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New Jersey Devils: Nico Hischier Shows He Should Be An All-Star

By Vincent Parise

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 11: Nico Hischier #13 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with his teammates after scoring his second goal of the game in the second period against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on January 11, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 11: Nico Hischier #13 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with his teammates after scoring his second goal of the game in the second period against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on January 11, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils played a great game against the Washington Capitals. They were led by Nico Hischier despite him missing out on the All-Star Team.

The New Jersey Devils and the NHL announced that Nico Hischier will not be going to the All-Star Game in St. Louis. Instead, Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie won the “Last Man In” vote for the Metropolitan Division. It is disappointing because Hischier is having an outstanding season and deserves to be there, but it just wasn’t meant to be. All he did to respond is show the world exactly why he deserves to go right in front of the player who beat him out.

Hischier’s two goals led New Jersey to a 5-1 victory over the Capitals on Saturday night. They also saw an outstanding performance from Louis Domingue in net. It came out before the game that MacKenzie Blackwood wasn’t dressing for the game.

The Devils won the game despite them being outshot 34-22. It was an amazing game considering the opponent. Washington came into the night leading the entire league with 65 points and the Devils showed them how they can play.

Washington has given the Devils fits over the last few years, but this game was different. They also received offense from Nikita Gusev, Blake Coleman, and Miles Wood. The turning point for the Devils was when they were going shorthanded for four minutes against the devastating Washington power play. Instead of them letting Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and John Carlson tournament them they scored a short-handed goal. It was a brilliant effort by the team to not let Washington play with their food.

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Nico Hischier’s snub from the All-Star game seems to have inspired him. He scored the two goals on two shots. He also won a remarkable 71.4 percent on faceoffs. He impacts the game in all three zones. It doesn’t matter that the NHL doesn’t recognize how good of a player he is. All that matters is that he plays for the New Jersey Devils and we appreciate how good he is.

Now, the Devils need to repeat some of that against a team that is just as good. The Tampa Bay Lightning is going to be there waiting for the Devils back in New Jersey tomorrow. They defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 to win their tenth in a row. They are coming to the Rock on absolute fire. If the Devils are going to be that team that ends their winning streak they need to put the puck in the net the same way the did against Washington. It is another tough matchup to end a very tough weekend.

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