Devils 5, Rangers 2: Five observations from another win

The New Jersey Devils moved to 3-0 in preseason play with an impressive showing against their biggest rivals.

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A few observations from New Jersey’s 5-2 win over the New York Rangers:

Miles Wood is back

If Wood lost anything following major hip surgery, it certainly wasn’t enough to notice. His speed continues to be a difference maker each night.

It doesn’t necessarily matter if, at times, he looks a little out of sync or on a different page than his linemates. It doesn’t matter if he is helping the Devils dictate the run of play in terms of dominating zone time.

His speed is allowing him to generate quick strike offense, and I’ve been impressed with his improved passing game. He is posting up after gaining the line and making rink-wide passes, or reading defenses and hitting open teammates from stationary spots along the wall. The patience and touch he has shown – compared to what we saw a few years ago – is night and day.

Whether he’s on the 3rd line with Erik Haula, or 4th line with his old running mates in Nathan Bastian and Mikey McLeod, he is going to provide some pop in the bottom-6 and make the Devils a difficult team to defend against. Not many teams have a quick-strike threat like Wood on their bottom lines.

Vitek Vanecek showed well