Devils' Jacob Markstrom May Have Dropped The NHL Save Of The Year In First Game Of Season

Last year was a massive disappointment for the New Jersey Devils after they failed to make the postseason despite being labeled a preseason Cup contender.

The biggest problem they had was in net and this season they've tried to patch it by bringing in netminder Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames.

Will it work out? Who knows how it will work out longer, but the early returns are good/

Very good.

The Devils are in Prague for a pair of regular season games against the Buffalo Sabres as part of the NHL Global Series.

After a bit of a feeling-out process, the Devils put two on the board, but late in the first period it looked like the Sabres were going to pot a late one to cut the lead in half before the first intermission, but Markstrom — and his stellar new mask — had other ideas.

He threw down what will be one of the best saves of the entire season — stoning Sabres forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel — and it was in the first period of the first game on the entire schedule.

Are you kidding me? What a way to announce yourself as your new team's goaltending savior.

Sure, it's one game, so maybe it's a little soon to say Markstrom is the Devils' answer, but he had a solid debut with the team.

The Sabres finally solved the Markstrom puzzle in the third period with a nice goal from Owen Power, but the Swedish netminder stopped the other thirty shots that he faced. 

The expectation is for the Devils to go with backup Jake Allen on Saturday — not unusual in a back-to-back situation — but they should be feeling pretty good about how their starting goalie performed to get the ball rolling for them.

After Saturday's game in Prague, the Devils will return home and won't play again until they host the Toronto Maple Leafs — their head coach Sheldon Keefe's old club — on Thursday.