The New Jersey Devils have a pretty big game early in the season against the Philadelphia Flyers. They must step up their game.
The New Jersey Devils are off to a very annoying 0-1-1 start. They blew a 4-0 lead to the Winnipeg Jets in Game One and were destroyed by the Buffalo Sabres in Game Two. It isn’t pretty, but there are some things that happened that caused it to be this way. Most of them are fixable, therefore no need to panic.
One of those reasons is that Cory Schneider came out of the first game due to cramps, and since then the Devils have imploded. They had a 4-2 lead when he came out and lost the game 5-4 in a shootout. Then, MacKenzie Blackwood got the nod in the second game after watching the implosion happen in front of him. That didn’t go too well. Schneider appears to be back to form since having his surgery and the Devils are going to need him to be great. He will get the start against the Philadelphia Flyers tonight.
This is an important game because getting the first win of the season can propel any team into a confident machine going forward. They need to get everyone going and once they do that they will win more than they lost. All they need is that first one and then they will come in bunches. This is a great opportunity against the big rival to get it done.
There are a few players to look out for as well in this game. Taylor Hall has two assists in two games and is off to a really good start as far as the eye test is concerned, but once he scores his first goal they will begin to come in bunches. There is no better time for him to get on the board than this game against the Flyers. Wayne Simmonds should be fired up as he plays against his old team as a member of the Devils and he might be a force in this game as well.
Nico Hischier has a natural rivalry with the Flyers now as he and Nolan Patrick‘s race to be the number one overall pick in 2017 came down to the wire and it appears the Devils made the right choice. He always performs well against the Flyers and this game shouldn’t be much of an exception. Patrick is out of the lineup right now so the “Nico vs Nolan” matchup will have to wait to get going this season.
The Devils made some line changes and there are some new looks to the group. The most notable one is the fact that Jack Hughes might be on a line with Blake Coleman and Wayne Simmonds. That move should help the rookie in his own end and this could be the game that we see him collect his first NHL goal or point.
This game is huge for the Devils, especially because of their start and everyone will feel really good about them if they get a win in this one. The official lineup will come out as the day goes on and the most important thing needs to be that they play the best group to get them a win against the Flyers. Philly is playing its first regular-season game in North America as they started off with a win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Prague, Czech Republic. Hopefully, the Devils can take advantage of them trying to get their legs and earn their first victory of the season.