New Jersey Devils: Looking Back At Adam Henrique’s Clutch Moments
The New Jersey Devils had some awesome moments come from the play of Adam Henrique. He always seemed to know how to be good in the clutch.
The New Jersey Devils fans will never forget the time that Adam Henrique found a loose puck behind Henrick Lundqvist and put it in the net to send the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final. It is a moment that is engraved in our heads forever. It is likely the biggest moment in Henrique’s career and unless something similar ever happens for him again, it will be forever.
That wasn’t the first time that playoff season that Henrique scored a series-winning goal in overtime either. A few weeks prior, he scored in double overtime of a Game 7 against the Florida Panthers to send the Devils to round two. It was clear that Henrique had a bit of a clutch gene. These two goals were legendary, and he added an additional game-winning goal that playoff season. So three game-winning goals in one playoff season that saw his team in the Final as a rookie is super impressive.
Henrique had a very clutch gene in the regular season as well. In 455 games with New Jersey, he scored 122 goals. 22 of those were credited game-winners. That is a large number of goals to be game-winners. He had as many as eight in one season for New Jersey in the 2015-16 season. It was good to have a guy that you can count on to be there when you need him most in a lot of different occasions.
The fact that it was both the regular season and the playoffs where Henrique showed his magic was fun for New Jersey fans. The only problem was that he was only in the playoffs with the Devils one time. We never will truly know how good he could have been as a playoff performer for the Devils before they traded him away.
During the 2017-18 season, the Devils traded Henrique to the Anaheim Ducks for Sami Vatanen. Anaheim needed a center behind Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler that year and the Devils needed a good top-four defenseman. It was a trade that worked out for both teams in the short term as they both made the playoffs that season but neither of them has been back since.
Hot. P.K. Subban wants to play in the playoffs this year. light
Adam Henrique, however, took his clutch gene with him to Anaheim. In 210 games for Anaheim, he had 64 goals. 12 of those goals were game-winners for the Ducks. He is no doubt a clutch player and one that we hope gets a chance in the playoffs again at some point in his career. He was a fan favorite for the New Jersey Devils and a lot of this is why.