The New Jersey Devils are back on the ice tonight for the second game of their preseason slate, taking on the rival New York Rangers with a win already banked from their opener. New Jersey opened its exhibition schedule with a 2 to 1 victory over the Islanders, a result built on a strong performance in net and timely finishing from two players who will spend most of this season developing in the minors rather than in Newark.

Goaltender David Rittich was the story of that opener, stopping 23 of 24 shots he faced to anchor the win, while Connor Brown and Ryan Schmelzer supplied New Jersey’s offense. It was a genuinely encouraging start to the preseason for a roster that, in that first game, leaned heavily on players ticketed for depth roles or further seasoning in the organization’s minor league system, making the disciplined defensive effort in front of Rittich all the more notable.

Tonight’s game figures to bring a different look in goal. Head coach Sheldon Keefe has indicated that veterans Jake Allen and Nico Daws are next in line to see action as the preseason schedule progresses, with both expected to build toward a full game’s worth of work over the coming outings. That staggered approach gives Keefe and his staff a clean look at each of the team’s goaltending options individually before decisions about the regular season rotation need to be finalized.

Away from the crease, one of camp’s more interesting subplots involves veteran forward Anthony Mantha, who has been getting an extended look skating alongside star center Jack Hughes as the coaching staff experiments with top line chemistry. Pairing a proven, physical scoring winger like Mantha with a player of Hughes’ skill level is exactly the kind of combination a team hopes can unlock more offense than either player could generate on his own, and early camp sessions have given Keefe a real opportunity to evaluate whether that fit translates once games start to matter.

The early preseason results arrive against a backdrop set firmly by new General Manager Sunny Mehta, who has been direct about where he expects this roster to ultimately land. While Mehta has acknowledged that a strong start to the preseason is a genuine step in the right direction, he has made clear that his own internal standard for the organization remains nothing short of a Stanley Cup, a benchmark that puts every training camp evaluation, from the goaltending rotation to new line combinations like Mantha and Hughes, in the context of a much larger goal than simply winning exhibition games.

For a Devils team looking to build real momentum before the games start to count, a rivalry matchup against the Rangers offers a genuinely useful measuring stick. Between a goaltending group getting extended individual looks, a top six still being shaped by new combinations at camp, and a general manager who has set the bar as high as a championship, tonight’s game carries more meaning than a typical second preseason contest usually would.