PRAGUE -- Ondrej Palat did not play for the New Jersey Devils against the Buffalo Sabres in the second game of the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal at O2 Arena on Saturday (10 a.m. ET; NHLN, SN, MSGSN, MSG-B) because of personal reasons related to the birth of his second child.
Palat is not with the team at O2 Arena.
Kurtis MacDermid replaced Palat in New Jersey’s lineup. Palat had one shot on goal in 13:46 of ice time in a 4-1 win against Buffalo on Friday.
Palat is from Frydek-Mistek, Czechia. He lives in Prague for part of the offseason and is the only Czech-born player on the Devils roster.
The Sabres, though, inserted a Czech-born player into their lineup.
Jiri Kulich, who is from Kadan, Czechia, played after being a healthy scratch Friday. Kulich skated on the second line with Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn in warmups. He replaced Zach Benson, who played 17:23 and had two shots on goal Friday.
Kulich, 20, is playing his second NHL game. He made his NHL debut against the Devils on Nov. 25, 2023. He had 45 points (27 goals, 18 assists) in 57 games with Rochester of the American Hockey League last season.
Peyton Krebs is also in the lineup after being a healthy scratch Friday. He is the center on the fourth line between Sam Lafferty and Beck Malenstyn. He replaced Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who is out with a lower-body injury he sustained Friday.
Jake Allen started in goal for the Devils and Devon Levi started for the Sabres. Both were the backup goalies Friday; Allen behind Jacob Markstrom, who made 30 saves, and Levi behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who allowed three goals on 22 shots.
