Veterans help Devils to victory in Sweden

GOTHENBURG, Sweden- The New Jersey Devils opened their season with a bang Saturday night in Gothenburg. The veterans got the job done against the Edmonton Oilers in a 5-2 victory. The Devils wore their red jerseys as the home team and made themselves at home at Scandinavium arena. Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac each had two goals, and Stefan Noesen scored the Devils fifth goal to lead New Jersey to their first win of the 2018-19 campaign.

Here are 10 takeaways from the game:
1. The game between the Devils and Oilers was the 13th time in NHL history that two teams play against one another in Sweden, however this is the first time an NHL game has been played in Gothenburg, Sweden. Prior to Saturday night's game, all other games played in Sweden took place in Stockholm.
2. Head coach John Hynes made sure to give forward Marcus Johansson a special moment in his home country. Johansson, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, was part of the starting lineup at Scandinavium arena. A total of 323 Swedish-born players have appeared in a regular-season or playoff NHL games.
3. They don't call him the G.O.A.T. for no reason. Former Devils netminder Martin Brodeur had the honor of taking part in the ceremonial puck drop. Brodeur was greeted to a standing ovation by the Swedish fans, Oilers and Devils fans alike.
Tweet from @NJDevils: The greatest of all time puck drops to happen in Sweden.#DevilsGoAbroad | #TheGoatComesToo pic.twitter.com/wD2knrSVXI
4. The regular season opener also marked a first regular season game for several of John Hynes' assistant coaches. Rick Kowalsky and Mike Greir were both making their debut behind an NHL bench in a regular season game.
5. Kyle Palmieri got the party started early for the Devils in regular season play. Just 58 seconds into the season, Palmieri put the Devils up 1-0 rifling a shot past Oilers netminder Cam Talbot. Damon Severson picked up his first point of the season with the lone assist on the play.
6. It wouldn't take long for Palmieri to register his second goal of the season. Again, striking early in a period, Palmieri put the Devils up 2-1 on the Oilers with his second goal of the season at 2:02 of the second period. The two-goal night was Palmieri's 15th career multi-goal game and his 10th with the Devils.

7. Just over a minute later, Travis Zajac made it a 3-1 game. At 3:11 of the second period, Zajac fired home a heads-up pass from Miles Wood. Wood found Zajac with a cross-crease backhand for the two-goal lead.
   Tweet from @NJDevils: Brb, using this intermission break to watch @MilesWood44's backhand pass to Travis Zajac on loop.#DevilsGoAbroad | #NowWeRise pic.twitter.com/S4Nnbnn8FU
   8. The Devils ended the second period with a 3-1 lead on the Oilers, putting up two goals in the middle frame. Not only was the team successful at finding the back of the net, they also prevented the Oilers from any real opportunities. The Devils defensive game came out strong, holding Edmonton to just three shots on net, all three of which came in the final four minutes of the period. New Jersey held a 19-11 shot advantage after two periods, including outshooting Edmonton 10-4 in the second.
   9. Zajac and Wood would connect again at 5:27 of the third period to give the Devils a 4-1 lead on the Oilers. Zajac scored off his backhand in close on Talbot to open up a three-goal lead on Edmonton. The goal was Zajac's second of the game, and second of the season. The veteran is off to a great start to the season, especially considering the 2017-18 campaign. It took Zajac 10 games to register his first goal last season, and 13 for his second.

10. The Devils will head back to New Jersey on Sunday morning after their extensive road trip. The team won't play again until Thursday night at home at Prudential Center when they welcome the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals.