The New Jersey Devils walked out of Prudential Center on Monday night with another preseason win, this time taking down the New York Rangers 3-2 in their second game of the exhibition slate. It was the back end of a back-to-back after a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders on Sunday, and the Devils leaned on a lineup that was a step closer to what they expect to ice once the games count for real.
The biggest buzz came from the look of the revamped top six. Anthony Mantha skated with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt on the top line, while Luke Evangelista joined Nico Hischier and Timo Meier on the second unit.
Right away, those groups gave the Devils a different gear. The first period stayed scoreless, but New Jersey controlled play and outshot the Rangers 10-3, with the top lines showing strong chemistry early.
That chemistry paid off in the second period. Hischier got the Devils on the board with his first preseason goal, finishing off a rebound after Meier set him up with a backhand pass.
The Rangers answered not long after, but New Jersey quickly responded. Meier pounced on a loose puck and tucked it into the corner of the net to restore the Devils’ lead at 2-1.
That Hischier-Meier-Evangelista trio kept creating problems all night. In 13:16 of 5-on-5 ice time, they logged 13 shot attempts, five high-danger chances and seven shots, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Brett Pesce also made a notable return. It was his first NHL game since early March after a sprained MCL kept him out for the rest of 2025-26, and the veteran defenseman looked like he hadn’t missed much time at all.
Paired with Luke Hughes, Pesce played with pace and edge, testing Rangers goalie Dylan Garand early, then mixing it up physically as well. Late in the first period, he even exchanged a few jabs with Matt Rempe behind the Devils’ net.
Pesce’s influence stretched across the whole night. He moved the puck cleanly, won battles, pushed play up ice and helped on the penalty kill in the third period.
He finished with an assist on Hughes’s go-ahead goal late in the third, a play that put the Devils ahead for good. By the end of the game, Pesce had been on the ice for two goals, 12 shots and four high-danger chances.
The Devils also got a first real look at their expected goalie setup, with Jake Allen starting and Nico Daws taking over for the final two periods. Allen was steady in the opening 20 minutes, turning aside all three shots he faced and giving New Jersey the calm presence it wants in net.
Daws had a busier night, facing 15 shots over 40 minutes and finishing with an .867 save percentage and a 3.00 goals-against average. Still, there was plenty to like.
He stopped both high-danger chances he saw and handled four of five medium-danger shots. Even with only three NHL games under his belt last season, he looked comfortable enough, and the Devils will be eager to see what he can build on as he tries to lock down a full-time NHL job for the first time.
New Jersey’s next chance to keep rolling comes Thursday night, when it heads to Madison Square Garden to face the Rangers again at 7:00 PM ET.
In Other News...
Rangers Opener Brought One Bigger Concern Than The Final Score
The Rangers preseason opener ended with a 3-2 loss to the Devils, but the final score was only part of the concern. New Jersey got the winner late in the third period from Jack Hughes and controlled the shot count 31-18, while the Rangers spent much of the night trying to find their footing in a game that had the feel of an early test more than a finished product.
Adam Sykoras night ended early with a lower-body injury, and there was more unease afterward when Vincent Iorio was also being evaluated postgame. For a team still sorting out its depth and lineup options this time of year, those are the kinds of details that can matter more than a September result, especially with the season still weeks away and the injury picture not yet fully clear. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Suddenly Have A Goalie Decision They Can't Easily Dodge
Dylan Garand got the first long look of the preseason for the Rangers, and he made it count in the most basic way a young goalie can. He handled the entire opener against the Devils and stopped 28 shots in a 3-2 loss, giving the club a clean early look at a netminder it has been developing while the bigger roster decisions around him begin to sharpen.
Now the issue is no longer just about one preseason outing, but about how New York sorts out its goaltending depth behind Igor Shesterkin. The offseason addition of Joonas Korpisalo complicates the picture, and the Rangers have to decide whether Garand is ready to stay in the fold or whether the risk of putting him on waivers changes the math. Garand, for his part, is focused on controlling what he can and competing, while the organization keeps weighing the present against what it wants that position to look like going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Preseason Debut Puts New Faces Under Immediate Pressure
The Rangers are wasting no time giving their new-look roster a real test in preseason action against the Islanders, and the first lineup of the fall already says plenty about where the pressure points are. Top-six forwards are in the mix, the full defense group is dressed, and Igor Shesterkin is in goal, a clear sign the club wants a close look at how its regular pieces and newcomers fit together before the games start counting.
Several players will get their first crack in a Rangers sweater, including Pavel Dorofeyev, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen, while the rest of the lineup offers an early glimpse at how the coaching staff is sorting through combinations. There are still roster spots up for grabs, especially among the forwards, and the battle for those final openings is already underway with the preseason barely beginning. [Read more 🡒]