PRAGUE -- Ondrej Palat did not play for the New Jersey Devils in their 3-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres in the second game of the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal at O2 Arena on Saturday because of personal reasons related to the birth of his second child.
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 victory against Buffalo on Friday. MacDermid did not have a shot on goal in 3:39.
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.
“We knew [Friday] night, the time our game ended, that there was a situation worth monitoring back in New Jersey, so it was determined [Friday] night that he was going to have to return home and be with his family,” coach Sheldon Keefe said. “And of course, we accommodated that and we knew by the time we had our morning (skate), meaning that we were going to make a lineup change.”
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. He replaced Zach Benson, who played 17:23 and had two shots on goal Friday.
Kulich, 20, was minus-2 in 14:00 in 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 had one shot on goal in 14:11 after being a healthy scratch Friday. He was the center on the fourth line between Sam Lafferty and Beck Malenstyn. He replaced Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who was out with a lower-body injury he sustained Friday.
Jake Allen made 17 saves for the Devils and Devon Levi allowed three goals on 37 shots 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.
NHL.com senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report
