MORE OBSTACLES
The Devils lose Meier in another tough blow to the team. But the players are looking at these moments as opportunities to rally around each other.
“You get more together if you go through it, in sports, in life, everywhere. You grow out of that,” captain Nico Hischier said. “It’s not different here. We have to stick together. We’re one big family here. We’re all thinking about Timo and hope for the best. At the end of the day we have to play a hockey game here.
“We’re a big family here. We play for each other and stick together and help each other out however we can.”
DE BUT
Parent, 24, has taken a long road to the NHL.
After his junior career ended with Sherbrooke of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2022, he joined the Devils organization with a minor-league deal and found himself in the ECHL with Adirondack for the majority of the 2022-23 season. Parent scored 23 goals and 51 points in 50 games with the Thunder.
Parent earned himself a full-time AHL look after that and suited up for the Comets the last two seasons. After last year, in which he tallied 17 goals and 36 points in 61 games, Parent signed his first two-way NHL deal.
And now, after playing 20 games to start the season in Utica and potting six goals and 12 points, he got his first callup to play in the NHL.
“It’s amazing. It’s been four years I’ve been pro. I always dreamed of that moment,” he said. “It’s my first year with an NHL contract. It was a big summer for me. You never know when that’s going to come. Today is the day so it’s unreal.
“My family is going to be here. It was a long path to be here so I’m happy to be part of the game tonight.”
Parent had actually been preparing to play in Utica’s Wednesday night game against Syracuse when head coach Ryan Parent called him and said he wouldn’t be in the lineup that evening.
Xavier was perplexed, until the coach informed him that he had to get to New Jersey to play for the Devils.
“My legs were feeling weak,” he said. “I called my family right away. It was a special moment for sure.”
As far as the style of play for the 5-foot-8, 170-pound forward, he’ll play with intensity, feistiness and speed. Fans can expect him to bring a lot of energy.
“I need to bring my speed. I can compete really hard,” Parent said. “Bring my speed, my energy, be really good on the forecheck. Play the way I play in the AHL. It’s going to help me. Play with confidence. Don’t be afraid to make plays. Just play the same way I play down there. Sometime, it’s harder to do it. I just need to do it here.”
Parent will be paired with Luke Glendeing and Angus Crookshank. There is some familiarity as Parent skated on occasion on a line with Crookshank in Utica.
“We’re kind of the same player,” Parent said. “We play fast. We like to forecheck. We like to play with a lot of speed. It’s going to be fun to play with him and Glendening tonight.”
NO FUN
The Devils suffered a 5-1 loss in Tampa a few weeks back in a game that Jake Guentzel notched a hat trick. After the game, Keefe said the Devils let the Lightning’s star players “have too much fun.”
Keefe reiterated that observation as a warning for tonight.
“We have to check a lot better, whether it’s 1-on-1 battles or forecheck, protecting the neutral zone,” Keefe said. “It’s a very skilled team. Their defense can really skate and activate. It gives them extra numbers and threats in the rush. It amplifies the skills that their top guys have. It’s on us to try and do a good job of controlling that.”
The captain agreed.
“Be a little more in their face. We gave them way too much space in Tampa,” Hischier said. “We just have to be on top of them. They’re a good team. if you give them enough space, they’ll make you pay. We have to be on top of them and play hard.”
