Devils get off to fast start in decisive win over Sabres

Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves to help the New Jersey Devils earn a 4-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at the 2024 NHL Global Series in Prague, Czechia, on Friday.

Johnathan Kovacevic and Paul Cotter each had a goal and an assist for New Jersey.

Owen Power scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 19 saves for Buffalo.

The two teams will face off again on Saturday.

Leading by two goals after 20 minutes, Nico Hischier extended the Devils' lead at 3:29 of the second period. Nathan Bastian collected the puck below the goal line and sent it out front to the New Jersey captain, who wired a wrist shot from the high slot that went glove side on Luukkonen.

The Sabres started to pick up their game midway through the frame and continued that pressure into the third.

They were finally rewarded at 10:07 of the final period. Defenseman Bowen Byram was in front to send a short pass to JJ Peterka. Peterka went behind the net before dishing to Power, who was alone at the bottom of the right circle to cut it to 3-1.

Cotter scored an empty-net goal at 17:28 for the 4-1 final.

Stefan Noesen gave the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period. Kovacevic intercepted Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson's pass and fed Noesen streaking into the right circle to beat Luukkonen blocker side at 8:39.

Kovacevic made it 2-0 at 15:38. Jonas Siegenthaler took a feed from Dawson Mercer and quickly fed it to Kovacevic, who fired a point shot through traffic that deflected off a Sabres player and into the net.

Buffalo held a 4-2 advantage in shots on goal and had out-attempted the Devils 10-4 nearly six and a half minutes into the opening period. But the Sabres struggled to generate offense after that, going nearly nine minutes without a shot on goal.

The Sabres had their best chance of the period with three minutes remaining when Nicolas Aube-Kubel had a wide-open side of the net but was denied by Markstrom, who made a diving stop with his pads.

--Field Level Media