It’s the earliest of days in the NHL’s 2024-25 season, but already, there are reasons to fear the New Jersey Devils – and there are reasons to fear for the Buffalo Sabres, who were defeated by the Devils in Games One and Two of the league’s Global Series in Czechia.
The Devils took the first game against the Sabres by a 4-1 score on Friday, and in Saturday’s second game, New Jersey defeated Buffalo 3-1. The Devils’ X/Twitter account fired a shot across Buffalo’s bow by taunting the Sabres, and although there’s plenty of time for Buffalo to turn things around, this is not the way they wanted to begin their season. Producing only two goals in as many games is particularly troubling for Buffalo, especially considering the Sabres had the league’s ninth-worst offense (averaging just 2.98 goals-for per game) last season.
Turns out the Sabres were right at home the whole time. pic.twitter.com/HkFQGjrcDt
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 5, 2024
Meanwhile, the Devils looked fast, slick and well-prepared in their first games under the guidance of new coach Sheldon Keefe. And New Jersey was able to outlast the Sabres without any heavy lifting from their group of star forwards. Center Jack Hughes did have a pair of assists Saturday, but other than that, the Devils got two points apiece from Nathan Bastian, Stefan Noesen and Johnathan Kovacevic, and winger Paul Cotter led the team with two goals and three points.
In addition, New Jersey’s goaltenders looked solid in both games, with newcomer Jacob Markstrom earning the win in Game One Friday by turning aside 30 of 31 Buffalo shots, and backup Jake Allen winning on Saturday by stopping 17 of 18 Sabres shots. Markstrom will wind up playing more games than Allen, but in back-to-back games, the Devils have demonstrated they can win no matter who’s between the pipes.
You never want to extrapolate how a team’s season will unfold based on two days’ worth of action, but if you’re a Sabres fan – or if you’re Buffalo management and ownership – you have to be concerned. New/old Sabres coach (and former Devils coach) Lindy Ruff can’t be happy with the effort he’s got from Buffalo’s players thus far. Forty-nine shots in two games is well below the Sabres’ average of 30.9 shots per game from last season, and only six Buffalo players had one point in the two games against New Jersey.
Adding injury to insult, the Sabres were also bit by the injury bug against the Devils, losing winger J.J. Peterka to a suspected concussion, and losing wingers Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Zach Benson as well. Things couldn’t have gone much worse for Buffalo, and they now have to figure things out quickly, or risk being losers in five percent of the regular season.
Both the Devils and Sabres now have the next four days off, but they both have above-average opponents ahead, with New Jersey hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, and the Sabres hosting the L.A. Kings the same night. The Devils have earned themselves a little breathing room thanks to their wins, but the pressure on Buffalo is considerable. Starting the season 0-3 would be a disaster for the Sabres in the highly competitive Atlantic Division, but that’s a very real possibility now.
It’s great to have NHL games back, but in this zero-sum industry, you can put yourself behind the eight-ball – or put yourself in the driver’s seat – by what you do out of the gate and that helps decide how your season will ultimately go. And the Sabres and Devils are now at either end of the win/loss spectrum, with either a very good taste in their collective mouth, or the bitter sting of letdowns lingering as they try to regroup. Time will tell if they can either build a win streak on these games or suffer further with more defeats.
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News Summary:
- Devils, Sabres At Opposite End Of Win/Loss Spectrum After NHL's Global Series Games
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