October 4th and 5th brought NHL hockey to a different level. The New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres were to play two games in Prague, Czech Republic. These two games opened the NHL season with the global series. Both teams brought in many new players and two new coaches during the offseason to help improve their performance. Buffalo brought in Ryan Mcleod, Tyler Tullio, James Reimer, and Colton Poolman. Jersey brought in Paul Cotter, Jacob Markstrom, Brett Pesce, Jonathan Kovacevic, and Brendan Dillon and brought back Tomas Tatar and Stefan Noesen. These teams both worked to start the season off with some wins and well-deserved points!
The game started at 1 p.m. EDT. During the match, Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves. Johnathan Kovacevic and Paul Cotter each had a goal and an assist in their Devils debut. Nico Hischier and Stefan Noesen also scored, giving Sheldon Keefe his first win as coach for New Jersey. Owen Power scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 19 saves for the Sabres. Coach Lindy Ruff coached his first regular-season game with Buffalo since being named coach on April 22.
Night two brought even more excitement! Seamus Casey scored his first NHL goal, Jack Hughes had two assists, and the New Jersey Devils swept the Buffalo Sabres in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia with a 3-1 victory at O2 Arena on Saturday. Paul Cotter and Timo Meier scored, and Jake Allen made 17 saves for the Devils (2-0-0), who won 4-1. Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres (0-2-0), and Devon Levi made 34 saves in his season debut. This concluded the Global Series. The NJ Devils walked away with four points and the Buffalo Sabres with zero.