The New Jersey Devils opened their 2026-27 season the way a team with real ambition should: fast, relentless and willing to let the game tilt their way. Their Thursday night home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers ended in a 3-2 overtime win, with Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes dragging New Jersey back from deficits before Jack Hughes finished it off with the stick toss over the glass.
That kind of opening-night performance gives the Devils a strong foundation, but the bigger question is how they turn one strong showing into a sustained run. Saturday’s matchup with the New York Islanders arrives quickly, and New Jersey already has a few clear markers to watch if this start is going to hold.
The first and most obvious one is shot volume. The Devils didn’t just create chances against Philadelphia - they overwhelmed them.
New Jersey piled up 95 shot attempts, more than doubling the Flyers’ 41 CF, and controlled the game from the opening faceoff. They finished with a 44-25 edge in shots over regulation and overtime, plus a major advantage in high-danger chances, 14-5 HDCF, and unblocked attempts, 62-31 FF.
Philadelphia did grab the first goal, getting a late first-period tip-in from Rasmus Ristolainen on a delayed penalty. New Jersey answered late in the second when Hamilton buried an unassisted snap shot past Joseph Woll at 17:58. After falling behind again five minutes into the third, Luke Hughes tied it at two and pushed the game into overtime.
New Jersey kept the pressure on in the extra frame, controlling possession and adding three more shots, including two more high-danger looks. The Devils had a few chances to end it early, but Jack Hughes eventually did the job off a Jesper Bratt feed in front of the slot.
The other area that will matter right away is the power play. Last season, New Jersey’s man advantage finished 13th in the league at 22%, and after the Olympic break it became a real factor in the team’s strong finish, producing four goals in the final ten games. Against the Flyers, though, the Devils came up empty in four chances.
Their first opportunity came 7:19 into the first period when Noel Acciari was called for holding. New Jersey won the faceoff, pushed the puck toward the crease, and got strong pressure from Nico Hischier and Luke Evangelista.
Still, Philadelphia’s penalty kill shut things down all night. The Devils got two more power-play looks in the first period and another at the start of the third, finishing with eight power-play shots on goal from Bratt, Evangelista, Evan Rodrigues, Luke Hughes and Timo Meier.
Jack Hughes wasn’t worried afterward, saying, “I thought we played a really good 60 minutes. I think other than the power play, that’s a great start for our group.”
Then there’s the scoring depth, which may end up being the swing factor for this team. The Devils lined up Arseny Gritsyuk-Rodrigues-Dawson Mercer on the third line, with Amadeus Lombardi -Cody Glass-Stefan Noesen handling the bottom six. Jesper Boqvist was a healthy scratch, and Connor Brown is still out after getting hurt at practice on Monday.
The third line saw the most 5-on-5 ice time and didn’t score, but it was active. Gritsyuk-Rodrigues-Mercer generated eight shots on goal, second on the team behind Anthony Mantha-Hughes-Bratt, and led New Jersey with 18 shot attempts and two high-danger chances.
The fourth line had a rougher night. Lombardi-Glass-Noesen logged 4:28 at 5-on-5 and spent more time chasing than creating, finishing with more chances against than for and a relative scoring chances for percentage of minus-73.17. That group still needs time to settle in, especially with Lombardi making his NHL debut, but the Devils are banking on that bottom-six chemistry coming together soon.
If it does, New Jersey can take some of the burden off its top lines and build a more balanced attack. Based on the opener, the Devils already look capable of playing the kind of high-speed, high-pressure hockey that can carry them a long way this season.
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For the Flyers, the frustration went beyond one bad bounce in extra time. Their offense never found much rhythm, and the defensive side of the night took another hit when Rasmus Ristolainen exited after blocking a late second-period shot and did not return after one shift in the third, leaving Philadelphia with even more to sort through as the season settles in. [Read more 🡒]