Devils Begin Season Tonight, Rangers & Islanders Off to Rough Starts

The New Jersey Devils open up their 2021-22 campaign tonight in front of a full crowd of rabid Devils fans at Prudential Center for the first time since March of 2020, when they play host to the Chicago Blackhawks (0-1) tonight at 7 p.m.

Like all sports, the return from quarantine and the COVID-19 pandemic is met with plenty of excitement as fans are making their way back in droves. Last season, the Devils saw a small gathering of fans come through the turnstiles in March, but that was only about 2,000 fans in limited capacity.

The Devils are still in the midst of a rebuild. They feature a roster with 19 players under the age of 26, with last year's first round pick Jack Hughes the centerpiece to New Jersey's future.

Meanwhile the New York Rangers and New York Islanders are off to inauspicious starts to their seasons.

The Rangers dropped to 0-2 (or should we say 0-1-1 because the Blue Shirts do get a point for losing in Overtime), with a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

The Stars jumped out to a 2-0 lead before goals by Adam Fox and Chris Kreider knotted things up in the second period. In Overtime, Miro Heiskanen cut through the teeth of the Rangers defense, and squirted the puck through for the game winner, 1:38 into the OT to give Dallas the victory.

As for the Islanders they couldn't slow down the Carolina Hurricanes, who romped to a 6-3 victory, sending the boys from Long Island to 0-1.

21-year old Andrei Svechnikov proved to be to much for New York to quell.  Svechnikov tallied two goals, including one on a Power Play in the third period to lead both teams in scoring.

Veteran Matthew Brazal, Brock Nelson and Andres Lee accounted for all the scoring for New York. The Islanders visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday night at 6 p.m.