In his first pre-season game for the New Jersey Devils against the New York Islanders, Damien Brunner encountered a really bad start: After the first period he already had a -3 balance."It was tougher to play in the evening than practicing in the morning, I was pretty tired in the beginning", Brunner said to journalists after the game (see video below). The devils lost the game already in the first period, where they received four goals. At the end, they had to accept a 3-5 defeat against the Islanders, and Brunner a -2 balance after a bit more than 20 minutes on the ice. Brunner also received 9:30 TOI during the Devils' powerplays.
In the game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Nashville Predators two Swiss players crossed their hockeysticks: Tanner Richard (Tampa Bay) and Simon Moser (Nashville). The Predators' defender Roman Josi was spared. Whereas Richard received 11 minutes TOI, Simon Moser was a bit more than 14 minutes (thereof 3:08 in PP) on the ice and fired one shot on goal. The game ended with a solid 5-1 win for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The last Swiss who was in action yesterday was Nino Niederreiter. After a good start with the Minnesota Wild and one goal in his first pre-season game, he didn't manage to score again in their 4-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets. However, with only 12:31 TOI, he fired a team-leading 3 shots on net. Only Mikael Granlund and Nate Prosser equalised this figure. At the end, Niederreiter left the ice with a +1 balance.
Damien Brunner's post-game interview with the local media (New Jersey Devils PR)
