As the saying goes, “hope springs eternal.” However, in this shortened NHL pre-season, it’s the prospects and players fighting to establish themselves as NHLers who need hope the most, as their opportunities to shine are significantly less than in past years. 

Sunday afternoon, at Prudential Center, the New Jersey Devils hosted the New York Islanders in their pre-season opener. The final score, a 2-1 Devils victory, was fueled by a three-for-four performance on the penalty-kill, Connor Brown’s third-period breakaway goal and David Rittich stopping 21 of the 22 shots the Isles sent his way. 

Speaking of Rittich, he was opposed in net by Islanders’ goaltender Vitek Vanecek. In an interesting twist, Rittich played 30 games for the Isles last season while Vanecek played 84 games for the Devils across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. 

Since this is the pre-season, each team’s plan for its goalies is subject to change, even during the game. However, prior to puck drop, Devils’ Head Coach Sheldon Keefe revealed, “The plan is for Rittich to play the full game here today. And then, I think, with (Jake) Allen and (Nico) Daws, we’re gonna kinda see how it goes from there. I think we’ll see a little bit of both of them in the next game and then probably those guys will get a full game (each) to finish it off. But it’s all kind of a day-to-day thing based on how they’re feeling.”

As for how the Devils planned to go about the rest of the game (as well as their other pre-season tilts), they have to carefully balance getting their NHL veterans reps while working in their prospects.

“It’s tricky,” Keefe said. “Especially in a shortened camp like this one. But every experience is a good one for young players. So you get a chance to play a game; we get a chance to be on the bench with them and all of our guys. It’s a chance to get kind of in that game feel. Everybody’s here, sort of, for different reasons, right? 

“Some guys are here to gain some experience. Some guys are pushing for the roster, some are preparing for the regular season in The NHL and some are pushing for call-ups coming out of The AHL. So, everybody has their own sort of agenda, but it’s all in the name of us getting our entire group prepared, because we’re certainly going to need everybody, including the folks that end up in Utica.”

The “shortened camp” that Keefe referenced is due to the new CBA, which added two regular season games to the schedule, for a total of 84 per club, while shrinking the pre-season to four games per team, with veterans who have played at least 100 career NHL games limited to just two contests. So, similar to The NFL, many have wondered if the shorter preparation time will impact how teams go about getting ready for the regular season. 

Well, many, just not Sheldon Keefe, who told the media before the game, “I think this has been a big topic and I understand why, but I really don’t think it’s impacted our preparation or how we looked at things, really at all, to be honest, except for the fact of trying to get The NHL players together quicker. 

“Our practice yesterday, we kind of had our groups set up that way to get right to special teams work. The way that the lineups today and tomorrow are set up is with that in mind; that would be the only thing. I would say, in a shortened camp like this, you don’t have as much time for the extra practices to lay things out and that’s the difference. 

“But I think it’s the players that are trying to compete for jobs, the players that wanna get noticed; they’re the ones that are most affected, not The NHL guys. We could play regular season today; the guys would be ready to go. We’ve been through that, through COVID and all that sort of stuff. The players just get at it. I think it’s guys who want an opportunity to try to earn jobs in The NHL. Those are the ones that are most affected, because there’s just not as much time to make decisions.”

Among the Devils’ hopefuls who played in the game were Lenni Hameenaho, Amadeus Lombardi, Shane Lachance, Declan Chisholm, Anton Silaev and Seamus Casey. Of course, they can’t all break camp with the Devils, but those who don’t could see themselves called up quickly, should the need arise, if they make a favorable impression during these games. 

Regarding Silaev, Keefe told the media, “You just wanna give him an opportunity to play, get right to it. Obviously, he’s got a couple rookie games under his belt here already, so I think that’s the advantage of playing those early games, for the younger players with less experience or a little more game-ready and all of that…It’s a good chance for us to evaluate him here, in our environment.”

Casey already has 16 games of NHL action over the last two seasons, so Keefe’s message to him is a tad different. 

“I’ve told him, just come out and be confident,” Keefe said. “Be himself and just keep showing up. Keep showing up on the clips, keep making plays, keep getting noticed with the opportunities that you get. I just talked about how those opportunities are less; they’re not as available in a shortened camp like this. So you gotta make every rep count and keep showing up. 

“He’s got lots to offer in terms of his skill set and as he continues to mature as a young defenseman, he’s going to improve in the areas we want him to improve on, with his defensive play and such. But his calling card is how he can impact the offense. So go out and be confident and free and make some plays.”

As for the game, the first period was one penalty after another, after another, after another. Eight in total.

The Devils committed six of those penalties. It started with Connor Brown at 7:46 for hooking. Then it continued with Colin White (tripping), the Isles’ Calum Ritchie (roughing), New Jersey’s Lachance (elbowing), Ben Steeves (high-sticking) and then Rittich (roughing) and the Isles’ Isiah George (roughing).

“I don’t normally kill (penalties),” Chisholm said. “So it’s like I’m jumping in the kill and we’re out there for like six times in a row. So that was tiring. I think the kill did great. I mean, the practice yesterday paid off and I think Shawsie’s (Brad Shaw) got a lot of clips now to use.”

Rittich attempted to cover the loose puck during a goalmouth scramble and Gleb Veremyev poked his stick in to knock the puck into the net and shoved New Jersey’s netminder in as well. Rittich was hot after that and charged toward the Isles, inciting a brief fracas along the boards. 

“I knew I had it under my glove,” Rittich explained. “He kind of poked into my glove and twist my lower back, hit my ribs, so that’s why I react the way I reacted. If he probably didn’t hit me that hard, I wouldn’t react that way, but it’s part of the game and I’m well known for that. I can get pretty heated once in a while.”

Ethan Edwards closed out the penalty-fest by hooking Ritchie at 19:50. 

“I thought they managed it well,” Keefe said about his penalty-killers. “When (Cody) Glass and (Connor) Brown and Declan Chisholm, those guys, when they were out there, most of the ones we’re really focused on, quite frankly, I thought those guys were excellent. I don’t even know if there was a shot attempt against us when those guys were out on the ice. 

“After that, it was a little bit hectic in our play. But the guys battled, competed, got sticks on things, blocked some shots. Rittich made some saves. So it helped us get through that. I know they got one at the start of the second there, but if we don’t get through that phase of the game, this one can get ugly.”

The teams began the second period skating four-on-three. The Isles’ Cole Eiserman scored a power-play goal, 55 seconds into the period, with a shot from the right wing that beat Rittich before he could react. 

Then, 3:04 after Eiserman’s marker, New Jersey’s Ryan Schmelzer, who is the Captain of the Utica Comets (the Devils’ AHL team), beat Vanecek blocker side to tie the score 1-1. The play was set up by a nice pass from Steeves, just inside the blue line. 

Compared to the penalty-laden first period, only two penalties were called during the second, with both going against the Isles. However, the Devils were unable to capitalize on either power-play opportunity. 

At 7:53 of the third period, noted speedster Connor Brown picked the pocket of Marshall Warren at New Jersey’s blue line, sprung himself for a breakaway and buried the puck with a wrist shot past Vanecek to give the Devils a 2-1 lead. 

New Jersey clamped down and sealed its 2-1 victory, allowing the Isles just four total shots on goal in the third period. Next up is Monday night’s tilt against the New York Rangers at Prudential Center, during which it’s expected that more of the Devils’ regular NHLers will get some ice time. So, while fans will enjoy seeing more of their favorite stars play, it will mean one fewer opportunity for the Devils’ roster hopefuls to make an impression on the team’s staff.