The Devils end the “great time” of the Global Series Czechia with their second win in a row

Arguably no one had a better time than Casey, the rookie who wouldn’t even play if Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce were healthy.

Casey made his NHL debut in front of his parents on Friday, scoring his first NHL goal to tie the game at 1-1 at 11:59 of the second period off Sabers goaltender Devon Levi’s shot line and short side.

He was named First Star of the game and received a new Rolex watch as a gift.

“Better than my fossil,” he said before giving a television interview after the game.

“Unbelievable,” said Cotter, who made it 2-1 at 7:18 of the third period. “I guess you’ll get the first goal now as ‘Rolly’. Where was mine then? No, it’s so cool for him and we’re all smiling from ear to ear. What an experience for us and him.”

There were plenty of Sabers jerseys in the audience here too. Lots of them, enough to rival the Devils fans, but they didn’t have much to celebrate other than Tage Thompson’s goal that gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 8:18 of the second period.

It took less than four minutes.

Unfortunately for the Sabers, the two losses tarnish the experience they had here in the Global Series.

Things were going so well until the puck dropped on Friday.

They first went to Munich and watched JJ Peterka being celebrated in his hometown. They won 5-0 in a preseason game against EHC Red Bull Munich in the first event in Munich’s brand new, state-of-the-art arena, the SAP Garden. Peterka scored.

They experienced Oktoberfest and became friends there. They appointed Rasmus Dahlin as their new captain in Munich. They came to Prague, enjoyed the city and did three strong, energetic and healthy exercises. They toured around, went to museums, and had amazing dinners.

But they are eliminated from the standings with nothing and three of their top 12 forwards are struggling with injuries. Peterka suffered a concussion in the first period on Saturday. Zach Benson and Nicolas Aube-Kubel each suffered lower body injuries on Friday.

“You have to keep going,” said striker Alex Tuch. “If you get too caught up in it and look too far ahead, things get out of control. We are 0-2 at the start of the year. It’s not the end of the world, but we know we have to make it better.

“Each of us in this locker room needs to evolve and get better. That’s what we’re going to do.”

The Devils will say the same thing when they get home. Of course, two wins doesn’t make a season, and they won’t kid themselves or believe it.

But at least for now, it feels like there’s a little room to celebrate, from Prague to New Jersey and certainly wherever all the Devils-clad fans went after the game.

“It’s big,” Cotter said. “It’s the start of the season and towards the end of the year every team knows it can be about two points, one point, so it’s the points that count. Of course, what an experience for us, but it’s always like that.” It’s great to go home with two wins.