Two first-period goals from the New Jersey Devils put them in the driver’s seat early in a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in the season opener at O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia on Friday.

Stefan Noesen, Johnathan Kovacevic (1+1), Nico Hischier and Paul Cotter (1+1) all scored for the Devils.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got the start in net for Buffalo and made 19 saves on the night. Owen Power scored the Sabres’ lone goal with JJ Peterka and Bowen Byram credited with assists on the play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Period 1

The Devils broke through at the 11:21 mark when a wayward Buffalo outlet pass was intercepted by Johnathan Kovacevic. He passed it to Stefan Noesen, who was wide open on Luukkonen’s doorstep, burying the shot glove-side to put New Jersey up 1-0. New Jersey doubled their lead when Kovacevic fired a shot from the top of the zone that deflected off of a Sabres player and past Luukkonen, giving Kovacevic his second point of the period.

With a little more than three minutes to go in the first period, Nicolas Aube-Kubel had a chance to cut the Devils’ lead to one. A rebound from a Rasmus Dahlin shot went right to the toe of Aube-Kubel’s stick, but Devils goalkeeper Jacob Markstrom found a way to get the blade of his stick on the puck to keep it out of what had been an open net.

Period 2

New Jersey struck for a third time, scoring 3:29 into the second period. Following a Paul Cotter shot that Luukkonen sent wide, Nathan Bastian corralled the puck behind the net and sent it to Hischier, who was standing in the high slot area, before Luukkonen could recover, giving Hischier an open look at the net to score.

The Sabres had 11 shots on goal during the period, including a chance for Zach Benson in front of the net during a power play. Markstrom denied Benson with his pad to maintain the Devils’ 2-0 lead.

Luukkonen made seven saves during the period.

Period 3

The Sabres got on the board halfway through the final period after a deflected shot from the point left Markstrom searching for the puck near the crease, allowing Peterka to send a pass to Power who was positioned in the slot. Power’s shot beat Markstrom for his first of the season.

After Luukkonen was pulled from the Sabres’ net for an extra attacker, Cotter was able to capitalize with an empty net goal to secure the Devils’ 4-1 win.

GAME PHOTOS

POSTGAME COMMENTS

UP NEXT

The Sabres and Devils will be right back at it tomorrow to close out the NHL Global Series in Prague, Czechia. Puck drop is scheduled for 10am on MSG (Buffalo broadcast market) and NHL Network (out of market). Brian Duff and Marty Biron will have pregame coverage starting at 9:30am on MSG. WGR550 will have the radio call.