Devils Stay Perfect In Preseason with Win Against Caps I GAME STORY

NEWARK, N.J. -The Devils improved to 4-0 in the preseason following a 4-1 victory against the Washington Capitals Monday night at Prudential Center.
Alexander Holtz, Michael McLeod, Pavel Zacha and Jimmy Vesey tallied for the Devils.
Here are some observations from the game…
*When The Who released 'The Kids are Alright', chances are they weren't talking about Dawson Mercer and Alexander Holtz. They were born decades after the release of the 1979 album, but it may as well be the title name to tonight's first period for the Devils against the Capitals.
Dawson Mercer's fearless play was once again on display, confident in his abilities, taking away passes from the Capitals, disrupting their rhythm of play, and in the first period alone connecting twice with Alexander Holtz - one of which was the 1-0 power-play goal to end the first period.
The urgency to make a further impression is palpable. There are just three preseason games left for the club, and both players are vying for a spot on the opening night roster. The two started the scoring for New Jersey, and then a few regulars carried the rest of the way.

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New Jersey travels to Madison Square Garden Wednesday for a contest against the Rangers. The game can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
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At 2:39 of the second period, Mike McLeod doubled the lead with his first goal of the preseason, after connecting on a give-and-go with Janne Kuokkanen. McLeod put the puck on net and behind Vitek Vanecek for the 2-0 lead.
The Capitals cut the Devils lead with under a minute to play in the second frame, an in-close shot from Connor McMichael went over Mackenzie Blackwood's shoulder.
Pavel Zacha's power-play goal at 5:59 of the third period restored the Devils' two-goal lead. The Devils were on a four-minute power play after Jesper Boqvist was caught with a high-stick. Boqvist left the game with a trainer after he was caught in the face, but did eventually return. Kuokkanen ended with a team-high two points, assisting on Holtz's and McLeod's goals.
That's not something that came to a surprise to McLeod.
"He's probably one of the most underrated passers in the league," McLeod said post-game.
Kuokkanen has taken strides since joining the New Jersey Devils, and Lindy Ruff sees him as one of his top competitors and a player that can be depended on. Ruff provided this example of Kuokkanen's play.
"I think, you know, if you want to look at our second period, I wasn't happy with the way we played in the second period. We didn't manage the puck very well, we gave up by odd-numbered rushes. And the guy that's hardly ever involved in that is Janne. He makes the right decisions, almost every time going up the ice and he's hard on himself when he does make a bad decision."
The game ended in regulation for New Jersey with a 4-1 win, with Jimmy Vesey adding the empty-net goal with eight seconds to play.
* Mackenzie Blackwood took another step in his recovery from off-season heel surgery. After playing 20 minutes in the Devils game in Bridgeport over the weekend, he doubled his ice time to 40 minutes this evening at Prudential Center.
The goal will be to progressively move Blackwood into playing a full game before the start of the regular season if his heel reacts to the work in a way that would allow him to do so.
He saw very little of the puck in the opening period, facing just four shots, turning all away. The Capitals put on the pressure in the second period, where Blackwood had to make high-caliber saves. From up above, Blackwood looked comfortable in his net, which is a good sign for his recovery.
His night ended making 15 of 16 saves, including all 14 at even strength, and a .938 save percentage.
\Just as he did in the game prior, Scott Wedgewood came in to replace Blackwood and turned away all the shots in his direction, making five saves on five shots.
\The long-awaited preseason debut for Jesper Bratt happened tonight. He originally was supposed to play in the first home game but came down with an illness (non-Covid related) and was unable to play. Tonight, he suited up with some of his best friends on the team, reuniting on a line with Zacha and Nico Hischier.
Bratt finished the night with an assist, three shots on goal and 17:01 of ice time.
\A second game for Dougie Hamilton, a second night wearing the 'A' on his jersey. Something tells me that might be stitched there on opening night as well.
Miles Wood was the other player wearing an 'A', something he did for the latter half of last season after the departure of Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac.
\Dawson Mercer has not looked out of place in his first NHL preseason games and he's certainly getting a long, hard look from the coaching staff and management, and a player that Lindy Ruff has spoken highly of over the last few weeks.
While he was only officially credited with one takeaway in the first period, his play lead to some pretty shining moments for New Jersey, including intercepting breakout passes and a hand-eye coordinated play knocking a puck off the glass and making a pass to Alex Holtz, who had an opportunity to use his wrist shot to get a puck on Capitals Vitek Vanecek.
It wasn't much later that the two would connect once more, this time making it count. On a power play to end the first period, Mercer was part of the second wave of the power play where he drove to the net with the puck, and as the puck slipped out of his possession through Vanecek's crease, Holtz found the loose puck and wired it past the Capitals goaltender for the 1-0 lead.
\Mason Geertsen made his Devils debut, just three days after playing at Prudential Center in a Rangers uniform. Geertsen came as advertised, playing that North-South game and using his big frame to crash the net and create havoc as well as room for his linemates. He's an interesting piece upfront for the Devils.
\Pavel Zacha really made the extra effort this off-season to come into camp in the best shape of his life. He feels that he's accomplished that and it will allow him to build off of his career-best year last season. In just the few preseason games that he's played, he says he already feels improvements and his head coach agrees.
"You know conditioning wise I think he's way ahead of where he was last year," Lindy Ruff shared post-game. "I see him just being a big part, a big part of our success. You know, shooting the puck really well, like that shot on the powerplay. You know there are only a few guys that can put it there and, Pav has proven he can be one of them. So, you know I think conditioning is had a big part of where he's at."