CAMP COVERAGE
WATCH LIVE
Watch our Daily Training Camp Show
FEATURED VIDEOS
Full Highlights
POST-GAME REPORT | Amanda Stein wraps up the game
Watch the Entire Game Archive
INTERVIEWS
POST-GAME RAW | Wood
POST-GAME RAW | Carrick
POST-GAME RAW | Merkley
POST-GAME RAW | Devils head coach Lindy Ruff
BLOGS
Carrick Adapting Well to Ruff's System
Merkley Impresses Early On
WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils return to the ice on Monday with another two-a-day with Group A and Group B holding separate practices. The next Camp Game will be Wednesday, January 6 at 11:00 AM ET and it will be streamed live once again on NewJerseyDevils.com.
The first period saw a goal from each team with Nate Schnarr opening the scoring for Team A. Schnarr picked away at a rebound in front of net from a Josh Jacobs shot and got past Group B goaltender Giles Senn.
Several minutes later Damon Severson, after some fancy stick-work to dodge a sliding defenseman, fired one on goal and scored making it 1-1. Dmitry Kulikov had the primary assist on the goal.
The second period saw a beautiful highlight reel worthy goal from Nick Merkley to make it 2-1 for Group A. Merkley got the go ahead pass from Travis Zajac, and scored on the breakaway against Senn.
Ruff was impressed by this goal, and Merkley's overall play.
"I thought Nick had a good day. Shot the puck really well. The shot that impressed me was the one in the hole. How quick he got it away and where he put it," Ruff said.
Merkley noted that he felt good with his performance but also gave credits to his teammates.
"It was pretty competitive. I thought the level was pretty high. Jacobs looked good, scored a couple goals. Top line looked good. Palms, Jack. (Severson) had a nice goal, too," Merkley noted.
Group A almost made it two goals in less than a minute when Travis Zajac got a step on the defense, re-entered the offensive zone and went one-on-one with Senn, but was denied.
Group B got their own breakaway chance with six minutes left in the period when Mikhail Maltsev went one-on-one with Wedgewood but was stopped.
Maltsev had another strong chance with only 2:30 left in the second period but was once again denied by Wedgewood. Wedgewood was strong in net for Group B, with quick reaction time especially on rebounds.
Group A got their third goal of the game when Josh Jacobs scored, after beating his defender and firing one on net from just inside the face-off dot.
Kyle Palmieri had a breakaway chance early in the third period to try to make it 4-1 for Group A, but Senn stopped last season's top scorer for the Devils.
Pavel Zacha got Group B within striking distance with just under nine minutes left in the game when he beat an out of position Wedgewood off of a feed from Nikita Gusev to make it 3-2.
In the final minutes of the game, Merkley sealed the win for Group A with his second goal of the day. The score would hold and Group A went on to win 4-2 over Group B.
Goaltenders Corey Crawford and Mackenzie Blackwood both did not play in the game. Ruff noted that it was a maintenance day for Crawford while Blackwood was working his way back into routine after leaving Friday's practice early.
The Devils head coach added that was nice for the team to get back on the main Prudential Center ice and in a game situation. With music during breaks in play and goal horns, it added to the element of getting the team ready for the January 14 opener.
"When you don't hear anything, it just seems a little dead. The sounds after the goals, music playing, atmosphere of a rink is great to have," Ruff stated. "When it's quiet and all you're hearing is a couple of players yelling on the ice, it seems to me a little bit dead at times. When you get some music pumped in and have some atmosphere, you don't look at it like you're out there alone anymore."
