Devils finish ‘great time’ at Global Series Czechia with 2nd straight win

PRAGUE -- A stroll around O2 Arena before the game Saturday was enough to showcase why the NHL brought the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal here.

Spotted on the lower concourse level were sweaters from 14 NHL teams, plus two All-Star jerseys and one Chiefs jersey from the movie "Slap Shot." The folks wearing them were among the 16,722 in attendance, bringing the total two-day attendance up to 33,635.

But it seemed like wherever you looked, be it at the concession stands, the merchandise lines, and, yes, even the bathrooms, the New Jersey Devils were there, from Jack Hughes' 86, Nico Hischier's 13, Ondrej Palat's 18, Tomas Tatar's 90 and Patrik Elias' 26.

Well, the Devils gave their thousands of fans here, including Elias, who dropped the puck for the ceremonial opening face-off, a lot to celebrate. They also gave themselves one heck of an experience and four points in the standings before 30 teams had a chance to earn one.

New Jersey completed the season-opening sweep of the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, winning 3-1 behind Seamus Casey's first NHL goal, a beauty no less, Paul Cotter's game-winner, Jack Hughes' two assists and Jake Allen's 17 saves.

It came less than 24 hours after the Devils won 4-1 behind 30 saves from Jacob Markstrom, a goal and an assist from defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic and a goal from forward Stefan Noesen.

They even did it Saturday without Palat, the most well-known Czech player on either team. He had to return home to New Jersey for the birth of his second child after the game Friday. Instead of bemoaning the fact he wasn't available, the Devils wished him well and won for him.

"The hockey results make it all just much better," Tatar said. "I think we had a great time here in Prague. Prague as a host is very beautiful. We had team building. We were together and we wanted to focus on the game yesterday and today. We did.

“Coming out from Prague with four points and the time we spent together as a team is just so valuable. We had a great time."

Arguably no one had a better time than Casey, the rookie who wouldn't even be playing if Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce were healthy.

Casey made his NHL debut in front of his parents Friday and scored his first NHL goal to make it a 1-1 game at 11:59 of the second period, coming in from the left point, making an inside-out move to find a shooting lane and scoring short side on Sabres goalie Devon Levi.

He was named the game’s First Star and received a new Rolex watch as a gift.

"Better than my Fossil," he said before doing a postgame television interview.

"Unbelievable," said Cotter, who made it 2-1 at 7:18 of the third period. "I guess the first goal you get a 'Rolly' now. Where was mine back in the day? No, it's so cool for him and all of us are smiling ear to ear. What an experience for us and him."

There were plenty of Sabres jerseys in the crowd here too. Lots of them, enough to rival the Devils fans, but they didn't have much to cheer about other than Tage Thompson's goal that gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 8:18 of the second period.

It lasted less than four minutes.

Unfortunately for the Sabres, the two losses do put a damper on the experience they were having here at the Global Series.

It was going so well until the puck dropped Friday.

They went to Munich first and watched as JJ Peterka was celebrated in his home city. They won 5-0 in a preseason game against EHC Red Bull Munchen in the first event at Munich's brand new state-of-the-art arena, SAP Garden. Peterka scored.

They experienced Oktoberfest and bonded there. They named Rasmus Dahlin their new captain in Munich. They got to Prague and enjoyed the city and put in three strong, energetic and healthy practices. They toured around, went to museums and had fantastic dinners.

But they leave with nothing to show for it in the standings and with three of their top 12 forwards dealing with injuries. Peterka sustained a concussion in the first period Saturday. Zach Benson and Nicolas Aube-Kubel each had lower-body injuries Friday.

"You have to move on," forward Alex Tuch said. "If you dwell on it too much and if you look too far ahead, that's when things spiral out of control. We're 0-2 to start the year. It's not the end of the world, but we know we have to be better.

“Each and every one of us in this locker room needs to elevate and needs to be better. That's what we're going to do."

The Devils will say the same thing when they get home. Two wins do not make a season, of course, and they're not going to fool themselves into thinking it does.

But at least for now it feels like there's a little room for celebration, from Prague to New Jersey, and certainly wherever all those Devils-clad fans were headed after the game.

"It's big," Cotter said. "It's the start of the season and toward the end of the year every team knows it, it could be a matter of two points, one point, so these are the ones that count. Obviously, what an experience for us, but it's always awesome to go home with two wins."