On Friday, the New Jersey Devils boarded a bus and headed east, likely sitting in traffic for close to two hours before arriving at UBS Arena to face the New York Islanders in a preseason contest. Thankfully for the Devils, it was worth the stress of the Lincoln Tunnel as they gutted out a 4-2 victory.
Related: Devils Sweep Islanders 4-2 in Second Preseason Victory
Promising Prospects Shine
The Devils’ two best prospects playing in this match both stepped up to the plate — big time. Goaltender Jakub Malek, after replacing Jake Allen halfway through, was phenomenal. The only goal he gave up was a 6-on-5 extra attacker goal, where the Devils had a multitude of chances to clear the zone and couldn’t. He stopped all 11 at even strength, including three high-danger chances.
Arseni Gritsyuk, who showed flashes of talent all night, scored a breakaway goal against fellow Russian Ilya Sorokin. His 0.36 individual expected goals led the entire Devils’ squad, while his three scoring chances tied for the team lead. He also utilized his speed to draw a penalty. He continues to look more and more like he belongs in an NHL lineup.
Glendening Continuing to Make a Case
Luke Glendening has found himself in a spot that hasn’t been familiar in a decade: fighting for an NHL job. Despite this, he’s continued to work hard and make an excellent case for the team’s fourth-line center role.
He opened the game’s scoring by utilizing his blazing speed to get into a high danger area, before corralling the puck and snapping it in — all in one motion. “I know I’m not the flashiest player. I don’t wow people, that’s for sure. But I just try to find a way,” he told The Hockey Writers on Thursday. Maybe he needs to take a little more credit, because that was impressive.
Yeah, this is filthy. pic.twitter.com/02YkWtgaY9
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) September 26, 2025
He’s now notched a point in two of the three preseason games he’s participated in, but more importantly, he’s doing the little things right by winning face-offs, being defensively responsible and killing penalties.
Legare Impresses
Nathan Legare may not make the team off the bat, but he’ll be tremendous depth to have. The 24-year-old forward, usually known for his fighting, scored the Devils’ second goal on a tremendous individual effort. He’s particularly impressed at camp with his speed and play away from the puck, but don’t get it twisted: he has more of a knack for goal-scoring than people give him credit for.
He scored 17 goals in 69 games for the Utica Comets in the American Hockey League last season. When he played junior hockey for the Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), he scored 96 goals in 162 games, and that doesn’t even include a playoff run where he had 14 goals in 15 games.
If he continues to take strides forward, he can one day become a very valuable piece of the Devils’ bottom-six.
Preseason Results Mean Nothing
The final score of a preseason contest should hold absolutely zero weight — unless a team is putting out their exact Opening Night lineup — then, maybe a little weight. Just a little.
With that being said, the Devils had to play with 11 forwards after Marc McLaughlin went down with an injury in the first period. It’s pretty impressive that they were able to mostly dominate the pace of play afterwards.
They’ll return to action for a split-squad day on Sunday at 3:00 PM EDT; half will play the Washington Capitals at Prudential Center, while the other half will head up to Ottawa to face the Senators.
