cup championship team that defeated the Dallas Stars to win their second of three Stanley Cup championships. Myself and Michael of TXHT Will be in attendance covering this special event.

Lineups:

New Jersey Devils

Nashville Predators

1st Period Highlights:

2nd Period Highlights

3rd Period Highlights

Overtime/Shootout Highlights

Final Stats: NJ-5 NSH-6

Shots: 32 30

Hits: 27 17

PP: 2/3 1/3

Faceoffs: 45.9% 54.1%

Game Recap: New Jersey Devils @ Ottawa Senators 1/27/20

New Jersey Devils (18-24-7 43pts) @ Ottawa Senators (17-23-9 43pts)

Game Recap:

Good evening Devils fans! Welcome back after the team being off from the bye week and All Star game break. Tonight, your New Jersey Devils are back in action as they are north of the border to take on the Ottawa Senators. Damon Severson would get the Devils on the board first scoring his sixth goal of the season on the power play. However, towards the end of the first period, Tyler Ennis of the Senators would even up the score 1-1 on the power play. That would be the score going into the second period.

The second period saw the Devils regain their lead as Kevin Rooney would score on a wrap around type of play. Things were going smooth for the Devil’s until the third period.

New Jersey midway through the third had a power-play that unfortunately went very bad for them. Ottawa scored twice shorthanded about 30 seconds apart from each other. Goals came from Vladislav Namestikov and Chris Tierny. Fortunately for the Devils, they were able to tie the game up as Kyle Palmieri evened up the score 3-3 as Nico Hischier and Jesper Beaty had the assists. The tying goal forced overtime were each team had their chances but neither could convert which forced a shootout. In the shoot out, Nikita Gusev and Jack Hughes were the heroes as their shootout goals propelled their team to a 4-3 victory. New Jersey is back in action on Thursday night against the Nashville Predators.

Lineups:

New Jersey Devils

Ottawa Senators

Game Highlights:

Final Stats: NJ-4 OTT-3

Shots: 53 38

Hits: 27 23

PP: 1/5 1/2

Faceoffs: 51.9% 48.1%