The New Jersey Devils have won the first game of the 2024-25 National Hockey League regular season. On Friday from the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic as part of the NHL’s Global Series, the Devils defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-1.
Who contributed to the Devils offensively?
Three Devils had a multi-point game. They were defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic of Grimsby, Ontario, Paul Cotter of Canton, Michigan and Nathan Bastian of Kitchener, Ontario. Kovacevic and Cotter each had one goal and one assist for two points, while Bastian had two assists. The other Devils goal scorer was captain Nico Hischier of Brig, Switzerland.
Kovacevic and Cotter playing in first game for the Devils
On June 30, Kovacevic was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Devils for a fourth round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. He is joining his third NHL franchise after playing the 2021-22 season with the Winnipeg Jets and the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons with the Canadiens.
Cotter also was traded to New Jersey in the offseason. On June 29, Cotter was traded from the Vegas Golden Knights to the Devils with a third round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft for right winger Alexander Holtz of Stockholm, Sweden and goaltender Akira Schmid of Nesslau, Switzerland. In an interesting note, despite playing 43 NHL regular season games for the Devils and nine postseason games in New Jersey, Schmid is starting this season with the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League.
Highlight Reel Save
New Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom of Gavle, Sweden raised eyebrows in the second period with a save that is already being considered as the save of the year. Sabres right winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel was standing in front of the net and had a wide open scoring chance, but Markstrom dove and made an impressive stick save. Like Kovacevic and Cotter, this was Markstrom’s first game with the Devils too. He was traded from the Calgary Flames to the Devils for a first round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and defenseman Kevin Bahl of New Westminster, British Columbia.
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