The New Jersey Devils got a win in a way you love to see in a season like this. The young guys leading the way and playing well. There was a lot not to like about a 3-2 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. None of that is important right now as they found a way to get a gutsy win in a very hard place to play.
MacKenzie Blackwood made his first start for the Devils post All-Star break and the bye week. He did, however, spend the break playing with the Binghamton Devils and participating in the American Hockey League All-Star Game.
Nobody knew what to expect from Blackwood going into this game, but we got what we hoped for. Early in the game, the Canadiens took a 1-0 lead, and it looked like it may be one of those games. Blackwood would settle in though and make some brilliant saves the rest of the way. The Devils probably did not deserve to win the game, but Blackwood bailed out his team and played very well. The early goal and another goal on a deflection were the only two to go in his net. He made 37 saves on 39 shots.
The Devils as a team played not so great in this game, and Blackwood made bailing them out look relatively easy. There is a reason he is the number one star of the game, as he stole the show. Blackwood might be the goalie of the future, and he is making a case for himself almost every time he steps on the ice.
The other young gun that helped the Devils reach victory is Nico Hischier. At 20 years old, he wore the “A” on his jersey for the first time in his career. It is a result of both Travis Zajac and Taylor Hall being out of the lineup, but there are guys like Brian Boyle in the lineup and coach John Hynes still chose Hischier to dawn the Alternate captain designation.
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He rewarded the coach with one of his best offensive performances of the season. Hischier scored a goal with under ten minutes left in regulation to get the game tied, in spite of being heavily out shot. Then the big moment in overtime, when Hischier rushed into from the neutral zone into the offensive zone with the puck and buried it for his second goal of the game and the overtime winner. The offense is picking up for Hischier and it is really starting to help the team.
He thinks defense first so the fact that he now has 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points in 47 game is very good. He is definitely going to compete for Selke Trophies as he gets even better on both sides of the puck. He is on pace for 26 goals and 59 points. Being a 20 goal scorer in your first two years while coming into the league at 18 is very impressive and does not happen often. We are watching him develop into an elite player right in front of our eyes.
There is also more young help on the way for the New Jersey Devils, so despite a tough season the future is bright for this team. The Devils are back in action on Tuesday when Ilya Kovalchuk comes to the Rock for the first time since he left in the middle of his contract for the KHL as the Los Angeles Kings are in New Jersey.