New York. Alexander Holtz had to wait a while, but when New Jersey beat the Canadiens in Montreal last night, he scored his first goal of the season.
“It was fun to put the ball in the goal and make the boys go a little bit further,” says the 21-year-old from Stockholm after the 5-2 win.
After a rookie year spent primarily in the farm league, Alexander Holtz, the Devils’ blue-and-yellow superstar promise, was given the opportunity to start this year — and he took advantage of it.
He has been responsible for strong efforts in all matches, and tonight it paid off as well.
In a strong match in the first period, he received a rebound in front of the home team’s penalty area and sent the ball into the goal with a backhand kick.
-It’s always fun to put pucks in the net, so it was good. That goal got the boys going a little bit too, he says with a big smile in the dressing room afterwards.
I did. Alexander’s goal meant a 1-1 draw, and after it was secured the visitors took matters into their own hands and ran away to eventually win 5-2.
In particular, new acquisition from Calgary, Tyler Toffoli, is starting. He scored three goals to complete his first hat-trick as a Jersey Devil.
-We always stick together as a group, and that’s something we talk about all the time. We know we’re a little slow at first sometimes, but as we progress, we become a difficult team to play against, Holtz continues.
He is generally happy with his second season in the best league in the world.
– It still happens that I make small mistakes, but I try to improve my game every time I get on the ice, and I think it looks better and better, he says.
Jesper Brat contributed the assist at the Bale Centre.