Atmosphere 'tons of fun' for players, fans in NHL Global Series Czechia

PRAGUE -- Jaromir Jagr, the ageless former NHL great, was here to drop the puck for the ceremonial opening face-off, receiving a warm embrace as he was introduced. Also here was the Czech and Slovak Buffalo Sabres Fan Club, wearing their big buffalo horns and being guided by one member with a megaphone and another with a drum, banging away and chanting relentlessly, even when their team was down three goals.

Patrik Elias, the New Jersey Devils all-time leading scorer, got a big ovation when he was shown on the scoreboard before the game. Kids chased after T-shirts thrown by mascots NJ Devil and Sabretooth during the game. New Jersey forward Ondrej Palat nearly scored at the end, coming oh so close to what would have been one of his most memorable NHL goals scored in front of family, friends and thousands of adoring fans.

The Devils defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 in the first of two games in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal at O2 Arena on Friday, opening the 2024-25 regular season with a fast start and a strong finish. That was only part of the story here.

The atmosphere created by the 16,913 in attendance, so many in Sabres blue and yellow or Devils red and black, plus the presence of the Czech hockey stars and Hockey Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom turned a regular-season opener for each team into an event for opening night event for hockey fans in the building and everywhere.

"Tons of fun," New Jersey captain Nico Hischier said after scoring a goal in the win. "I said it before, I think those games you'll remember for the rest of your life.

"I know how great the Czech people are about hockey. I was here just at the end of May [for the 2024 IIHF World Championship] and it was something I hadn't seen a lot either, and tonight was an awesome atmosphere as well. Tomorrow will be the same thing."

The Devils and Sabres are back at it again at O2 Arena on Saturday (10 a.m. ET; MSGSN, NHLN, MSG-B, SN).

"I hope tomorrow, when we're the home team, that those fans behind their net will be cheering for us," New Jersey defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic said. "I don't know how they're going to do it. I love that European atmosphere where they have the chants and they're really into it. They have a lot of passion all game. So I think tomorrow, it's our home game, they should switch to cheer for us. And we got 'Pally' (Palat), so we got the Czech guy."

Smart thinking by Kovacevic to try to plant that seed, but it's not likely the Sabres local fan club will just switch allegiances because the home/road split turns in the Devils' favor Saturday.

If anything, they'll be louder.

"We know who those guys are," Buffalo captain Rasmus Dahlin said. "They're unbelievable, so tomorrow we owe them a win."

The Sabres will have to be way better at the start of the game to get the split before going home.

The Devils were the aggressor in the first period, the dominant team, controlling the play with their hard forecheck and in-your-face style, basically doing everything they worked on and talked about in training camp.

"The guys are excited to play," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "It didn't come together for us in the preseason the way we would have wanted to, but what hasn't wavered is the players' commitment level, the work ethic, their attention in meetings, the questions that they asked. The players, I was hoping would respond, and they did."

Stefan Noesen scored first at 8:39 and Kovacevic made it 2-0 at 15:38.

"You mean the goal by 'Kovechkin,' " Keefe said. "I've been waiting all training camp to use that. Glad I didn't have to wait too long."

Jacob Markstrom made the most impossible of his 30 saves possible at 16:57, when he stunned the Sabres and, yes, probably their fan club, with a paddle save on forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who appeared to have a wide-open net until, well, he didn't.

"Yeah, the stick was crazy," Kovacevic said. "There was so much chaos that it was like, I don't think everyone caught it, but it was, yeah, hell of a save. He was an absolute brick wall for us tonight."

Hischier made it 3-0 at 3:29 of the second, scoring after an in-zone line change, the kind that the Devils had been working on throughout camp.

Defenseman Owen Power's goal at 10:07 of the third period cut it to 3-1, but forward Paul Cotter's empty-net goal sealed it at 17:28 for the 4-1 final.

"It's amazing," Palat said. "A lot of family, friends. Great game. I'm so glad we won today. We have to be ready tomorrow."

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said he was surprised his team wasn't ready.

"I thought it looked like we had some guys that were nervous," Ruff said. "Our puck play wasn't as crisp. I thought as the game started to go on our puck play was a lot better, but at the start of the game we didn't execute at a high enough level even to break some pucks out. That's the part that surprised me because our energy has been tremendous."

Maybe it will be again Saturday. Certainly, the energy in the building will be tremendous again.

"For the Czech fans and I think everybody in Europe, but especially for the Czech fans, we won the World Championship this year, so people are so excited," Jagr told NHL.com. "People are just crazy about hockey."