New Jersey Devils: Take Positives Into Carolina And Beyond

The New Jersey Devils lost again and fans are up in arms, but there are good things to bring with them into Raleigh to play the Carolina Hurricanes.

Things are a mess for the New Jersey Devils and their fan base right now. They ended their season-long six-game homestand with a shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. A lot of fans have given up, but it really shouldn’t be the case. Obviously, there are a plethora of issues that need to be addressed. If not, they will be a lottery team once again. With that said, they have played a couple of games in a row that produced some positives that they can bring with them to Carolina.

The Carolina Hurricanes are a pretty good team right now. They can beat anybody with a balanced offensive attack and great defense. If they Devils don’t play well, they will lose no matter what to Carolina. They are even good enough to win games when they are outplayed, so the Devils are going to need to bring their A-game.

Nico Hischier is the first example of a positive from the last few games. He has been great in all three zones and can so clearly drive his own line. He is capable of playing with or without Taylor Hall and that is always a good option to have either way for the Devils. They need Hischier to be on his game in almost every game to have a chance to win. Look for him to keep it going against the Hurricanes.

The power play now has goals in five straight games after having none in their first six games. The game against Philly also saw them score multiple power-play goals for the first time this season. They might need to get something from the man-advantage if they want to beat Carolina and doing their best to stay out of the box might also really help. They have seen multiple different players step up and score on the power play as well.

As good as Hischier has been, Jack Hughes has also been good. The other number-one overall pick the Devils have made in the last three years has shown tremendous stride over the homestand and that is great to see. He now has two goals and four assists for six points in 12 games after going the first six without a point. He has been a point per game player since then so hopefully, that can continue. Success at both even strength and on the power play is the key to Jack piling up the points in his rookie year.

Sami Vatanen has been the Devils best defenseman so far this season and they would also like that to continue. The goal-scoring prowess he has displayed is going to slow down obviously, but he can defend and contribute some offense when guys like Hall, Hischier, and Hughes set him up. He has been playing well in front of some suspect goaltending as the Devils have a terrible team save percentage. Whoever gets the nod between Cory Schneider or MacKenzie Blackwood needs to be good against the Hurricanes to have a chance to win. This could be a game that the Devils win on the road and say they got three out of four points over the weekend.