The New Jersey Devils met the New York Rangers on Thursday night at Prudential Center in the first Rangers Vs Devils game of the season, with puck drop set for 7:08 p.m. ET. It was the kind of matchup that can change the tone of a week before the first shift even begins.
Connor Brown gave the Devils a small but real jolt before the game when he joined his teammates on the ice for the first time this season after an injury. That did not mean he was ready to jump back into action yet, but it did mark the first step toward a return in a season that has kept him off the ice until now.
Brown’s skate mattered because the Devils were otherwise leaning on the same group they used at Detroit. Sheldon Keefe kept the lineup unchanged, and that meant Brenden Dillon sat again while Declan Chisholm stayed in. The one player the Devils could not replace in the short term was Luke Evangelista, who missed the morning skate because of illness and was set to miss a second game in a row, leaving the roster thinner than it might have been for a rivalry game.
That matters even more when the opponent is New York. Keefe said the Rangers had been checking well and called them a very strong defensive team, a style that has already caused problems for opponents early in the season. Jack Hughes said the Rangers were playing pretty well, while Johnathan Kovacevic said their visit meant the building would be jumping and alive. He was right about the mood around the building, but the Devils also knew they were walking into a game that demanded more than emotion.
The matchup landed at a moment when the Rangers were being spoken of as one of the NHL’s best early-season teams, and the Devils were trying to solve the same kind of pressure that can turn open ice into a grind. That gave Thursday night a sharper edge than a routine division date, because the first meeting between Hudson River Rivals came with lineup limits, a missing forward, and a test that fit the Rangers’ strengths almost perfectly.
Brown’s return to game action is still the unanswered piece. The skate showed progress, but the Devils did not give a timetable, and that means the next meaningful update is whether he can turn that first workout into a place in the lineup while the rivalry schedule keeps moving.
