After the New Jersey Devils suffered a heartbreaking season-opening loss, it was imperative that they bounce back quickly and restore the atmosphere. Well, that’s exactly what they did: a rare road victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-3 effort. Connor Brown led the way with an impressive two-goal performance.
Related: Devils score early and often when winning against Lightning
Gritsyuk & Brown add test depth scores
Unlike the Carolina game, this was extremely physical. The Devils continually became involved in scrums, which seemed to lead them to an incredibly dominant first frame:
Timo Meier, Brown and Nico Hischier all found rope as they defeated Tampa Bay 14-2. Brown’s goal was especially notable, as it came about on an individual effort and picturesque feed from Arseny Gritsyuk for his first NHL point.
Depth scoring was a big problem for them in 2024-2025, so seeing the connection between Gritsyuk and Brown had to feel especially good for Devils fans. Brown later added another insurance goal in the third, passing the combined even strength total (1) of four regular members of the Devils’ bottom six after January 1 last season. These players played a total of 1,317 minutes and 57 seconds during that period… it took Brown just 23:16 to beat them. (via Natural statistical trick)
Gritsyuk only had the lone point, but had numerous other opportunities to score and simply couldn’t convert. He looked very much like he belonged.
Trends still need to be reversed
There was a general trend last season where the Devils would fall flat after gaining a significant lead. That’s exactly what happened again; the Lightning picked up the pace in the second and the Devils didn’t really seem to have an answer. Yanni Gourde and Ryan McDonagh each scored a goal to cut the Lightning deficit to 3-2. Luckily they came back with goals from Jesper Bratt and Brown, but letting teams sneak back in is a trend that can’t return this season.
That wasn’t the only slightly disturbing trend that continued. As a devil, Jacob Markstrom has strangely struggled with low and medium danger types, while excelling with high danger ones. He has yet to allow a high danger goal this season, but allowed two ‘low danger’ and one ‘medium danger’ tonight. (via MoneyPuck)
He wasn’t tested much, but overall he stopped 14 of 17 (.824%), bringing his season total to a very disappointing .837%. However, he deserves credit for the end of the match: he made some spectacular saves in the final seconds in a 6-on-4 situation. But these were primarily high-danger attempts, so it shouldn’t be too surprising.
It’s an odd trend, but despite the oddity, Markstrom was an above-average goaltender last season. He will almost certainly bounce back; his numbers will undoubtedly improve as he gets more starts under his belt.
Power play struggle
Simply put, Tampa Bay is (and always has been) a dangerous team. So it is crucial for a team to take advantage of their power play opportunities to gain an advantage. The Devils went 0-for-4 on the man advantage and often struggled to get going at all.
Fortunately, the even force attack, in a refreshing reversal, was good enough to see them through. But this puts the Devils at 0-for-6 to begin with; last season they were third in the league with a conversion rate of 28.2%.
There’s clearly way too much talent for this group to compete with for long, but they don’t seem to be in sync yet.
Return to action
The Devils will look to continue the positive momentum on Monday, October 13 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. It will be the final game of their three-game season opener.
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