The New Jersey Devils finally got a win for the first time in a while and they did it without their best player who might be out the door.
The New Jersey Devils threw a curveball at the fans on Friday night. They announced a few minutes before puck drop that star left wing Taylor Hall would be a healthy scratch for their game against the Colorado Avalanche. Hall is not injured or sick so the trade rumors started to go crazy following this news. Nobody knows where Taylor is going to be taking his talents but that isn’t what this post is about. He was also scratched the following night against the Arizona Coyotes, so his days as a New Jersey Devil are likely done.
You would think that a team that scratches and potentially is trading their best player would be considerably weaker following the move. Instead, the Devils played very well in both of these games without Hall. There might be a correlation to it and there might not be, but there is no doubt that this team had a solid weekend despite the former Hart Trophy winner not being in the lineup. Both games were against teams who lead their divisions in winning percentage, so they were definitely formidable opponents.
The first game against the Colorado Avalanche didn’t end with a win, but they did play really well against one of the league’s best teams. There aren’t moral victories in professional sports but playing well against a team like Colorado when you’re as bad as the Devils are it was a moral victory. They outshot the Avalanche 38-37, but Colorado scored an empty netter to seal the victory 3-1. The Devils had some outstanding chances on goaltender Pavel Francouz. He played so well that the Devils were only able to get the one goal and it went in off a Colorado defender.
They carried that good play into Arizona to take on the first place Coyotes. Arizona is having its first good year in a long time. They present a challenge because it is a strong team game they throw at you. They don’t use one player for a lot of their offense, but any of their lines can burn ou at any time. The Devils held them off and only held them to one power-play goal. They defeated them 2-1 and are headed back to New Jersey with some confidence.
This was a really difficult road trip. They didn’t play well in most games on it and they only won one of the two games they played well in. There have also been the Taylor Hall rumors surrounding the team during the whole trip. Their next game is at Prudential Center on Wednesday night against the Anaheim Ducks. This might be the first game that Hall is a part of a new team but regardless of what happens, the Devils need to worry about themselves. This two-game weekend was a step in the right direction.