Jeremy Brodeur Steals the Show in 3-1 Preseason Devils Win Over New York Rangers

Making his Devils preseason debut, Jeremy Brodeur played up to his name.

First Period

The Rangers had a chance early on, with a point shot that was deflected just wide. Jeremy Brodeur, in net for the New Jersey Devils, covered a shot from a bad angle shortly after, giving the Devils a defensive zone faceoff. Off that faceoff, Brodeur gloved another point shot. On the other end, Kevin Labanc was in the middle of everything for the Devils, with solid neutral zone puck movement and some attempts at the goal in the offensive zone.

After an ill-advised shot from Chase Stillman at the point, with the defensemen pinching, Adam Sykora had a breakaway all the way from the far blueline. Stillman tried to hound Sykora, but the Rangers forward made a quick move to the backhand that was saved by the stick of Jeremy Brodeur. The Devils were looking to turn things around, though, as the Rangers had almost all of the opportunities and shots through the first several minutes. After a TV timeout, Jeremy Brodeur continued to face down the Rangers attack before Max Willman split two Rangers in the neutral zone to spring Brian Halonen for a breakaway. Halonen made a simple move and shot low, beating Jonathan Quick! 1-0, Devils!

Nathan Legare had a chance to extend the lead on the rush, forcing Jonathan Quick to make a difficult save with his pad. Mike Hardman made a considerable impact on the forecheck, disrupting the Rangers’ transition game and creating a shot on goal with his linemates. Brodeur made another big save at the top of the crease on a redirected point shot, and the Devils were able to clear the puck away before the Rangers could take advantage of the scoring chance.

Past the halfway point of the period, Nathan Legare was spung by Samuel Laberge for the Devils’ second breakaway of the game. Legare faked to the forehand, drawing a whiffed poke check from Quick as the goaltender went off-balance, and Legare buried the puck to give the Devils a 2-0 lead! Laberge slapped the puck up the ice from the wall in the defensive zone, placing it perfectly for Legare.

Chase Stillman drew the first penalty of the game from Jaroslav Chmelar, who tripped Stillman off a faceoff in the Rangers’ offensive zone. After some trouble early, Kevin Labanc gained the zone for the Devils and dropped it for Halonen, who sailed a shot. The Devils kept cycling, with Labanc sending a low shot through a screen that forced Quick into action. Mike Hardman tipped a puck from the slot at Quick to end the power play, as the Rangers cleared the loose puck there.

Max Willman took the first penalty for the Devils, crosschecking Madison Bowey. The Rangers had a power play for the final minute and 11 seconds of the period, and they won the draw to give Brennan Othmann a one-timer chance in the right faceoff circle, which Othmann whiffed on. The Devils forced the Rangers back off the next draw, and Mikael Diotte played well in the defensive zone to push them back a second time, before a final Rangers attempt was blocked at the end of the period.

Second Period

The Devils started the second period on the penalty kill, and the Rangers circled around in their own zone before attacking. Schmelzer blocked a shot up high before Halonen took a boarding penalty with just a few seconds left to kill. Justin Dowling took the draw with Misyul and Vilen on defense, and Casey Fitzgerald took a shot for the Rangers that went wide of goal as Willman got out of the penalty box. Mikael Diotte then made a great play to avert a goal. Towards the end of the kill, Ryan Schmelzer got through the Rangers for a rush chance on Quick after he intercepted a bad pass. The shot popped up on Quick a bit but was stopped.

Brodeur made another save on a hard shot from Othmann, and play went end for end for a couple plays, with the Devils missing the net on a two-on-one. Then, against a two-on-none rush, Brodeur went to his stomach to deter the shot from Blidh off the pass from Groulx, which missed the net. Xavier Parent later set up a great chance for Chase Stillman with a centering feed from the wall, which Stillman redirected towards goal. Quick froze the puck between his arm and body.

The Rangers went back to the power play, with Parent going to the box for slashing Brennan Othmann. The Devils forced the Rangers back to their own zone and made it difficult for them to work the puck to the offensive zone, with the Devils clearing the puck again at the end of the first minute before the Rangers could get a shot off. This penalty was killed with ease, as the Devils had great stick positioning in the defensive zone.

Back on the ice, Xavier Parent just missed a one-timer. After being pushed back by the Rangers, Parent showed off his wheels to gain the zone, off a feed from Topias Vilen, who dodged a forechecker to open up lanes ahead. Facing just his third shot against in the period, Brodeur made a big stop with his blocker on Blade Jenkins.

After a postwhistle scrum, Xavier Parent and Casey Fitzgerald went to the box for roughing.a the teams skated at four-on-four. The Rangers took a couple shots at Brodeur, but could not get in position to get something clean on goal. On the other end, Kevin Labanc made another great pass — this time to Daniil Misyul — whose one-timer went into Quick’s lettering and the glove.

Jeremy Brodeur made one of his best saves of the game in the final two minutes of the period when Casey Fitzgerald sent a backdoor pass to Nathan Sucese. Brodeur got across, right on point, denying the shot. On the other end, Mike Hardman was called for slashing after a whistle. Back on the penalty kill, Max Willman had a breakaway on Quick after a feed from Misyul, which Quick denied. At the end of the period, Brian Halonen knocked into Adam Erne, knocking the stick out of Erne’s hands. Instead of picking up his stick, Erne went at Halonen until they dropped the gloves when the buzzer sounded for the end of the second period.

Third Period

Jeremy Brodeur returned to the ice for the third period. Jonathan Quick also stayed on for the Rangers. The Devils controlled play of the draw, working into the offensive zone and cycling a bit before turning the puck over. The Devils then went to the poer play for a minute and ten seconds with Hardman out of the box, as Erne got an extra minor penalty for the fight at the end of the second.

Getting just one shot attempt at the end of the initial power play, Connor Mackey took a crosschecking minor on Hardman, giving the Devils a few seconds at five-on-three. Welinski crossed up with Kevin Labanc, setting up a one-timer for the veteran forward — and Labanc beat Quick! The goal came right after the Erne instigator expired, so play returned to five-on-five with the Devils up 3-0.

Chase Stillman went to the box for goaltender interference several minutes into the period, sending the Devils to their fourth penalty kill. The Devils still looked strong here, pushing the Rangers back multiple times. Getting the kill again without a shot on goal, the Devils retained their three-goal lead and inched closer to the end of the game.

Peter Laviolette called timeout with 5:52 to play, when the Rangers had an offensive zone draw. Jeremy Brodeur made a save on a tipped shot during the possession. After coming back into the zone, Brennan Othmann ripped a shot that was gloved by Brodeur for his 22nd save of the night.

The Rangers had the net pulled with five minutes to play. Kevin Labanc turned and shot from three-quarters the length of the ice, just missing by a few inches and icing the puck with 4:18 to play. Mikael Diotte was called for delay of game right off that draw, sailing the puck over the glass. At six-on-four, Brodeur made another save on Victor Mancini, with Edstrom hounding for a rebound. After another faceoff, Brodeur sprawled and dove to cover the puck after saving a tipped point shot.

The Devils cleared off the next draw, and the Rangers had to take it back out, being on the power play. They gained the zone, but turned the puck over once before getting a cleaner entry on a second attempt. The Rangers had a chance to get on the board, but Anton Blidh missed the net from a wide angle. The Devils had another draw with 24 seconds to kill and just over two and a half minutes to play, and the Rangers got back into the zone for another attempt from Connor Mackey, which was blocked by Mike Hardman. Diotte came out of the box, but the Rangers kept getting rush chances. After saving a shot with his pad, Anton Blidh finally scored for the Rangers, as Brodeur was unable to get across to save the rebound shot. 3-1, with a minute and a half to play.

Quick left the net again in the final minute. The Rangers, however, could only get one more shot on goal, which was gloved away by Jeremy Brodeur. The Devils won 3-1.

Good Games All Around

Kevin Labanc played with a purpose tonight. In all situations, Labanc was just behind Mike Hardman in individual expected goals, with Labanc having 0.67 on three shots and five attempts, with a goal coming there, while Hardman had seven shots on nine attempts for 0.68 ixG. Freed from being on a line with Kurtis MacDermid, Chase Stillman also looked much more active, while Legare and Halonen looked great on their goals.

On the defensive side, I thought Daniil Misyul looked fantastic again, and Mikael Diotte was an intriguing watch. Jakub Zboril looked much better against AHL competition. I also thought Topias Vilen looked improved, though the slower speed of his opponents may have allowed him to be more creative than he was in his previous look. The Devils also definitely took it easy in the third period, trying to shut things down — but I think they would have been better served by pushing the offense more in the later stages. Everyone’s stats took a bit of a hit in the third, when they defended their three-goal lead from their early power play.

Jeremy Brodeur’s Showcase Performance

In his career, Jeremy Brodeur has seen very little playing time beyond the ECHL. He has played over 100 ECHL games, and departed North America for a year in the British EIHL in 2022-23, where he posted a .917 save percentage. Coming back to sign with the Comets, Brodeur had a .918 save percentage in 38 games for the Adirondack Thunder last season, while he also saved 20 of 22 in one appearance for Utica. In his career, he has a .920 save percentage in only six AHL regular season games.

While Brodeur faces an uphill battle to get AHL playing time this season, with Nico Daws and Isaac Poulter being the expected goaltenders in Utica. This is someone who, at the age of 27, has faced an uphill battle to be noticed for his play, not getting many opportunities at higher levels despite not yet disappointing in any of his few appearances in the AHL. Tonight, he looked the part of a professional goaltender and then some, outplaying Jonathan Quick in a preseason game of mostly AHL players.

The third period ended up being a bit too much for Brodeur to withstand, but he was still fantastic despite losing the shutout late. He only allowed one goal on 3.63 expected goals against, while Quick allowed three goals on 3.04 expected goals. Brodeur was sharp, displaying a decent bag of tricks as a goalie, with excellent net coverage for a 6’0” netminder. He was not facing NHL competition tonight, but with the organizational depth for the Devils, I see Brodeur as the fourth goalie in the system. Hopefully, he is able to get more AHL games this season than he got last year — he certainly looks like he deserves it.

Your Thoughts

What did you think of tonight’s game? Was Brodeur thrilling? What did you think of the skaters? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.