The New Jersey Devils played their second-to-last preseason game last night, earning a 3-1 win over the New York Rangers.
The bottom two forward lines have made a strong impression this preseason, stepping up for the Devils when needed.
The full lineup from last night’s game was:
Forwards
Dadonov – Hughes – Bratt
Meier – Hischier – Mercer
Palat – Glass – Brown
Cotter – Glendening – Gritsyuk
Defense
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Dillon – Nemec
Casey – Pesce
Cholowski – MacDermid
Goaltenders
Markstrom, Allen
The fourth line of Paul Cotter, Luke Glendening, and Arseny Gritsyuk opened the scoring. Gritsyuk set up Cotter with a feed that he ripped past Jonathan Quick on a one-timer, giving the Devils an early 1-0 lead.
Cotter praised the 24-year-old prospect after the game.
“I think that he’s going to be such an amazing player in this league,” Cotter said. “Just his everyday approach is positivity — ‘How can I get better?’ — and it makes the game fun. It’s fun to play with a guy who wants to learn but also has confidence in his skill, and he’s not afraid to use it. We’re the fourth line out there, but it doesn’t look like it with the way he’s making plays. He’s fun to play with for sure.”
The third line of Ondrej Palat, Cody Glass, and Patrick Brown has also started to find rhythm. In last night’s win, Palat scored in the third period to put the Devils back in front. Less than three minutes into the frame, he redirected a Dougie Hamilton wrist shot into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
That line has grown more comfortable since Brown joined the team this offseason.
“It’s really important to communicate with your linemates — where you want the puck, where you’re going to release it,” Brown explained. “Those little things lead to maintaining possession and creating offense.”
Thursday’s matchup was the Devils’ final meeting with their cross-river rivals until March 2026. For Brown, it was also his first time facing the Rangers as a Devil.
“It’s such a storied rivalry, so it’ll be fun to get it going,” he said.
The Devils close out their preseason schedule tomorrow in Philadelphia at 12:30 p.m., before kicking off the 2025–26 season.