New Jersey Devils Need To Put Past Behind Them

The New Jersey Devils lost big against the Philadelphia Flyers in their return from the bye week. It’s clear the demons that started this losing streak are still there.

The New Jersey Devils blew another lead to lose their sixth straight game. When looking at the facts of what’s caused this team’s miraculous run to be put in doubt, it’s hard to find anything positive. When looking at other things that happened on the ice, it could be even worse.

It’s clear the Devils are one their heels every time they have a lead. They make a ton of mistakes. Whether it’s making passes that have a low success rate or making a bonehead defensive play, the Devils are doing themselves no favors.

The loss against the Philadelphia Flyers took a ton of air out of this team. After spending five days with no hockey, they came out guns blazing. The team dominated the competition in the first period. Any thought of rust was out the door early.

The Devils took just over five minutes to take the lead. A beautiful play by Nico Hischier to not only get the puck into the zone, but to recover the puck after it was knocked off Taylor Hall’s stick and pass it over to a wide open Jesper Bratt.

A late goal by Sean Couturier gave the Flyers life in a period in which they had none. The Devils were controlling play, thanks in part to three power plays. The Flyers still were able to get on the board to tie it.

The Devils looked like they weren’t going to let that stop them, as Kyle Palmieri scored less than two minutes into the second. However, that was the last sign of life we’d see from the home team.

This game was once again tied two minutes later, and the Flyers took the lead for good with less than two minutes left in the second.

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So what went wrong for the Devils? Well, just about everything. The team could not score on the power play despite having six chances (not counting Drew Stafford’s goal with less than a minute left and the game already over). The penalty kill never stopped the opponent. Cory Schneider was not what we’ve expected from him. The defense made over a dozen mistakes that gave the Flyers chances. Forwards could not get the puck out of the neutral zone. Need I go on?

It’s time to put this all behind the team. Forget about this loss. Put the past six losses in the backburner. No more worrying about the three goals that were called off by the referees. Everything that happened can’t be changed. The team can change how it plays now. The Devils are playing three straight division games. They must realize that winning these games make the losses go away immediately.

Somehow, the Devils are still in third place in the Metropolitan Division. Panicking now could cause it to fall off the rails. It’s time to hunker down and play their game, instead of looking back at what went wrong.