Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils Just Finished Worst Road Trip This Century

By Nick Villano

WINNIPEG, MB - NOVEMBER 11: Goaltender Cory Schneider #35 of the New Jersey Devils makes a shoulder save as teammate Sami Vatanen #45 and Mathieu Perreault #85 of the Winnipeg Jets look for a rebound during third period action at the Bell MTS Place on November 11, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - NOVEMBER 11: Goaltender Cory Schneider #35 of the New Jersey Devils makes a shoulder save as teammate Sami Vatanen #45 and Mathieu Perreault #85 of the Winnipeg Jets look for a rebound during third period action at the Bell MTS Place on November 11, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils just finished up a seven-game road trip going 1-6-0 and getting the doors blown off in most of the games. This was by far the worst road trip in recent franchise history.

Just out of curiosity, I took a trip down memory lane. We went through every single New Jersey Devils schedule over the last 18 seasons. Going all the way back to the year 2000, we looked at every single road trip of four games or more. Never did the Devils come out of their trip as bad as they did on this one.

Sunday’s blowout loss to the Winnipeg Jets confirmed a road trip that ended 1-6-0. That’s two points out of a possible 14. The Devils are now entrenched in last place in the Eastern Conference, and not much confidence they can dig their way out of this hole.

Luckily, the New York Islanders haven’t been running away with things anymore, so the Devils are technically only five points out of a playoff spot, but things just aren’t looking good on the ice. When looking at the stats, this is the worst road trip the franchise has seen since Y2K.

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Looking at the schedule, the Devils came close to a road trip this bad once. Back in 2013, the Devils started the season with six road games and one home game. They lost every single game. Within that was a five-game road trip. Again, they lost every single game. However, it was not near as bad as this month’s trash. The Devils were able to steal two overtime points in those five losses. That means the Devils averaged more points per game than they did on this road trip. Three of those five losses were by one goal. They were in it until the end of the trip.

Fans might remember this as the start of the failed Martin Brodeur–Cory Schneider experiment. There was at least a reason for the turmoil. Still, they were able to come out of it with more points than this Devils team got.

Next. New Jersey Devils Most Important Goal Is Getting Cory Schneider Win. dark

Now, there are at most two road trips per season that hits four or more games, so finding a road trip this bad isn’t easy, but the fact is this is the worst this century. It could possibly be the worst in franchise history, but finding full schedules from the 90s isn’t exactly a piece of cake. Either way, a majority of Devils fans either didn’t see a trip this bad, or can’t remember it. Luckily, this one came early and there is time to turn it around. However, with a -17 point differential, it’s hard to fathom any trip being this bad.

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