© Ben Ludeman/NHLI via Getty Images

The Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils are kicking off the regular season by playing two games at O2 Arena in Prague for the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal.

Devils forward Erik Haula will be keeping a blog this week with NHL.com throughout the Global Series, giving fans a taste of what life is like on the ground as they go through the Global Series experience. Haula’s third entry was written from the Devils’ locker room at O2 Arena following a 4-1 win against the Sabres on Friday.

PRAGUE — Hello hockey fans.

Well, it’s a lot easier putting the blog together after a big win, especially the season opener. We were excited in the locker room prior to heading out onto the ice for pregame warmups. The message was, “It’s been a long offseason, so let’s get this going and enjoy the ride.”

Honestly, at times it’s a little bit confusing, because, with [Ondrej Palat] on our squad, we kind of feel like a home team, and we also have [Patrik Elias] on the bench so we feel a little bit like the home team when we were away today, but I thought the atmosphere was good, the energy was good, and it was fun to play.

I thought the moment of silence for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau was an emotional moment. I mean every time you see it, it’s weird, it’s just still weird to see it. I’m sure that’s not the last time their pictures are going to be up on a jumbotron and it’s just so sad. You’re really still just in disbelief.

I thought we did a lot of good things. We certainly did enough to win the game. I thought we had a solid start. We had a little lull in the first period there but then getting that first goal (by Stefan Noesen) kind of gave us a little jump. We finished the period pretty strong.

I felt (goalie) Jacob Markstrom played well. Whenever we seemed like we had a little bit of a lull or weren’t at our best, he settled us down and made some key saves at key times. We certainly can get better. It certainly wasn’t a perfect game, and nobody expects that, but we did enough good things to get two points and that’s a great start for us.

We have a short turnaround with the next game on Saturday afternoon. But a short turnaround is good after a win. We’ll go back to the hotel, get some rest, then wake up and go over some things and get ready to play another game. I personally like it. Hopefully, after another win, we can enjoy some friends and family, so I think we’re all looking forward to that.