Group Night at the Prudential Center: Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Tonight had everyone on pins and needles. Would the team in blue pull through, or would the squad in red be victorious? The prediction markets favored the blue squad, but could they really win in a building that hasn’t historically been friendly to them? No, we’re not talking about the midterms. We’re talking about a matchup between two of the hottest teams in the NHL.

The New Jersey Devils hosted the Dare Devils at the Prudential Center this evening for our annual Group Night event. We watched our hometown Devils take on Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard and the rest of the powerhouse Edmonton Oilers. The Dare Devils had 115 players, coaches, family members and friends in attendance, and the pros didn’t disappoint. After stirring renditions of both the Canadian and American national anthems, the Oilers ended the 1st period with a 1-0 lead.

The end of the 1st period is where the action picked up for the Dare Devils. Several members of our team were selected to play in a 3-minute game during the 1st intermission, on the same sheet of ice the NHLers skate on, under the bright lights, with their every move captured on the big screen over center ice. James Cooney, Ayden Duran, Taylor Esposito, CJ Notare, Shea Passikoff and Liam Smith represented the Red Dare Devils squad, while TJ Howard, Kieran O’Malley, Mark Papadopoulos, Kieran Reid, Micayla Shields and PJ Visicaro donned their white jerseys. Coaches Bernard, Brendon and Eric accompanied the teams on the ice and helped keep the players on track.

There was a lot of action, but this was ultimately a goalie battle. Rookie superstar goaltender Mark Papadopoulos was given the unenviable task of backstopping the far net, and the action started before he was able to make his way to it. While the net was still empty, Shea Passikoff swiped the puck from the white squad and made his way to the unoccupied net, where he easily buried a goal.

After both goalies were settled, the white squad had several chances to put home goals. Kieran O’Malley and TJ Howard had a two-on-none rush down the left side of the ice. Howard took a pass from O’Malley and put a beautiful deke on Taylor Esposito, but Esposito made a sprawling pad save. The white team continued to pepper Esposito with shots, but Taylor was up for the challenge and made saves on shots from O’Malley, Micayla Shields, PJ Visicaro and Kieran Reid.

Not to be outdone, Papadopoulos made several saves of his own. In the final 15 seconds of the game, Ayden Duran made a tape-to-tape pass to spring Shea Passikoff on a breakaway, and Passikoff was able to sneak one past a sprawling Papadopoulos. CJ Notare barely missed a goal in front of the net, and James Cooney and Liam Smith both played strong all-around games.

At the end of the game, both goaltenders were named co-MVPs, and they flipped a coin to see who would be interviewed in front of all of the fans on the big screen. Taylor Esposito ultimately took the interview, after a quick detour to say hi to Kevin Weekes, who was stationed between the benches for the ESPN telecast. Taylor was a great representative for Special Hockey, and he discussed his favorite players and his autographed puck collection. Great job, Dare Devils! You showed the New Jersey crowd what talented hockey players you are.

After the intermission, the players made their way to their seats and the NHL action picked up. The Devils scored three unanswered goals, but the Oilers tied the score and sent the game to overtime. The game then went to a shootout, and behind the heroics of Jack Hughes, the Devils came out victorious, capping a perfect night for all of the Dare Devils in attendance.

A special thank you goes out to NHL legend Marty Brodeur for visiting the Dare Devils players in the locker room prior to our game, and to our Devils representative, Pete Rubinstein, and everyone else with the Devils who once again showed us excellent hospitality. Thank you, Marty, thank you, Pete, and thank you, Devils!