NEWARK, N.J. _ The long nightmare is over: The New Jersey Devils won their first game of the 2019-20 season, defeating the New York Rangers, 5-2, on Thursday night at Prudential Center.
Mackenzie Blackwood made 29 saves, Blake Coleman and Miles Wood scored, P.K. Subban had an empty-net goal, his first as a Devil, Kyle Palmieri snapped the Devils' 0-for streak on the power play and Nikita Gusev added one for good measure, Matt Tennyson had two points and Jack Hughes earned his first NHL point.
The top draft pick in June, the rookie had been the story of the week as he faced No. 2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko for the first time. He lived up to his top billing.
Everything the Devils didn't do in the first six games they did in the seventh. The penalty kill was aggressive, they moved their feet and came hard on the forecheck. They played with an edge to their game, though it's still debatable whether or not Taylor Hall went over the line with a high hit on Adam Fox behind the net in the second period.
But more importantly, New Jersey took a lead and protected it.
It looked as though history would repeat itself when Jesper Fast cut the lead to 3-2 just 2:22 into the third period. Later in the period, Hall scored on a rebound but the goal was waved off, with the officials saying Hall interfered with New York goalie Alexandar Georgiev when he dislodged it after it had been covered.
The Devils challenged the call but lost, giving the Rangers a power play which was the fifth one of the night killed off. The fourth goal finally came at 12:21 when Gusev took a loose puck in the left circle and beat Georgiev five-hole.
At 12:25 in the second, Tennyson ripped a point shot through traffic, it went off the stick of Hughes before finding Wood's backside and eventually the back of the net. Tennyson had the only assist but one was later given to Hughes and he received an ovation when the change was announced on the scoreboard.
But if we're being honest, it was Gusev's goal you'll probably want to watch a few more times.
