New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils dropped their preseason opener at the Dunkin Donuts arena in Providence, RI, as they visited the Boston Bruins.

By Patrick Comia

Devils fans had their first taste of the new season’s hockey, as the New Jersey Devils took to the ice against the Boston Bruins in a evening tilt in Providence, RI.

Unfortunately, the result was not what the ideal “coming out party” everyone wanted on the Jersey Shore.

New Jersey Devils

The Devils dropped the game, 2-0, behind two power play goals from the Bruins defenseman Matt Irwin.

At the start of the game, both teams started out quiet, finding their legs and getting feel for one another. The first twenty minutes saw a scoreless first period heading into the dressing room.

The Devils for the most part, handled themselves early on. The combination of young and veteran players on the ice created some great scoring chances.

The team did a good job of putting pressure on the Bruins defense and goalie Jonas Gustavsson, outshooting Boston 7-2 in the opening period.

Multiple opportunities were seen by the Devils squad, that included a sequence of rebound shots at the top of the Bruins goalie crease. One of the best scoring chances for the team was a goal that was called off on Adam Henrique.

At 15:10 of the first, Kyle Palmieri was able to put a shot on goal that rebounded up high. Henrique would glove the puck down, as he was traveling towards Gustavsson. The puck somehow got loose and under the goalie’s pads and crossed over the goal line. However, the goal would be called off and the score was kept 0-0.

However, as the period wore on, the Bruins were able to bring the shots almost even, 11-10.

The second period would see the scoreless tie broken, as Bruins defenseman Irwin would sneak from the right side and bury the puck for a power play goal, off a feed from Ryan Spooner.

The Devils weren’t denied opportunities on the power play themselves. In fact through the first two periods, the Devils had five opportunities with the man-advantage. In those, the team was able to muster only two shots.

If there is one thing head coach John Hynes could work on, it’s the power play.

It was not mustering many opportunities, and their five-man attack through the neutral zone was not able to penetrate the disadvantaged-Bruins defense, who seem to just step into their man and disrupt the play.

The nail in the coffin was a power play goal from the Bruins Matt Irwin again.

This time, he stayed on the blue line and ripped a slap shot past the Devils goalie with Bruins Jimmy Hayes providing a net-front presence by helping to screen the goalie.

After some scrappy play after the whistle, the Devils would lose their first game of the preseason.

The good thing is, the Devils are right back at it tomorrow night as they visit the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden.

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I'm a blogger trying to make it in this world. Have been, and always will be, a fan of the NYR and NYG. Writing for the New Jersey Devils cause, well, someone has to do it!