Calum Ritchie lives up to the hype in his first preseason game with the NY Islanders

It wasn’t a pretty night for the NY Islanders, crossing state lines to take on the NJ Devils in their second pre-season game. Outscored 6-2 and outshot 38-15, not much stood out in blue and orange, but Calum Ritchie certainly made himself noticed.

The Isles didn’t send their top lineup to New Jersey, as for the most part, what will likely be their bottom six served as the top six tonight.

Ritchie, on a line with Simon Holmstrom and Emil Heineman, certainly looked like a player who belongs in the NHL, playing against a strong Devils lineup. Without a shot on goal 15 minutes into the game, the Isles went to the power play. Ritchie, who the Isles seemed to run the man-advantage through, found Heineman in the bumper spot, rifling one into the back of the net to knot things up.

In the third period, with the game well out of hand, the Isles were on the two-man advantage for 1:57. Ritchie controlled the puck for much of the power play, ultimately ripping one past the goaltender, using both his man and a Devils defenseman as a screen for his first of the preseason. 

Not only was Ritchie a factor on the man-advantage, but his head coach also took notice of his play at 5-on-5 against the Devils’ top forwards.

"It was fun to see because he was playing a lot against Hischier, and I thought he did well," Patrick Roy said. "You know, 5-on-5, I never thought he was in trouble, except for one shift where we had two broken sticks...But other than this, I thought their line did well across their (the Devils) top line, so I was happy to see that."

Given the roster's current configuration, it appears Ritchie will start the season in Bridgeport. But with more games like this, he's forcing Mathieu Darche's hand in making a decision.