The New Jersey Devils came out of the trade deadline a much better team thanks to Timo Meier. He was one of the best San Jose Sharks players and now he is one of the best New Jersey Devils players.
It took him a couple of games to recover from a lower-body injury to prepare for his Devils debut. It also helped him prepare with the team after spending his entire career in California.
He played his first game in a Devils sweater on Sunday night against the Arizona Coyotes. The Yotes are one of the worst teams in the NHL, so everyone would expect this very good Devils team to dominate them. However, they feed off their crowd well. It certainly was anything but easy.
Early on in the game though, Timo Meier scored on his third shift with the team. It was a good way to start his tenure with the team. They put him out there on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, and they seemed to play well together very well.
The New Jersey Devils looked really good with Timo Meier in the lineup.
They have some things to work on defensively as a trio, but that will come with more practice and reps together. For now, it is exciting that the burden of scoring his first goal was taken away so soon. Now, it is about his adjustments and just playing good hockey.
The Arizona Coyotes did end up tying it at one before Jesper Boqvist, and Damon Severson got the Devils out to a 3-1 lead. After the Yotes cut it back down to one, Boqvist’s second of the night restored the two-goal lead going into the third period.
Unfortunately, the Arizona Coyotes tied it up in the third. Falling apart like that hasn’t been something that the Devils do a lot this season, as they have been pretty good at locking down wins after leads late. This one was a bit different, though.
When it got to overtime, however, Nico Hischier wasted no time scoring with a really nice shot to give the Devils the 5-4 win. It was a great way to cap off what was otherwise a tough game for the team. They outshot Arizona 40-29 and barely won, but that happens sometimes.
The big thing is that they won the game thanks to some heroics from the captain and that Timo Meier looked pretty solid in his debut. Scoring a goal isn’t everything, but it is a really nice start. The top-six forward group is looking really strong at this point.
Meier and the Devils are finally coming home after this three-game western road trip (2-0-1). He will get to skate in front of the home fans for the first time against the Toronto Maple Leafs.