NHL2 pts1W-0L-0OTLStreak: W1
New Jersey Devils sit on 2 points from one regular-season game. The Playbook predicted a Devils win over Philadelphia last night, and it delivered — the 3-2 home win over Philadelphia makes this paper 1-for-1 on the season.
The Devils travel to UBS Arena on Saturday holding a 2W-1L record across their three-game window, with 10 goals scored and 7 conceded — a +3 differential that suggests an attack running ahead of where it sat last season at 2.8 goals per game. Dougie Hamilton, Jack Hughes, and Luke Hughes each registered a goal apiece in that window. The scoring is spread. That distribution matters on the road, where one line getting shut down kills a narrow-offense team.
The Playbook expects New York to win Saturday at UBS Arena. New York enters at 1-1-0 with a +1 goal differential, and the Devils are carrying at least four players out — Johnathan Kovacevic and Nick Bjugstad confirmed among the absences. Depth on the back end was already a deployment question even at full strength; short-handed against a team that posted a 24.7% power play last season, a Devils penalty kill that sat at 79.3% will face real pressure. Watch how Sheldon Keefe deploys the defensive pairs against New York's top forwards — if the matchup goes wrong on the kill, this game turns fast.
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NHL0 pts0W-0L-0OTLRegular season not started
The Devils will beat Philadelphia at Prudential Center on Thursday.
New Jersey's three-game stretch against New York produced 10 goals scored against 7 conceded — a +3 differential that shows an attack capable of sustaining pressure across back-to-back nights. The 4-1 away win on September 26 is the sharpest piece of evidence: the offence generated that margin on the road, where possession and last change belong to the other bench. That advantage flips Thursday. Sheldon Keefe gets last change at Prudential Center, which shapes every matchup the Devils want — and several they need. The question is whether the penalty kill holds. Last season's 79.3% kill rate sat below league average; Philadelphia's power play came in at 15.7%, below league average in turn, which blunts the structural concern somewhat but doesn't erase it. Three Devils are confirmed out — Johnathan Kovacevic, Nick Bjugstad, and a third — so the defensive workload on those who dress will be heavier than the roster suggests. Watch the kill unit's deployment in the second period: that is where a short bench shows itself first.
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NHL87 pts42W-37L-3OTLStreak: L1
The Devils' penalty kill held at 79.3% last season — below league average — and this paper noted yesterday that the structural problem hasn't been resolved. Thursday against Philadelphia sharpens the stakes. On balance, expect New Jersey to win at home at Prudential Center.
Philadelphia's power play ran at 15.7% last season, below New Jersey's 22.0%. That gap is real. If Sheldon Keefe can keep New Jersey out of the box, the Devils' power play unit — quarterbacked by a group that includes Jack Hughes (27 goals, 50 assists) and Nico Hischier (28 goals, 38 assists) — carries a structural edge in special-teams exchanges. The problem is New Jersey's PK: 79.3% means roughly one in five Philadelphia power plays converts, and with Johnathan Kovacevic already out, the penalty kill is thinner on reliable defensive bodies. The 4-1 away win over New York suggests the group can stay disciplined. Penalty discipline Thursday — not power play production — is the metric that decides this.
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The Devils enter the off-season carrying last year's structural problems: a 3.09 goals-against average and a penalty kill that held at 79.3% — below where a playoff team needs it. The power play at 22.0% was functional but not a weapon. Sheldon Keefe inherits those numbers as baselines, not ceilings. The most recent roster move of note was claiming left wing Jeremie Poirier off waivers while placing six players — including David Rittich and Vladislav Kolyachonok — on waivers simultaneously. That is a crunch-camp culling, not a retooling signal. Seamus Casey and Nick Bjugstad are both listed out, which narrows the confirmed healthy roster heading into whatever comes next. The preseason slate ran through the Rangers and Islanders, per Inside The Rink and Blueshirt Banter coverage of those games. Watch the penalty kill deployment when the regular season opens — that 79.3% figure is the number Keefe most needs to move.
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