Upstart Devils pound Sabres
BUFFALO, N.Y. » Rookie Jesper Bratt and Marcus Johansson each had two goals and an assist and the Devils earned a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
Brian Gibbons added a goal and an assist, Taylor Hall had two assists, and Stefan Noesen also scored. New Jersey is 2-0 for the first time in three seasons.
No. 1 overall pick Nico Hischier recorded his first NHL point and Cory Schneider made 23 saves for the Devils.
Evander Kane scored twice for the winless Sabres, who were booed off the ice after all three periods. Chad Johnson stopped 16 of 22 shots before being replaced by Robin Lehner (nine saves) in the third period.
The Devils took a 1-0 lead 6:28 into the game when Gibbons flipped the puck from the side of the net and it bounced off Noesen’s facemask and past Johnson.
Hischier notched his first assist on Gibbons’ goal that made it 2-0 with 1:04 left in the first period. Hischier carried the puck behind the net, maneuvered away from Sabres defenseman Marco Scandella and fed Gibbons for a one-timer from the slot.
Kane put Buffalo on the board on a power play 5:02 into the second period. Kane got a partial breakaway after poking the puck past New Jersey’s Steven Santini and slid a shot around Schneider.
The Devils took 21 seconds to answer with Bratt’s short-handed goal on a 2-on-1 with Adam Henrique and Taylor Hall set up Johansson’s first goal to extend the Devils’ lead to 4-1 less than eight minutes into the second period.
Bratt redirected Hall’s slap shot for his second goal midway through the second and set up Johansson on a 2-on-1 that made it 6-1 with 1:04 left in the period.
The 19-year-old Bratt, drafted by the Devils in the sixth round in 2016, has five points in his first two NHL games.
Kane scored his fourth of the season on a wraparound with 2:57 left.