Current:Home > reviewsDevils' Jacob Markstrom makes spectacular save to beat Sabres in NHL season opener -EquityExchange
Devils' Jacob Markstrom makes spectacular save to beat Sabres in NHL season opener
View
Date:2025-04-18 17:32:58
Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves, including a highlight-reel stop, to help the New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 at the 2024 NHL Global Series in Prague, Czechia, on Friday.
Johnathan Kovacevic and Paul Cotter each had a goal and an assist for New Jersey in the league's season opener.
Owen Power scored Buffalo's lone goal and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 19 saves.
The two teams will face off again on Saturday (10 a.m. ET, NHL Network).
The Sabres had their best chance of the first period with three minutes remaining when Nicolas Aube-Kubel had a wide-open side of the net. But he was denied by a diving paddle stop by Markstrom, who was acquired by the Devils in the offseason after the team had subpar goaltending last season.
POINT PROJECTIONS: How we see the season unfolding
PREDICTIONS: Who will win the Stanley Cup, top awards?
Up 2-0 after 20 minutes, Nico Hischier extended the Devils' lead at 3:29 of the second period. Nathan Bastian collected the puck below the goal line and sent it out front to the New Jersey captain, who wired a wrist shot from the high slot that went glove side on Luukkonen.
The Sabres started to pick up their game midway through the period and continued that pressure into the third.
They were finally rewarded at 10:07 of the final period. Defenseman Bowen Byram was in front to send a short pass to JJ Peterka. Peterka went behind the net before dishing over to Power, who was alone at the bottom of the right circle to cut it to 3-1.
Cotter scored an empty-net goal at 17:26 for the 4-1 final.
Stefan Noesen gave the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period. Kovacevic intercepted Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson's pass attempt and fed Noesen streaking into the right circle to beat Luukkonen blocker side at 8:39.
Kovacevic made it 2-0 at 15:38. Jonas Siegenthaler took a feed from Dawson Mercer and quickly fed it to Kovacevic, who fired a point shot through traffic that deflected off a Sabres player into the net.
Buffalo held a 4-2 advantage in shots on goal and had out-attempted the Devils 10-4 nearly six and a half minutes into the opening period. But the Sabres struggled to generate offense after that, going nearly nine minutes without a shot on goal.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Biden officials declined to offer legal status to hundreds of thousands of migrants amid border concerns
- Conspiracy theorists hounded Grant Wahl's family when he died. Now they're back
- Members of the public explain why they waited for hours to see Trump arraigned: This is historic
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Weapons expert Hannah Gutierrez-Reed accused of being likely hungover on set of Alec Baldwin movie Rust before shooting
- Conspiracy theorists hounded Grant Wahl's family when he died. Now they're back
- A Trump-appointed Texas judge could force a major abortion pill off the market
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- Michael Bloomberg on Climate Change: Where the Candidate Stands
Ranking
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- UN Proposes Protecting 30% of Earth to Slow Extinctions and Climate Change
- Cormac McCarthy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Road and No Country for Old Men, dies at 89
- Martha Stewart Reacts to Landing Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Cover at Age 81
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- How will Trump's lawyers handle his federal indictment? Legal experts predict these strategies will be key
- U.S. Taxpayers on the Hook for Insuring Farmers Against Growing Climate Risks
- The EPA Once Said Fracking Did Not Cause Widespread Water Contamination. Not Anymore
Recommendation
From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
Joe Biden on Climate Change: Where the Candidate Stands
MrBeast YouTuber Chris Tyson Shares New Photo After Starting Hormone Replacement Therapy
15 wishes for 2023: Trailblazers tell how they'd make life on Earth a bit better
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
A Year of Climate Change Evidence: Notes from a Science Reporter’s Journal
In Trump, U.S. Puts a Climate Denier in Its Highest Office and All Climate Change Action in Limbo
Green Groups Working Hard to Elect Democrats, One Voter at a Time