Yesterday I flew from Chicago to New York City (via Long Island Islip Macarthur airport). My plan was to stay in Brooklyn with a friend and attend the New Jersey Devils game at the Prudential Center on Saturday night.

Getting from Islip to New York City was pretty easy. My Southwest Airlines flight was landed 15 minutes early which allowed me to catch the 10:40 am train from the Ronkonkoma train station to Penn Station in Manhattan. The cheapest way to get from the Islip airport to the Ronkonkoma train station is a $5 shuttle that you find directly outside of baggage claim. For me, I left the airport and the shuttle was waiting for passengers. I paid the driver $5 and we were on our way to the train station within 10 minutes. I bought my one way train ticket for $9.75 and boarded the 10:40 am train. I was at New York’s Penn Station at noon.

From New York’s Penn Station you can get yourself anywhere you need to go in the city. I took the MTA to Brooklyn, dropped off my luggage, and went to eat lunch. From there we headed back to Manhattan before taking the PATH Rail System to downtown Newark.

Obtaining Tickets
We arrived at the Prudential Center shortly after 5 pm. Rather than try to scalp tickets outside the arena, I went to the box office to see if they had $10 tickets available. The box office did, so we bought those tickets rather than wait to see if we could get lower level seats for the same price.

The Devils sell their $10 tickets day of game rather than ahead of time. In order to buy the tickets, you can get a wristband before 5 pm, which will guarantee you a $10 ticket. Or you can show up after 5 pm and hope the $10 tickets are still available. Saturday night they were.

Pre Game Dining
After buying tickets, we looked for a place to grab some appetizers before the game (it was $1 hot dog night at the Prudential Center). We noticed there were not many bars or restaurants in the immediate vicinity, so we asked a Newark cop where we should go. He said go to Scully’s Publick House or Arena Bar. He mentioned he liked Scully’s better so we figured that was a good endorsement. Plus it was an Irish Pub – normally, one cannot go wrong with an Irish Pub.

Prudential Center and the Game
Prudential Center was pretty similar to the other new hockey arenas that were built in Phoenix and Minneapolis recently. The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Devils 4-2. The Sabres first goal of the game, scored by Thomas Vanek, was the 10,000th goal scored by the Sabres in franchise history.

After the game, we walked back to the PATH station and took the train back to Manhattan. Unless you are staying in Newark, there is no good reason to stay there after the game.