After a week away to start the season, Prudential Center finally rejoined The NHL’s party.
Thursday night, the New Jersey Devils hosted the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in their 2025-26 Home Opener. The result was a 3-1 Devils’ victory that is hopefully a portent of things to come (although not every aspect of the game was amazing). Jake Allen, who will be New Jersey’s starting netminder for the next several weeks after Jacob Markstrom was diagnosed with a lower-body injury, squared off against Daniil Tarasov, who drew the start after Sergei Bobrovsky started and took the loss Wednesday night against the Detroit Red Wings in the Motor City.
Against the Panthers, who are just as wounded, if not more so, than the Devils, New Jersey rode its special teams and a strong game from its top forwards to the victory. Plus, Allen was stellar, making 20 saves on 21 shots faced. Meanwhile, Tarasov was also up to the task, saving 30 of 33 and was the main reason the game didn’t get away from the Panthers.
“I thought we stayed with it,” said Head Coach Sheldon Keefe. “Funny game. Lots of special teams and all that kind of stuff, especially in the early going. But we stayed with our game, kind of built our game as we went through. Power-play came through after a ton of chances. So that was good. Penalty-kill was outstanding and built your lead in the third period. So that’s a pretty good game.”
One thing to remember is that while Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Dmitry Kulikov are out long-term for the Panthers, the Devils are also currently missing several players in Jonathan Kovacevic, Evgenii Dadonov, Stefan Noesen and Zack MacEwen, among others.
The first period was a heavily penalized one, as seven total penalties were called, with three going against the Devils and four against the Panthers. All told, New Jersey was 0-for-3 on the power-play, but somewhat offset that with a perfect 2-for-2 showing on the penalty-kill.
However, while the Garden Staters were strong when down a man, they were discombobulated early on at even-strength, which allowed Evan Rodrigues to score the first goal of the game by batting home the loose puck 1:59 into the game. Brad Marchand and Seth Jones picked up the assists.
“We’re an older group,” said Jack Hughes. “Every year we’re getting older and I think that even though we give up the first one early, we wanna bring our game and get the crowd into it. Just find our way, work our way. It’s a 60-minute hockey game, so the good teams find a way to break teams down over the course of a game. And we wanna be one of those teams.”
Onto the second period and New Jersey began to take advantage of Florida’s weary legs. With 5:04 gone by in the middle period, Jack Hughes cut to the middle of the ice in Florida’s zone and was tripped by Rodrigues, sending the Devils to their fourth power-play of the game. 44 seconds later, Hughes, from the side of the net, sniped the puck over Tarasov’s shoulder, just missing his mask and into the net to tie the game 1-1.
“It’s hard,” Jack Hughes explained. “If you watch that power-play, I’m probably in that same spot with the puck three times on that one power play alone. So kind of just going through my reads. Even in the first, we had a lot of opportunities, so good movement by our group. I think Luke (Hughes) missed a one-timer there, so that kind of opens it up for me. And then, yeah, I mean, (I) can’t do that shot all the time just ’cause the goalies probably have a read on me that I like shooting there. But, sometimes, when I see it, I can definitely pick that spot.”
New Jersey continued to push the pace, putting up 13 shots on goal in the period, but Tarasov stonewalled the Garden Staters at every turn, including robbing Jack Hughes three times in short order.
The Devils were called for two more penalties in the period and successfully killed off both, keeping their PK success rate in the game at 100% with a 4-for-4 performance through 40 minutes of play.
“I think our kill’s been getting a little bit more cohesive as the few games have gone on,” Jake Allen said. “Obviously, with Brad Shaw coming in and new systems, the guys have been adapting. He’s been great, giving the guys very detailed instructions on their jobs. The penalty-kill’s all about predictability and buying in and sacrifice. It’s not always gonna go your way, but the guys are doing a great job.”
The third period came around and 38 seconds in, Jesper Bratt was called for his second minor penalty of the game. New Jersey killed off Florida’s fifth power-play of the game, running their streak of successful penalty-kills to 13 in a row and then went on the attack.
“Special teams, especially tonight, really helped us win this game,” said Timo Meier. “Jake made a lot of huge saves for us. And then, yeah, just the special teams. I think too many penalties, obviously. More than we’d like, but guys were out there battling.”
With 6:23 gone by, Simon Nemec fired the puck toward the net. Timo Meier, who was stationed at the bottom of the right face-off circle, redirected the puck past Tarasov to give the Devils a 2-1 lead. Then, 5:24 after Meier’s goal, Captain Nico Hischier ripped one home from the slot to increase New Jersey’s lead to 3-1.
Florida almost got one back late when Sam Reinhart’s shot from the point whizzed past Allen, but the goal was waved off due to Anton Lundell committing goaltender interference. That was the last gasp for the Panthers as the Devils closed the door and sealed their 3-1 win.
“I knew something happened ’cause I would’ve stopped it with clear sight,” Allen said about the goal being waved off. “You never know with goalie interference; sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. But glad it went our way.”
Up next for the Devils is a Saturday afternoon affair against the Edmonton Oilers at Prudential Center, where the home team will look to continue its solid start to the season.
