The New Jersey Devils suffered a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Prudential Center. Newcomer Arseniy Gritsyuk scored a goal and picked up an assist for two points in his debut, in addition to four hits.
"The more touches he got in the second half of the game, I thought Grits started to come alive a little bit," Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "That was positive to see."
The 24-year-old began the game on a line with Paul Cotter and Cody Glass. In the third period, he would set Cotter up for his first goal of the preseason.
"Great little slip on Cotter's goal," Keefe said of the play.
"I am tired," Gritsyuk shared postgame with a laugh. "A lot of battles, big speed, all guys are bigger than me, but I enjoyed this time. I had good partners, good team, couple of guys support me on the bench, Cotter a lot of time saved me on the ice. I am feeling good."
Game Rewind
Goaltender Jake Allen started the game, appearing in the first period. Youngster Nico Daws took over the crease for the second and third.
Gabe Perreault opened the scoring three minutes in to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Devils' general manager Tom Fitzgerald's son, Casey Fitzgerald, picked up the lone assist.
Rangers forward Conor Sheary was called for tripping Angus Crookshank at the 9:21 mark. The Devils, who worked on special teams on Saturday, tied the game on the power play with Brian Halonen's first of the preseason. Defenseman Dennis Cholowski and forward Mike Hardman were credited with the assists.
The Rangers took the lead at the 3:11 mark of the middle frame with Dylan Roobroeck's goal. Later in the period, in the span of less than two minutes, New York extended their lead to 4-1, getting goals from Sheary and Scott Morrow.
Paul Cotter scored at even strength in the final five minutes, but one minute later, Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski beat Daws to give the Rangers a 5-2 lead entering the second intermission.
The Devils scored their second power-play goal of the night in the final minutes of regulation. Cholowski and Halonen picked up the assists and their respective second points of the afternoon.
Lineup
Cotter – Glass – Gritsyuk
MacDermid – Lammikko – Legare
Crookshank – Glendening – Halonen
Hardman – Rooney – Bordeleau
Cholowski – Addison
Edwards – Strand
White – Osipov
Allen
Daws
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