The New Jersey Devils are officially on their first losing streak of the season. After another questionable performance against the St. Louis Blues, the Devils are facing a crucial moment of the season.
For the first time this season, the New Jersey Devils have an L3 next to their streak column. It’s been a frustrating week for fans, who have seen three performances that don’t represent what we’ve seen from this team in the first 10 games.
The Devils just couldn’t get anything going offensively once the St. Louis Blues tied the game. You have to hand it to the opponent, they played a near perfect defensive game. The Devils just couldn’t get underneath and affect Jake Allen.
Almost all teams go through this kind of stretch during the season. A stretch where nothing seems to work, and it seems like nothing they can do can make the losing stop. Unfortunately, this type of streak can make or break a young team.
This is, of course, the first losing streak of the careers of Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Will Butcher. Sure, they’ve all dealt with it in Juniors/college at some point, but it’s different once you get to the big leagues. Dealing with losses when all you know is wins can be hard to turn around.
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Luckily, there are enough veterans on this team that can steal a win by themselves. Cory Schneider was close Tuesday night to doing just that. He stopped 37 of 39 shots, including one ridiculous save with his stick.
Taylor Hall also has the ability to win a game all by himself. He’s played better than we may have ever seen him play. His ability to win one-on-one battles gives him the opportunity to score on his own.
The Devils next games comes against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. This team just beat the Devils 6-3 less than a week ago. The speed on speed matchup did not go the Devils way. That doesn’t mean history will repeat itself, however. The Oilers are feeling much better about themselves, while the Devils are the desperate team. If they can redeem a loss it could stop a bad stretch in its tracks. If they lose again, who knows what this will turn into.