Every New Jersey Devils fan is nervous right now after the team has gone winless in their last four games. People are beginning to question if the Devils have overachieved so far. Those questions eventually become “Are they are finally coming back to earth?” I do not believe it is time for anyone to panic and here’s why.
The New Jersey Devils are still sitting at a very admirable spot in the standings at second place in the Metropolitan Division. They are only two points behind the first-place Washington Capitals while playing one less game than them. Also, they have a two point advantage on the third-place Columbus Blue Jackets while playing two less games than them.
Despite the losing streak, as long as the Devils turn it around they will be just fine. The streak has not been a huge hit to their spot in the playoff race.
The reason this is true is other than the recent surges of the Capitals and Hurricanes (who have played their way into the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference), the Metro division has been cooling off. The Blue Jackets have gone completely cold in the past month, going 3-5-2 in their past 10 games. The Rangers have been playing about .500 and the Penguins and Islanders have been lackluster.
The division slowing down is huge for the Devils in the position they are in. We all knew at some point this team would hit adversity, and it came at the perfect time.
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The New Jersey Devils are an extremely young team. it would be extremely difficult to go down the stretch with no tough streaks to get through. The talent is there to figure this out and ultimately fight through it.
After giving away the game with multiple bad mistakes Thursday night against the Dallas Stars, they will have to start to get back on track immediately.
The effort was there from their best players, however. Taylor Hall was outstanding all game long scoring three points (1g, 2a) and so was Nico Hischier (1a). Although it was a regulation loss, there were promising signs that the Devils still have it in them, they just need to clean up parts of their play.
We need to give this team more time to get back on track before we start panicking. They are still at the top of a playoff race with half of a season to go. Although this losing streak makes it a little more nerve-wracking, we are far from the point to panic.