Devils 3, Rangers 1: On the board

The New Jersey Devils took care of business in their first game without NHL squad members.

Follow along on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess

Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey with our writers and subscribers.

---

A few notes from New Jersey’s win over New York:

Quick hits

• I really liked what I saw from Mike Hardman. He was hard on pucks – no pun intended – and all around the net from start to finish. In a game there wasn’t a ton of offense, Hardman piled up eight shot attempts and seven scoring chances at 5v5 alone. He was a consistent thorn in the side of the Rangers and looked like a guy who has NHL games on his resume – with hopes of adding a few more in the event of injuries.

• Xavier Parent stood out to me as the best facilitator on the ice. He looked composed with the puck and was consistently finding teammates in good spots. He also competed his ass off and made a couple of nice plays in the defensive zone, either tying up sticks to disrupt potential scoring opportunities or pickpocketing Rangers puck carriers entirely. Parent plays the exact style necessary to compensate for his small frame. He’s feisty and he thinks the game at a high level.

• Daniil Misyul impressed me. He played a simple but effective game. He won puck battles in the corner, was physical, and did a great job of boxing out and keeping the flies off Jeremy Brodeur in front. He also made a couple of nice plays offensively. He assisted on a shorthanded breakaway and executed a nice pinch to create a good scoring opportunity for himself. The Devils dominated during his minutes as Misyul posted a team-high 77 xGF%.