New Jersey Devils Would Be Wise To Separate Nikita Gusev And Jack Hughes

The New Jersey Devils have been playing well lately but they are still trying to figure out which line combinations work the best.

The New Jersey Devils have strung together a couple of wins in a row, and they have played relatively well over the past few weeks. Compared to where they were after the first two weeks of the season, you can easily say things are getting better. In their last game, however, they won. Yet, there was one glaring issue with the team. The top line saw Nico Hischier go back up to play with Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri. That slotted Jack Hughes on the second line to play with Nikita Gusev and the second line was the worst line on the team.

They have actually seen their new-look fourth line featuring Miles Wood, Kevin Rooney, and Wayne Simmonds play well and generate chances since becoming a unit. Their top line will always work no matter who the center is and you know what you are going to get from Travis Zajac‘s unit so if they can get a second line that works right they will be set up pretty nicely at forward. Things were good with Hughes on the top line and Hischier on the second line with Pavel Zacha and Jesper Bratt, but an injury to Bratt is what sparked the change.

Whether Bratt is in or out, Gusev can’t be playing with Hughes. If it means switching Hughes and Hischier again, then so be it because Hischier is much more fit to play with an offensive player that might be a liability defensively. The second line was cooking with Hischier there and Jack was very good in his role as the top-line center playing with Hall and Palmieri. The Devils would be very wise to go back to that at some point in the near future. The key to winning hockey games is getting the most out of your talented players.

They might need any advantage they get as they visit the Calgary Flames tonight. With guys like Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk, and Mark Giordano among some other great players, this is a group that can beat you in many different ways. The Devils are going to need to do what is best for both their forwards and their defenseman in this game in order to win. This is the first half of a back to back so whichever goalie you see tonight will be the backup tomorrow. This is a big game for the Devils as a three-game winning streak would go a long way, especially with a tough weekend ahead.