Hall: Rookies as good as Zacha are rare
Taylor Hall appears to have found a running mate in New Jersey.
The Devils winger has been paired with Pavel Zacha over the past couple games, and Hall has been especially impressed with the 19-year-old center's play at both ends of the ice.
"Great young player. He's a guy that's big and strong and very capable in his own end for a player of his age," Hall said, per Chris Ryan of NJ.com. "You usually don't see that. And on faceoffs, usually that takes a lot of time to get the faceoffs down and be a guy who can be relied on there."
Hall scored a pair of goals in a win over Arizona on Tuesday, one of which came as a direct result of a Zacha faceoff win and would likely not have been possible with another rookie, in Hall's estimation.
Related: Hall goes top shelf from faceoff circle
"That's a play where you usually can't run that with a 19-year-old centerman. He's so big and strong, he's able to win battles and win faceoffs like that," Hall said. "And I've been working on that shot a little bit, so it was nice to see it go in."
"It's been fun playing with him."
The Devils are off to a 3-2-1 start, and this pairing could be one that carries the team to success sooner than later.