Johansson, Bratt set for NHL Global Series homecoming game with Devils

ZURICH, Switzerland -- Marcus Johansson, Jesper Bratt and Eddie Lack are looking not only to win their season opener but do so in the presence of family and friends when the New Jersey Devils play the Edmonton Oilers in the 2018 NHL Global Series at Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, MSG+, NHL.TV).

It's a homecoming of sorts for the three players. Johansson was born in Landskrona, Sweden, about 150 miles south of Gothenburg. Bratt was born in Stockholm, about 300 miles east, and Lack is from Norrtälje, about 330 miles to the east.
"I'm most looking forward to the game," Bratt said. "It's going to be awesome to get the season started and play the first game in front of many of my Swedish family and friends. I'm so looking forward to a really fun game."
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Johansson, who turns 28 on Saturday, played three seasons with Farjestad in the Swedish Hockey League, and had 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) in 87 games.
"Gothenburg is one of the bigger cities in Sweden, and I know we'll have a good time," he said. "It'll be an experience of a lifetime to get to play back home because you never know if that's going to ever happen again. I'm excited. It's going to be great to go back home and get to play in front of friends and family. It's something I've been looking forward to all summer."
Johansson, who has 304 points (107 goals, 197 assists) in 530 games with the Washington Capitals and the Devils, said he owes his NHL success to time spent in the SHL.
"I played with really good hockey players back home who helped me grow into senior hockey very quickly, and helped me develop alongside great leaders who molded me into the player I became coming out of Sweden," Johansson said. "The SHL is a really good hockey league. If anyone gets to play there as a young player, you need to embrace it and play hard. There are so many good players to help you. It's a very defensive league and tough to score goals, but you have to learn that part of the game and pick it up."
Bratt, 20, played three seasons with AIK in Allsvenskan, Sweden's second division, and had 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in 46 games in 2016-17. This will be his first game at Scandinavium.

"It was awesome for me to play with the team that I cheered for my whole life when I was just 16-years-old," Bratt said. "To play in front of all the great fans was really cool. It helped me right now that I had those two years in Sweden. It prepared me for the NHL."
Bratt expects his family, including his grandparents, and his girlfriend's family to travel from Stockholm to Gothenburg to watch him play.
"It's going to be awesome to have some people over to share this amazing moment with them," Bratt said. "I know the fans in Gothenburg love their hockey so it's going to be nice to get there and show everyone what the town is all about. I'm looking forward to playing in that arena for the first time; I know [Johansson] has played there a few times."
Lack spent three seasons with Leksand in Allsvenskan and one season with Brynas in the SHL; in his final season in Sweden he had a 2.67 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 14 games with Brynas in 2009-10.
"It's kind of one of those things I didn't think I'd ever have a chance to do on an NHL team, so I'm really looking forward to it," Lack said. "Both Gothenburg and Norrtälje are great cities. There's definitely a lot of fun stuff to do and see and I'm looking forward to showing the guys the good places and what Sweden is all about."
Bratt said that while it's nice to be returning to his home country, he's there on a business trip and that's how he and his teammates will approach it.
"I think it's nothing different for us," he said. "Everyone just sees the first game against Edmonton as the first game of the season. We're going in there to win this game. We'll enjoy our time there, but we're still only going there to win the game."