With the puck on his stick, Connor Brown sped through the neutral zone towards his old teammate, Edmonton Oilers' goaltender, Calvin Pickard.
As he made his way toward the net, there was one thing that was going through his mind. An old conversation he had with Leon Draisaitl.
"(He) used to always tell me to go backhand forehand on breakaways. I thought I would try it there, and it worked," Brown told reporters with a laugh.
His wrist shot beat Pickard, giving the New Jersey Devils a 3-1 lead over the Oilers at the 10:37 mark of the third period. As the red light went off, Brown skated the perimeter of the glass facing the fans, who were on their feet, before being embraced by defensemen Brenden Dillon and Brett Pesce.
"I was so happy for him," Pesce said after the Devils' 5-3 victory. "He lit up like a Christmas tree, so it was good."
Brown played 153 games with the Oilers over two seasons, reaching the Stanley Cup Final both years.
"I have some fairly deep bonds over there from what we went through, so it will be a fun game," Brown said after practice on Friday. "[..] I am really close friends with a lot of guys over there, but those are the ones you want to dig in a little bit more for."
Brown had a spectacular game against his former club, as his line took on the responsibility of defending against Vasily Podkolzin, Draisaitl, and Kasperi Kapanen.
"That was a real test for those guys tonight," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "I did not know going in how much I could use them against (Draisaitl's line). I wanted to see how that was going to look because I thought it could free up Jack Hughes in the game, and those guys were terrific."
The penalty kill, which Brown plays a key role in, was three-for-three and has been stellar to begin the season, killing 19 of 20. With Brown's goal, New Jersey has now scored two goals shorthanded this season.
"Those are kind of the special moments in your career," Brown said. "Obviously, it is just one of 82, but it kind of felt a little bigger for me playing the old club and being able to pot one in a timely manner like that. It was a fun afternoon."
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