Preseason Beginnings, upcoming rivalries, and the hottest preseason game so far!
Preseason Beginnings
The reigning Stanley Cup Champions started their preseason off strong, with a four to three win in Winnipeg, with the help of David Perron scoring two late goals including an overtime winner. Blues prospect Klim Kostin was looking strong as he accumulated a total of five points with one goal and three assists. In my opinion, Klim Kostin had some flashy moments, but made a few turnovers, and also took some time off in the penalty box. St. Louis's Goalies for the night were Jake Allen who had an average but mediocre game allowing two goals in twenty shots and propect Ville Husso who allowed one goal in ten shots.
The Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Bruins won their first preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia with a score of three to one. The Bruins defense only let sixteen shots head towards the net as the goalie, Jaro Halak, played a great game, while staying on his toes by only allowing one goal in those sixteen shots. Danton Heinen scored the first goal for the Bruins, followed by the game winner in the second by Peter Cehlarik, and one final goal by Connor Clifton, who came out of the box and was able to put one past the Flyers' Goaltender.
Upcoming Season Rivalries
The rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators already seems to be in mid-season form as the game on Saturday, September 29th, started out in a gong show like fashion as the first few minutes started with Ben Chiarot and Bobby Ryan dropping the gloves behind the Canadiens' net. Both picked up penalties for fighting, cancelling one another out allowing the teams to continue playing five on five. Less than a minute later Senator, Scott Sabourin, gave Max Domi a little slash, which provoked Max Domi and Scott Sabourin to also drop the gloves and pick up a few more penalties. This time however, Scott Sabourin also had a minor roughing penalty attached giving Montreal a power play in the first. Montreal ended up winning the game in overtime with a score of four to three.
A rivalry that everyone seems to have their eyes on is that of the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils also known as the cross-river rivals. The Devils managed to pick up the first round draft pick Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban and Wayne Simmons. The Rangers picked up the second round draft pick Kaapo Kakko, as well as made some strong trades for Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba. The Devils and Rangers played eachother twice in the preseason with the Devils winning both games, game one was won, four to three, while game two was won, four to two. Both games were hard fought battles where both the top draft picks had at least a point in the games they played.
Hottest Preseason Game So Far!
One of the hottest games was between the New Jersey Devils and the reigning Eastern Conference Champs, the Boston Bruins. The first period remained scoreless with plenty of close calls and missed opportunities. The second period started with Oskar Steen gave the bruins a one to zero lead after putting one past Devils' Goaltender, Cory Schneider. First overall pick, Jack Hughes, scored his first goal to tie the game after receiving a crisp pass from Sami Vatanen. The second period ended with a score of one to one. The third period was a back and forth battle with the Devils scoring early in the third giving them their first lead, then the Bruins immediately fired back with another goal tying the game up again. The same continued one more time with the Devils scoring in the middle of the third and the devils scoring one more time bring them to Overtime.
Overtime started and immediately the Devils had plenty of opportunities to end the game. Jack Hughes set up P.K. Subban for a couple quick shots from the blue line which went just high of the crossbar and even hit the post a couple of times. Jack Studnicka sent a pass to the back door of Cory Schneider where Oskar Steen was waiting for a quick one timer. Oskar Steen sent it right towards the net, but Cory Schneider was able to crawl across the crease to put a stop to it. Immediately after in a turn over Nikita Gusev set Jack Hughes up for the game winner giving him two goals in his first ever NHL exhibition game.