I’m sure the Devils Nation is sad to see the preseason end, but unfortunately all mostly boring, glorified scrimmages that they call pre-season games good things must come to an end. Read below to find out more about the final game of preseason against the 2nd rate rivals from Philly.
- The Matchup: New Jersey Devils @ Philadelphia Flyers
- The Time: 12:30pm EST (Per the Devils, the original 3:00pm start time has been changed to 12:30pm)
- The Broadcast: NBC Sports, Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
On Thursday, 10/2/2025, the Devils defeated the Rangers 3-1 at MSG, per the proclamation of Grimace. While a win against the Rangers is always glorious, preseason game or not, the result of that game will not really have any impact on today’s game, for reasons discussed below.
Hopefully it’s nothing serious or long term, and hopefully he will be back in time for the regular season, but Pesce did not finish the game on Thursday. He was not expected to play today anyway, but still, something to keep an eye on over the next few days.
The Last Stand of the AHL Squad
Per Amanda Stein on Twitter X on Tuesday afternoon, it looks like the Devils will be icing a lineup that is most likely AHL bound after the game. Amanda Stein is leaving to attend a wedding in Montreal, so she will not be covering the rest of the pre-season. Some of these players may end up playing a few games during the regular season. However, barring any significant injuries (insert Michael Scott screaming “PLEASE GOD NO! NO!” here), or poor play, I don’t expect to see any of these players on the NHL roster any time soon after today. If for some reason you have a burning desire to see any of the players in this lineup, now is probably your last chance to do so for a while. Although, if the injury bug decides to rear its ugly head with mid season form, starting with last night, I suppose this could be the NHL roster by March.
Long story short; this is a game that doesn’t mean much, if anything, other than serving as one last “show us what you got, and why you should be the first man up once we inevitably need someone to fill in.” If you watch the game with that in mind, you should have a good time.
The Flyers were most recently defeated by the Islanders by a score of 4-3 on Thursday, 10/2/2025. The game today also represents the last preseason game of the season for the Flyers. As of this writing, the unofficial game lineup has not yet been posted. In addition, I’m not sure if the Flyers will be practicing between their game on Thursday and this now even earlier game today. However, at a minimum, expect at least a few players to be playing for roster spots/next man up status in this game today.
The Return of Noesen and Hughes III Will Have to Wait
Per Sam Kasan on Twitter X yesterday, Stefan Noesen practiced with the team in a full contact jersey. However, as of this writing, he is close to participating in a full practice, but is not close yet to playing. It looks like Noesen got some work in yesterday, so while he’s not ready yet, his return should be imminent.
Per the same article from yesterday, Luke Hughes will not play in the preseason finale in Philadelphia. This is not surprising for a few reasons. 1) He most likely could use a few more practices to get up to speed, 2) There is really no reason to rush him back into a game, that quite frankly, doesn’t mean much and isn’t necessary at this point in his return to the team. 3) There’s probably more value at this point in getting one last look at the AHL players to see what they leave out on the ice today. It’s better for everyone to just let him take the next 5 days or so getting ready for the home opener, which is when the real fun begins.
Grimace’s Prediction
Grimace informed me that he is quite pleased that everyone in the Devils Nation was happy with his 100% accurate prediction of the score on Thursday. I politely asked him to make a prediction for today, but he seemed hesitant, stating “I don’t want to spoil them by telling them the score for every game. What fun is that?” When pressed, he stared straight into the camera and responded “My prediction? PAIN.” For who? That’s up to you to decide. I just report what he tells me.
Your Take
Besides the obvious desire to see the Devils remind the Flyers that they are not even good enough to be considered the main rival of the Devils, what else do you all hope to see….or not see tonight? Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!