Devils Win Preseason Opener in Montreal | GAME STORY

The New Jersey Devils opened their preseason with a stop across the Northern border in Montreal.
The game opened the preseason for both teams and it was Graeme Clarke who scored the winner for New Jersey in the preseason-opening win.
There was a brief moment where Clarke's goal may not have stood as the game-winner when Michael Pazetta of Montreal scored on Nico Daws. But the coach's challenge by Lindy Ruff for off-side was confirmed and Montreal's second goal was taken off the board.
Tomas Tatar opened the scoring of the Devils preseason, a power play goal off a wonderful setup by Jesper Bratt. Tatar's goal tied the game, paving way for Clarke's game-winner.
New Jersey pick up the win in Montreal, 2-1.

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Next up the Devils continue their preseason with their first game at home on Tuesday, September 27 against the New York Islanders. Game time is 7:00 p.m..
Here are some observations from the game:
- One of the bigger questions heading into the new season is the recovery of Mackenzie Blackwood from the heel injury that kept him out the majority of last year. Early in the game, Blackwood was tested on a couple of Montreal power play opportunities, with the first show of regained strength coming when Blackwood was forced to The first big test was pushing off from the right post to the left in a sprawling play. The ease at which he pushed in stride and returned immediately to his upright position was an excellent sign of the strides he has taken to return to full health.

Blackwood played just over half the game making 15 saves on 16 shots.

"Last year obviously it wasn't even just that," Blackwood said about being comfortable pushing off the posts, "it was a lot of stuff that caused a lot of pain. Now I can play pain-free, so I don't think about it and I'm just free to play my game."

- On that same note with Blackwood, being pain-free heading into a game could possibly be one of the biggest changes for the 25-year-old heading into the new season.

"It was a lot of fun to go back and play and not have to think about how you're feeling," Blackwood said, "Just play the game. It's great to be back out there and feeling good, things are coming back slowly."

- Nico Hischier was held off the ice after the first period because of cramping. The captain ended up playing just nine shifts with 6:42 time on ice. The club reiterated that holding Hischier off the ice for the remainder of the game was precautionary as he was worked on by the medical staff. Lindy Ruff reiterated after the game that Hischier was doing fine and holding him out was strictly because the team is playing their first preseason game.

• Tomas Tatar opened the preseason scoring for New Jersey, a power-play goal aided by both Jespers, Bratt and Boqvist. Boqvist won the face-off clear, sending the puck back to Bratt, whose initial shot was blocked. Bratt recovered his own puck and from behind the goal-line found Tatar alone by Cayden Primeau's blocker, tapping it home for the tying goal.

• Graeme Clarke's first preseason goal was the winning goal of the night. Despite a moment briefly where the Canadiens scored an equalizer that was promptly removed from the board after the coach's challenge for off-side. It was a big sway in the game with just five minutes left for Montreal to make something happen, but Nico Daws held them off the board.

"It's good, it think it was tight, 1-1 pretty much the whole game," Clarke said post-game. "To be able to get that one, I think it went in off my skate after the shot on the rebound, a nice bounce for me. I think the team played really well."

• Damon Severson had a busy night, playing a team-high 26:09 as one of the veterans in the lineup on the blueline. And while he recognizes it's just the preseason, setting the tone early is important and the game against Montreal was an important step, even without a full lineup.

"Overall I thought it was a pretty good game," he said post-game. "We skated well for the most part, and came out on top. I think the shots were in our favor as well. Our goalies played solid, we're just trying to make sure we've got our systems back, and get everything the way we want it going into the regular season."