The New Jersey Devils got a huge win on Saturday night, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3. There wasn’t much to complain about outside of Jacob Markstrom, but he’s just settling into the season. And the power play didn’t connect on four chances. Everything else went as well as could be expected.
The one big change in the lineup was Zack MacEwen, who came in for Evgenii Dadonov. The Devils’ top-line winger was placed on injured reserve on Sunday after suffering a broken hand in the first game of the season.
The Devils traded Kurtis MacDermid to the Ottawa Senators for MacEwen a little over a week ago. It felt like a trade to save cap space, but after one game, it looks like it could be finding a better fit for both players. MacDermid never truly fit in New Jersey, and MacEwen never lived up to his three-year deal in Ottawa. Finding a change of scenery made sense all around.
MacEwen made his Devils debut on Saturday, and he made a decent impact. He had a takeaway, threw a hit, blocked a shot, and took two shots of his own. Most importantly, he was flying up and down the ice.
Speaking of flying, MacEwen sent a howitzer towards Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. It was such an intense shot, it almost hit 100 mph according to NHL Edge stats (and first reported by The Hockey Writers’ Daniel Amoia).
#NJDevils Zack MacEwen recorded a shot that registered at 99.20 MPH with 5:31 to go in the third last night.
— Daniel Amoia (@daniel_amoia) October 12, 2025
It was the hardest shot by any NHL forward this season…by nearly 7 MPH!
David Pastrnak was second with a 92.28 MPH drive.
(via NHL EDGE) pic.twitter.com/0nAm2aNQUu
We thought it might be a mistake, but we went back and watched the shot. It came right after Jesper Bratt scored his shorthanded goal to make it 4-2. The penalty ended a few seconds before, and Timo Meier and Jack Hughes entered the zone. Meier saw MacEwen coming in hot. He sent him a pass, and MacEwen smashed a slap shot towards the net.
Vasilevskiy caught the puck with his glove, but he dropped it almost immediately. It happened before the whistle, but the referees gave him the benefit of the doubt and stopped play. Did he drop it because it was a close-to-a-100-mph slapshot? We don’t know for sure, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
MacEwen has done this in the past. This isn’t even the fastest shot of his career. He actually had a shot faster in 2022-23 while he was playing for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Many fans thought this was just a cost-cutting move, but MacEwen might bring a diversified skillset to the Devils’ lineup. This could be a huge win if he keeps contributing.