Stefan Noesen put the New Jersey Devils ahead with 90 seconds left in the game. His game-winning goal essentially guarantees him a spot in this lineup.
The New Jersey Devils are in a position we didn’t think coming into the season. There are too many good forwards on this roster. Every night, head coach John Hynes has to make hard decisions with his lines. Now that everyone is getting healthy, those hard decisions get harder.
A few games ago, Hynes was forced to healthy scratch Stefan Noesen. The Devils were on the last game of a six game road trip, taking on the defending Stanley Cup Champions in the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was an odd move, since Drew Stafford took the ice over him, but it could have been a sign of things to come.
Miles Wood and Marcus Johansson were on the verge of getting healthy enough to play. Noesen could easily find himself the odd man out when the Devils were rolling out a full roster.
Noesen proved on Tuesday night why you can’t sit him over this final stretch. He is absolutely clutch. The Devils were behind seemingly after the first ten minutes of the game. The Carolina Hurricanes were outworking them despite being on the second half of a back to back. Kyle Palmieri willed the team to two game-tying goals to set them up for a photo finish.
Noesen then put the Devils up for good. He made it clear what the goal was in his postgame interview.
"Really the belief in the locker room, we have what it takes to make the playoffs and hopefully go for a decent run. Each game going forward is just as big as the next."
One might say it’s hard to put one game’s performance over others when making lineup decisions. However, Noesen has been doing this all season. He currently has 12 goals on the year, four were game winners. Three of those four have come in the last month. That includes a third-period goal against the Penguins that kept the Devils undefeated against the defending Stanley Cup Champs.
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Now is when the hard decisions really come. It’s clear that Noesen isn’t coming out of the lineup. He provides too much this team needs late in the year. He’s poised when the going gets tough. He doesn’t make stupid mistakes late. So, when Patrick Maroon returns to the lineup (expected to be Thursday), Hynes needs to look elsewhere on who should be sitting in the owner’s box.