New Jersey Devils: 5 Things To Watch In Third Week Of Season
The New Jersey Devils go into the third week of their season with one of the best records in the NHL. What are a few things to take a look at during this week?
It was quite the week for the New Jersey Devils. They suffered their first loss when the Colorado Avalanche came in and ended their undefeated streak. They suffered multiple injury scares, some with lingering effects. Travis Zajac, Ben Lovejoy and Will Butcher all missed time in games, and two may even miss the game on Saturday. The Binghamton Devils had a bad week in the AHL, ending it by getting shut out by the Syracuse Crunch.
Overall, the New Jersey Devils franchise didn’t have the best week. The NHL team is still 4-1, and need one point in two games to be at least tied for first in the Metropolitan Division. It’s way too early to start looking at the standings, but this is as good of a start as we could have hoped.
This week will be a true test. The matchups don’t necessarily favor the Devils, especially a team working with early-season injuries.
Luckily, those injuries aren’t terribly serious, or we would have heard by now. Zajac and Lovejoy may miss Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, It doesn’t look like it’s something that will last much further past that. At least, we can hope.
This week, there is a ton to look forward to, but these five things are going to top the list.
5. Responding To A Loss
The New Jersey Devils never had to respond to a loss this season, because they never lost. That is, until Thursday, when a bad performance ended in a mark in the L column for the first time. So, how do the Devils respond to that?
It will show a lot with how the Devils play on Saturday. The Devils already made huge reactions to the loss, moving around the lineup and switching out John Quenneville for Kevin Rooney. I think that’s a bad idea, but that’s for another time.
Last season, the Devils would go on streaks, which can be great, but they can be terrible. The Devils won five straight games in December, but immediately followed it with six straight losses. Most of their season went win two, lose three, win four, lose three. It seemed like it was two steps forward, two steps back and over again. This season, it likely won’t work doing that. The Devils need to be a little more consistent. They need to prove they can respond to a loss starting on Saturday.
4. Nolan Vs. Nico
This matchup will always be fun. Nolan Patrick makes his return to the Philadelphia Flyers just in time to face the player that was taken in his place. Patrick was the sure-fire first overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft for a full year. That year was full of injuries and less-than-stellar play, allowing Nico Hischier to surpass him. They will be linked forever now.
These two will always be linked because of the meteoric rise of Hischier, the natural Devils-Flyers rivalry and the fact it went down to the wire about who was getting taken first overall. There’s a reason there isn’t a real rivalry between Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. Eichel was always the second-overall pick. In 2017, we didn’t know until the name was called.
Patrick is coming off an upper-body injury. He was hurt about a week ago, but he’s expected to play after practicing this week. He may be a little weaker than usual, but he’ll bring it for this matchup.
The Flyers are off to a rough start, but they are not in a terrible spot. Still, you don’t want to start losing these divisional games. Giving away two points to the Devils, who already started the year hot, isn’t a good idea. Patrick will need to be at his best to help the Flyers along. Hischier has to provide a little magic himself.
3. Facing A Western Conference Juggernaut
After facing the Flyers, the Devils welcome the Nashville Predators to the Prudential Center. They come into this season as one of the Stanley Cup favorites. At 6-1, the Preds have the best record in the NHL. Pekka Rinne is still playing well at an advanced age, their defense is keeping pucks away from the net and their offense is doing just enough to win.
The Devils already had a few benchmark games, smoking the defending Stanley Cup Champions in the Washington Capitals and shutting out the insane Dallas Stars offense. However, the Devils are facing quite possibly the team that’s on their way to a President’s Trophy.
The Devils and Predators are number one and two in goals against in the league. These two teams also have great offensive skill, so don’t expect a Devils-Senators game from 1999. This will be a high-flying matchup with a lot of skill, that also looks like a chess match. If the Devils are able to come out of that matchup with a win, they will get serious respect around the league.
2. Cory Schneider Takes The Ice
Cory Schneider will hit the ice in real game action for the first time since he had major hip surgery. He was sent down to Binghamton on a conditioning assignment on Friday, showing why Eric Gryba was placed on waivers earlier in the week.
This will be an important set of games for Schneider. He has to show that he can handle a full set of game action. Keith Kinkaid is playing extremely well in net, so the Devils aren’t going to rush him. If he doesn’t show something they like, the Schneider will go right back on the shelf. The Devils are worried about putting Eddie Lack on waivers, so any excuse Schneider gives them they will take.
The ideal scenario is Schneider didn’t just find magic in the playoffs, he re-discovered his dominant game. If that’s the case, then the Devils have a monumental one-two punch in net. It gives them a major chance to win on any given night. That’s a major advantage, especially on back-to-back games.
1. Jesper Bratt Makes His Return
It isn’t set in stone, but expect Jesper Bratt to make his return this week. He broke his jaw right before the first game of the season, when a puck came back into his face off a crossbar. Bratt missed a once in a lifetime opportunity when he missed the Devils game in Sweden. That could motivate the 20 year old, or it could make him really upset. We shall see what it really does.
The Devils are finally starting to miss Bratt in the lineup. They especially miss his penalty killing. With no Travis Zajac, the Devils are down a penalty killer. That seems to be the reason why the Devils replaced Quenneville for Kevin Rooney. With Bratt making his return, Rooney is no longer necessary.
Bratt will try to prove that him hitting the rookie wall last year was a fluke. He basically forgot how to light the lamp in the second half of last season. If he is able to score like he did in the first half, he will add more to the Devils secondary scoring. They can use it after a few games where the first line dominated at 5v5 and on the power play.