Looking Back to October | THREE THINGS

Think back to October - doesn't it feel like forever ago? As the final stretch of games in the 2022-23 regular season is underway and the Devils are getting set to begin a playoff push, we're taking a look back and highlighting big moments and games from each month of this season that led to the New Jersey's first postseason berth since 2018.
What were three keys from October and the start of the season? More below on this edition of Three Things presented by GEICO.

1. Wrapping up the Pre-Season

The Devils went 5-2-0 in the pre-season including two big wins over the Boston Bruins: first a 1-0 victory at home on Oct. 3 and then five days later a 5-3 victory on the road. These wins were a big test against a top NHL team as the Devils were finalizing their roster.
In the first Devils vs. Bruins pre-season game, Tomas Tatar scored the lone goal while Vitek Vanecek stopped all 24 shots he faced to pick up a shutout.
The Oct. 8 game was a high scoring affair with eight total goals. Alexander Holtz, Dawson Mercer, Jack Hughes, Yegor Sharangovich and Tatar all scored to help the visiting team pick up the win. Mackenzie Blackwood and Vanecek both played giving each goaltender some playing time in the final tuneup game before the regular season. Blackwood saved 15 of the 16 shots he faced while Vanecek went 12-for-14.

2. Beating the Defending Champs

After dropping their first two contests, the Devils bounced back and won six of their seven remaining games in October. One of the biggest tests stopped by on Oct. 28, the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalanche. It was a low scoring affair, in fact it was a one goal contest, but the game showed a lot about New Jersey and the big improvements this season.
The Devils showed they could keep up with Avalanche, generating 23 shots on goal against a defense led by a top NHL defenseman, Cale Makar. The home team held off a strong power play from scoring on any of their six man-advantages with the Devils penalty kill stepping up big. New Jersey dominated at the face-off dot, winning a whopping 71 percent of the draws. Goaltender Vitek Vanecek picked up his first shutout as a Devil stopping all of Colorado's 24 shots on goal. Lastly, Jack Hughes' power-play goal in the opening three minutes of the third period secured the win for the home team.

3. An Offensive Explosion

New Jersey got off to a good start with the 2022-23 season going 6-3 in October; however, they only outscored their opponents 24-22 in their first eight games. The ninth game against Columbus was an offensive explosion that wrapped up the month and kicked off the first multi-game road trip on a great foot.
Things kicked off in the final minutes of the first period when Fabian Zetterlund opened the scoring, getting the Devils on the board. Nico Hischier, Ryan Graves, and John Marino all added goals of their own in the middle frame before Jonas Siegenthaler, Jesper Bratt, and Miles Wood's goals in the final frame secured a massive 7-1 win over the Blue Jackets.
Vanecek make 20 saves on 21 shots. Fourteen players were on the score sheet and seven goals for, that's the type of win that foreshadowed some of the offensive success New Jersey would see in November. What made the win even better? The Devils honored Mr. Devil, Ken Daneyko, for 40 years with the Devils franchise as a player and now broadcaster.