Newcomers lead Devils past Avalanche
NEWARK, N.J. -- After finishing in last place in the Eastern Conference a year ago, the New Jersey Devils spent the summer making wholesale changes to their roster, with an eye toward getting younger, faster and more skilled.
So far, so good, as the Devils skated to a 4-1 season-opening victory over the Colorado Avalanche Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center.
The Devils, who had the 22nd-ranked power play last season, scored three times with the man advantage Saturday, with rookie defenseman Will Butcher assisting on all three of those goals in his NHL debut.
Butcher was one of three Devils playing his first professional game, joining 18-year-old Nico Hischier, the top overall pick in the draft, and 19-year-old winger Jesper Bratt, who scored on the power play late in the second period to give New Jersey a 3-1 lead and later assisted on John Moore's shorthanded goal with six minutes to play in the third period.
Adam Henrique and Jimmy Hayes also scored for the Devils, while Kyle Palmieri had two assists before leaving the game late in the second period after a knee-on-knee collision with Colorado's Erik Johnson.
Goaltender Cory Schneider was sharp, finishing with 40 saves, including a clutch pad stop midway through the third on Matt Duchene's two-on-one opportunity.
Carl Soderberg scored a power-play goal for the Avalanche (1-1-0) at 12:04 of the second period that shaved New Jersey's 2-0 lead in half. But that was the only time they could get one past Schneider.
Colorado goaltender Jonathan Bernier allowed four goals, but was his team's best player, making a series of standout saves during the contest. He twice robbed New Jersey's Taylor Hall on wide-open looks, and ended up making 35 saves.
The sold-out crowd serenaded Hischier with chants of "Nico! Nico!" when he took the first shift of his NHL career less than a minute into the game. The talented Swiss-born center showed poise and a creative flair, generating several excellent scoring chances in the contest, even though he was held off the scoresheet.
NOTES: The Devils finished the game with 16 skaters after RW Drew Stafford (undisclosed) and LW Kyle Palmieri (undisclosed) were injured. Devils D Andy Greene (undisclosed) also missed a portion of the second period, but returned to start the third. ... The Devils scratched D Ben Lovejoy, D Dalton Prout and LW Miles Wood, while the Avalanche scratched D Mark Barberio, D Andrei Mironov and LW Matt Nieto. ... The Avalanche have allowed six goals in their first two games this season, five on the power play.