Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, and Nico Hischier scored, and the New Jersey Devils won their home opener, 3-1, against the Florida Panthers at Prudential Center on Thursday.
Evan Rodrigues scored Florida's lone goal, and Daniil Tarasov made 31 saves for the Panthers.
"I felt we stayed with it," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "(It was a) funny game, lots of special teams, all that kind of stuff, especially in the early going, but we stayed with our game. We built our game as we went through. Power play finally came through after a ton of chances, so that was good. Penalty kill was outstanding, and we built our lead in the third period."
Rodrigues opened the scoring at the 1:59 mark of the first period. Brad Marchand fired two quick shots on Allen before his linemate capitalized, scoring his fourth career goal against New Jersey.
Jack Hughes tied it 1-1 with a power play goal at 5:48 of the second period. Devils team reporter Sam Kasan perfectly described the goal, "When puck carriers get near the goal line, goalies are taught to use the Reverse VH (down on a knee with body against the post). That leaves them vulnerable up high if you can make a great shot. Jack waits for Tarasov to drop and then picks the corner."
Jesper Bratt's primary assist on Hughes' goal marked the 300th of his NHL career. It ranks 10th all-time for franchise history behind Aaron Broten's 307 (ninth).
Meier put the Devils in front 2-1 at 6:21, redirecting Simon Nemec's shot from the blue line. Brenden Dillon picked up the secondary assist.
"I was hoping," Meier said postgame when asked if he thought Nemec was going to take that shot. "I think that is something we can work on. Get more pucks to the net and types of goals like that. More guys at the net to get more goals like this."
Nico Hischier extended the Devils' lead with his second goal of the 2025-26 campaign. Dawson Mercer showed tremendous effort, diving to poke the puck over to his linemate.
"It was important to treat our fans to a good game, especially in the first one of the season," Meier continued. "I thought the guys got better as the game went on; it was impressive."
The Devils' next game is scheduled for Saturday afternoon against the Edmonton Oilers at Prudential Center.
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