It’s Game Two out of 84, so things are still early across The NHL. But you can already see which teams are laying the foundation for solid seasons and which are not. 

For the New Jersey Devils, they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime in their first game of the season and are now playing the New York Islanders (at UBS Arena) for their second tilt. 

Ahead of the contest, Head Coach Sheldon Keefe analyzed his team’s first game, while Evan Rodrigues discussed their culture. In addition, Timo Meier is gearing up to play his 700th career game and discussed the milestone. 

Regarding New Jersey’s power-play, which went 0-for-4 in their opener, Keefe said, “You gotta give it some time to breathe. There’s things that Teddy Donato met with the guys here today and just kinda cleaned up from last game. We could do better. With that said, there was a number of things that we did do well. 

“There’s 17 shot attempts that we had on those power-plays and gotta do a better job of getting those pucks through to the net and find lanes and have good spacing and find our spots quicker. But there was also, at least, three or four really high-quality scoring chances where, even if one of them falls, you’re asking a different type of question. Just keep building it and that’s the first group and then we’ll also find more time for the second group to get up there too.”

The Devils’ power-play has the talent to be one of the best in The League this season, with Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes, Nico Hischier, Luke Evangelista and Jesper Bratt normally operating as the top unit. 

Another key addition to the Devils’ offense is the presence of Anthony Mantha, who is a proven 30-goal scorer. During Training Camp, Keefe spoke about how Jack Hughes and Bratt play a game that is different from almost everybody else in The League. He noted that putting Mantha on a line with them would take some time for the trio to get going. 

After Game One, things are heading in the right direction.

“I thought he was excellent last game,” Keefe said. “I can’t think of one time the puck touched his stick and didn’t go to one of his teammates. He made lots of little plays. He’s obviously known as a shooter and a scorer, but his ability to pass the puck and keep plays alive has been very good. We don’t score Dougie’s (Dougie Hamilton) goal without him standing at the net front. 

“So just another guy that quietly played very well the other night. I liked his game and in terms of that line and the whole fit, what I was sort of saying to our staff and even to the players themselves is, you can’t assess that line based on the pre-season at all, because Jack’s a different version of himself in the regular season than he is in the pre-season, as we saw against Philadelphia. 

“When that happens, the line cooks and it goes really well. But Mantha certainly did his job, I felt, on that line. (I’d) like to see different ways that he can be a shooter and get some spots to get some scoring opportunities, but he made a ton of very subtle plays that kept those guys moving on offense.”

Mantha isn’t the only new guy on the team to make an impact. Rodrigues was known as a “heart-and-soul” type player during his time with the Florida Panthers and has already integrated himself fairly well with the Devils.

“Just trying to bring a good energy and good mentality,” Rodrigues said about how he views his role on the team. “I’m the type of guy that likes to kind of get in the mix and stir things up a little bit and just try to keep it lighthearted and guys upbeat. It’s a long season. You gotta have fun with it. You gotta be. Not every day is gonna be perfect, but you gotta find ways to get into games and just have fun and enjoy it and that’s what I try to do.” 

That attitude is what the Devils need this season after how tense things were towards the end of last season. As a natural leader, Rodrigues is confident in New Jersey’s current leadership group.

“It’s a great core group of players,” Rodrigues said. “It’s a lot of talent and I think the biggest thing with this team is just gonna be consistency. Can we bring it every night? Can we hound teams every night? Frustrate teams? There’s so much talent in here that that’s gonna take over naturally. It’s not something you harp on or focus on. It’s doing the little things. It’s the details now that matter and it’s finding ways to, even if it’s not perfect, find ways to win games.”

That’s something the Devils didn’t do with any sort of consistency last season. 

“It’s in the details,” Rodrigues explained. “It’s on the defensive side of the puck. You’re not gonna score five every night. You gotta find ways to win games 1-0 and 2-1 and sometimes it’s having 20 shots in a game but giving up 15. You just wear a team down, stay on the D-side of the puck and get a gritty 2-1 win. 

“There’s gonna be games where the five- and 10-foot passes come easy and there’s gonna be games where a team’s hard checking and you just gotta chip it out and live to fight another day. I think, when a team is known for their talent and their offense, it’s very easy for players to get frustrated. When that happens and you can’t play that way, it doesn’t work and you have to be able to accept that you’re not gonna be feeling it every night per se. There’s gonna be games that you have to grind out and are we gonna be comfortable doing that?”

New Jersey certainly did that against the Flyers. They outshot Philadelphia 44-25 but never had the lead until Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal in overtime. They kept at it, didn’t let the frustration take over and found a way to win. 

Looking ahead to the game against the Islanders, which is the 700th of Meier’s career, the Swiss winger had this to say.

“It kind of makes you realize, it’s a lot of games and a lot of memories,” Meier said. “Through that and always with a new season starting, you try to make new memories and good memories with a team that we feel very good about. Good energy, good start with the win we had. We know today is gonna be a tough game against an opponent that we’re gonna see multiple times, a division rival. So we gotta be ready for that one.”

Through it all, and through the grind and preparation, Meier has never lost the spark that keeps him going.

“Definitely have some experience and been through a lot through the career,” Meier explained. “Trying to just enjoy every day and bring what you’ve learned into your daily habits and the way you approach the game. I’m still trying to get better every day and have fun with the guys out there. Compete hard and it’s another chance for that tonight.”