The Devils led by two goals entering the final period but allowed two goals to Arizona with the game-tying goal with only two minutes remaining in regulation.
Timo Meier scored a goal in his first game as a Devil (32) to lead the New Jersey red-lighters which included two others from Jesper Boqvist (6 & 7) and the other from Damon Severson (5) on the power play.
New Jersey will host Toronto in New Jersey in what will be Timo Meier's home debut.
Hell Raisers
1) Timo Meier played mostly on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, on the opposite wing than he played for San Jose.
Meier's goal started the scoring for New Jersey as he slid a backhanded puck off a Dougie Hamilton pass and even more than one goal is the importance of getting that first one so quickly.
2) In every sport, when a big name is acquired and should the player not start quickly, the media and fans start wondering about the player, causing the player stress, and the situation often only worsens.
At least Meier won't have to worry about that!
3) As much as I dislike the shootout, I love four on four overtime hockey!
The ice is wide open, with lots of room to pass, and if I had my way, there would be ten minutes of four-on-four before the shootout kicks in.
If they played ten minutes of four-on-four, there would be fewer shootouts and maybe it would feel a bit more exciting.
4) An example is the game-winner from Nico Hischier, twenty-three seconds into overtime
Hischier is on the wing with a two-on-one with Eric Houla and uses Houla as an option that the Arizona defender cannot afford to allow access to in case of a pass and with the open ice, Hischier can fire an almost uncontested wrister for the game-winner.
5) Dawson Mercer's goal streak ended at eight, which I don't totally mind as it keeps a former Rockie in the team record book and Mercer is added to the record as well,.
Mercer assisted on the Damon Severson power-play goal and had a few good chances for the record breaker but was unable to slam the puck home.
6) I'm not sure how much I like MSG networks not sending their announcers on the road.
Perhaps that was the limitation of the 5,000 seat Mullett Arena for broadcasts and with the different angles of the game that were common, that was the issue.
But if not, it seems that everything is a step behind the action, which isn't the fault of Bill Spaulding and Ken Daneyko, it's only natural for the delay to occur.
7) Writing all of that, I'll never figure out just what the love affair is between Gary Bettman/the league, and Arizona that they receive so many breaks that other cities do not receive.
While Mullett Arena is modern and not rundown, it's still a 5,000-seat arena and you have to wonder if something happened to arenas in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, what Bettman would tolerate from an arena site, if the Flyers asked to play in Hershey for three seasons...
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