Little Moments, Big Picture | 10 TAKEAWAYS

From milestone moments and memorable performances to the little stories that might have flown under the radar, there's been plenty happening as we hit the third week of the NHL season.

The team is finding its footing in the early stages of the year, with some encouraging trends starting to emerge, individual players making their mark and plenty of interesting moments happening both on and off the ice.

And as is often the case, some of the best stories aren't necessarily the ones that make the headlines. Sometimes it's a small gesture between teammates, a special family moment or a little detail that gives you a different perspective on what's happening around the team.

There's a little bit of everything in this edition of 10 Takeaways, so let's get into it.

1.

"That was foul!" 

Yup, Luke Evangelista was exactly right when describing the goal that Arseny Gritsyuk scored against the Avalanche on Tuesday night. Not only was it a filthy sequence, but it was against no slouches either. Splitting a defense of Cale Makar and Devon Toews? That's elite. 

The full Evangelista quote is perfection. 

"That was foul. I was so fired up for him on the bench. Those are not two easy guys to dangle. He made a hell of a play, hell of an effort and great tuck so I was fired up for him."

Elite hockey lingo.

If there was ever a goal that showed just how much confidence Gritsyuk is playing with right now, that was it. 

To know Grits is to love Grits. Because he walks around with such a joie-de-vivre every day, I always wonder, has this guy ever had a bad day? He'll never let you think so, if he has. 

Safe to say, he's found himself in a good spot on that line with Hughes and Jesper Bratt. It will be interesting to see how it begins to take even more shape with more reps together. 

As a side note, there's also a little detail I love about the play that led to Grits' goal: it started with Dougie Hamilton forcing a turnover by Nathan MacKinnon. Gritsyuk had just stepped onto the ice on a line change, and suddenly he was creating one of the prettiest goals of the Devils' season.

2.

Can you decode this? Those Hometown Remix jerseys are right around the corner! 👀

3. 

Congratulations to Connor Brown and his wife Maddie on the birth of their little girl, Maeve Kennedy Brown. 

She's the newest member of the Devils crew and she makes Brown the 11th member of the Devils team to be officially a Girl Dad. 

I'll have a lot more on that group of 11 players coming up soon. I talked to all the Girl Dads about what it's like raising little ladies... look for that coming Friday. You won't want to miss it, trust me. 

We talk painting nails, dance classes and being wrapped around their little fingers!

4. 

Here's a fun little one from the Devils' prospect pool.

Goaltending prospect Mikhail Yegorov is off to a pretty impressive start to his junior season at Boston University. Through his first four games, the Devils' 2024 second-round selection has posted a 1.00 goals-against average, a .956 save percentage and a shutout.

Those numbers alone are worth keeping an eye on.

But here's something I particularly enjoyed from his most recent outing against Vermont.

Boston University was trailing 1-0 late in regulation when Ryder Ritchie scored the tying goal with just 56 seconds remaining.

The game went to overtime, where Ritchie struck again, this time just 56 seconds into the extra frame, to give BU a 2-1 victory.

And who picked up the secondary assist on the overtime winner? None other than Yegorov himself.

That's right, the goaltender got himself onto the scoresheet with an assist on the game-winning goal.

After a more challenging season for Boston University last year, it's great to see Yegorov getting off to such a strong start.

5. 

Sometimes it's the smallest moments that tell you the most about a team.

Take what happened against the Rangers last Thursday. When Will Cuylle delivered a big hit on Declan Chisholm in the first period, his defensive partner Johnathan Kovacevic didn't hesitate to step in and drop the gloves.

But it was what happened afterward that caught my attention.

With Kovacevic sitting in the penalty box, Chisholm skated over and gave him a little fist bump of appreciation. And then came virtually every member of the team, either from the bench, or already on the ice, while the commercial break was running, to give a salute to their teammate in the box. 

Nothing particularly elaborate. Just a quick acknowledgment between teammates. But I loved that little moment.

The Chisholm-Kovacevic pair is a new one, trying to find its stride. With Kovacevic returning to the lineup, Chisholm has been able to move back to his natural left side, and the pair is working on developing its chemistry.

And there are encouraging signs for Chisholm individually, too.

On Tuesday night against Colorado, he scored his first goal in a Devils uniform, with his shot from the point deflecting off Brock Nelson and into the net.

Chisholm was one of New Jersey's offseason acquisitions, brought in with the opportunity to establish himself on the blue line. It's still very early, but he's starting to put together some nice moments.

We'll see where it all goes.

6.

Every year, there always seems to be something new added to the Devils' lineup of theme nights, and this season is no different, with the introduction of K-Pop Night at Prudential Center.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of K-pop is extremely limited. And by extremely limited, I mean practically nonexistent. So, naturally, I had to lean on some friends who are far more knowledgeable than I am to fill me in on what exactly the night is going to entail. 

You're going to be able to commemorate the night by visiting the team store by heading to the Devils Den and picking up a Devils K-Pop light stick, Devils K-Pop Night T-Shirt and of course photocards. 

Outside section 19/20, DJ Nari will be DJing from 5:30 - 6:30pm. There will be a Devils K-Pop Night themed Photo Booth. In game, the DJ’s playlist will be majority K-Pop, and watch that giant scoreboard because all the graphics will flip to reflect the K-Pop Night theme!

If you haven't yet, make sure you grab your tickets here!

7.

There were a lot of special moments during Jake Allen's 500-game ceremony on Tuesday night, but I think my favorite was seeing his three daughters receive miniature silver sticks of their own.

How sweet was that?

And afterward, Allen put into perspective just how much the evening meant to him.

"With that and the Stanley Cup, those are the two highlights of my career," he said, adding, "It's a game I'll remember forever."

As for the fishing rod he was gifted from his teammates? That'll never be used, it's commemorative only. Jake says he has too many fishing rods anyways, and also this one is too special. 

How much does Jake love fishing? I remember last year when we had a day off on our road trip in Vancouver, we got into the hotel around 2:30 a.m. 

Well, Jake and Dawson Mercer maybe got three hours of sleep, if that, so they could head out on a fishing expedition together for the day off. 

A perfect gift.

8. 

Remember how much we were talking about the Devils constantly playing catch-up hockey to start the season?

Well, there's been a pretty significant change in that department.

After surrendering the opening goal in each of their first five games, New Jersey has now scored first in four consecutive games.

We like that turnaround. 

On Tuesday night, it was Luke Evangelista who got things started, scoring just 6:40 into the opening period in his return to the lineup.

And while scoring first doesn't guarantee anything (Saturday's loss to Washington was a reminder of that), it can certainly changes the complexion of a game.

There's a big difference between playing with a lead and constantly having to chase one.

It makes me think of what Nico Hischier spoke about earlier Tuesday: developing the mentality to trust their defensive game, stay patient and understand that not every victory needs to come in a high-scoring affair.

The Devils are beginning to do a much better job of putting themselves in advantageous positions early.

The next step is making sure they consistently protect those advantages.

But considering where this team started the season, it's an encouraging trend worth keeping an eye on.

9.

I thought Timo Meier was absolutely everywhere against Colorado on Tuesday night.

And while he didn't register a point in the Devils' victory, that hardly tells the story of the impact he had on the game.

Meier finished with a game-high eight shots on goal, but it was everything else he was doing that really stood out to me. He was that bull in a china shop. He was aggressive on the forecheck, strong along the boards, involved in puck battles and consistently finding his way into the difficult areas of the ice.

He was also instrumental in Chisholm's second-period goal, drawing a delayed penalty before getting himself in front of Scott Wedgewood to provide a screen as Chisholm's shot found its way into the net.

No point for Meier on the play, but a pretty important contribution.

It's a good reminder that sometimes the scoresheet doesn't come close to telling the entire story of a player's night.

And if you're looking for the kind of hard, direct, competitive hockey the Devils have been talking about wanting to play more consistently, Meier offered a pretty good example of it Tuesday.

10.

If you don't succeed, try, try, try again.

Finally, the Devils were able to beat their old netminder Scott Wedgewood.

It took a coulpe of ties, but they pulled it out on Tuesday. 

He had been something of a headache for his former team.

Tuesday, the Devils finally handed him his first regulation loss against New Jersey. And it wasn't for a lack of effort from Wedgewood, either. He stopped 37 of 40 shots he faced.

Wedgewood entered the game with a perfect 5-0-0 record against the Devils.