PRE-GAME STORY
NEWARK, N.J. - Throughout preseason the Devils have split their NHL roster between two groups; however, that changes tonight. It's expected that the Devils will play their full NHL roster against the New York Rangers. With this change, Devils head coach Lindy Ruff expects to see a higher level of play from his team in tonight's preseason game.
“I think the competitive level goes way up,” Ruff shared Wednesday morning. “The individual battles on pucks, the attention to detail when it comes to the system and how you want to play in your own end, the way you manage the puck inside a game.”
The workflow at morning skate was as follows:
Toffoli - J. Hughes - Bratt
Meier - Hischier - Holtz
Palat - Haula - Mercer
Nosek - McLeod - Lazar
Siegenthaler - Hamilton
Bahl - Marino
L. Hughes - Smith
Vanecek
Schmid
With the roster now practicing and playing together, tonight is an opportunity to see how it all fits, from lines and d-pairings to special teams units.
“We’ve had some split up groups so some of the guys, (I) didn’t really skate with them too much,” Timo Meier shared following morning skate. “It’s nice to get everybody out there together and tonight, obviously a good test, having all the guys in the lineup. I think it’s an important game that just gets us ready for season and really dial in the details and the systems and all that so I’m looking forward to it.”
“It’s been a really fun, full camp,” Dawson Mercer said following morning skate. “Tonight’s going to be a great test for us, just really feel out what could possibly be a good look for the future.”
Mercer has spent most of camp playing with Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula on a line. As the three have another opportunity to play together, they’ll look to bring the same hard work and scoring ability they’ve shown over the last few weeks.
“We can all score, we work hard, we don’t mind going into the corners,” Mercer said about his line with Haula and Palat. “I think we’re a pretty tough line to play against. We all think pretty good defensively, we want to make sure we do score goals and turn on the offense.”
Now that everyone is back together, it’s also a time for this group as a whole to focus on playing ‘Devils hockey.’
“The focus is on our game, really hammer in those details and gain that confident for the season,” Meier said about tonight's game. “(The details are) all the things that we can control: setup situations, face-offs, and kind of d-zone coverage and o-zone plays. I think it’s a good test for special teams as well, just to kind of see where we’re at and also see some things we still have to work on. So we really want to be dialed in tonight.”
Assessing Special Teams
While the groups were split up, the Devils ran a variety of different power play and penalty kill units. Tonight’s game is another opportunity to take a look at what works and what needs adjusting from this year's changes.
“We started off a little bit later in camp on working on special teams, that was a focus for us with new guys in," Ruff explained. "I’ve liked what we’ve seen. I think there’s areas we can be better. We’ve tried some different personnel which I think can make us effective in certain situations, especially with penalty killing. Trying (Jesper) Bratt out there and using his speed, so far we’ve liked what we’ve seen so there’s different areas of the game that we’ve looked at.”
With a different roster than last year, the Devils have even more talent and players they can turn to when it comes to special teams, creating competition within the group.
“I think when you look at our power play right now we really have a 1A and a 1B,” Ruff shared. “Maybe we can be a trendsetter where both units create some competition. Right now, it’s worked pretty good through the preseason, and we know that’s only preseason. But you got to be selfless, you gotta give yourself up to the team. Maybe your role is going to be a little bit different initially to start the season, but it’s all about winning hockey games.”
“It’s a good problem to have,” Meier said about the depth the Devils have. “Special teams (can) help you win games, power play and penalty kill. So I think it’s good, it’s healthy competition within a team. Everybody wants to be out there and help the team, but it’s team first so special teams have to find ways to help us win games this season and I’m looking forward to implement my strengths into that and just work with everybody out there.”
The Devils used Luke Hughes, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Ondrej Palat, and Jesper Bratt on one power play unit with Dawson Mercer, Timo Meier, Dougie Hamilton, Nico Hischier, and Alexander Holtz on another. Mercer discussed his role on the power play and his focus with the man-advantage.
“In the middle, I gotta be a guy that supports the puck all the time,” Mercer explained. “All these different options as an out and be in a position to shoot. I want to make sure that I give those guys on the half wall and net front a play to make and release pressure and keep myself in a scoring spot because any shot from the middle is dangerous so I’ll be ready for it.”
-Catherine Bogart, NJD.TV
