Pucks and Pitchforks
Fansided

Top 5 New Jersey Devils Wins This Season: Revenge in Winnipeg

By Luke Garrison

WINNIPEG, MB - NOVEMBER 5: Jack Hughes #86, Travis Zajac #19, Blake Coleman #20, Jesper Boqvist #90 and Nikita Gusev #97 of the New Jersey Devils look on from the bench during second period action against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell MTS Place on November 5, 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Devils defeated the Jets 2-1 in the shootout. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - NOVEMBER 5: Jack Hughes #86, Travis Zajac #19, Blake Coleman #20, Jesper Boqvist #90 and Nikita Gusev #97 of the New Jersey Devils look on from the bench during second period action against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell MTS Place on November 5, 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Devils defeated the Jets 2-1 in the shootout. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The New Jersey Devils didn’t have a lot of games to celebrate, but one gave them a revenge shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets.

With the 2019-2020 NHL season now put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Jersey Devils are looking to finish their horrible season. This season was meant to prove that things were going to improve from bad seasons past. Instead, it’s turning into one of many awful Devils seasons of recent memory. When star player Taylor Hall, GM Ray Shero, and head coach John Hynes all leave the organization, you can see why the season was so horrifying. Despite all the negatives of the season, the Devils still put out tremendous wins. Here are the five best Devils wins for this season. This next entry is a Devils win against an opponent in Winnipeg who had beaten the Devils in a shootout on opening night.

The Centers Battle in Winnipeg

On November 5th, 2019, the Devils went to Winnipeg for their second matchup of the season against the Winnipeg Jets. The Devils were looking to beat the Jets after their horrible choke job against the Jets on opening night. The game that saw the Devils lead by four goals, which was then choked away in a shootout loss. This game was a perfect opportunity to avenge that loss.

Nico Hischier would get the Devils on the board first. With an initial shot from Kyle Palmieri in front of Connor Hellebuyck, Hischier put in the rebound to put the Devils up 1-0. Unfortunately, many Devils fans have learned that this season the Devils aren’t good at holding leads even if they are up by one. The Jets were able to tie the game in the 2nd period thanks to Andrew Copp. When Josh Morrissey took a shot, Copp deflected it with his stick leading to a goal off the post.

More from Pucks and Pitchforks

No other goals came from either team from both the remainder of the 2nd and 3rd periods. When the game went to OT, multiple Devils mistakes gave the Jets ample chances to win the game. Thankfully, MacKenzie Blackwood was playing one his best OT periods and stopped every Jets shot. Once the OT was over, it was shootout time.

The Rookies Get it Done in the Shootout

The Devils played in three shootouts before this one and had lost all three. One of those shootout losses came against those same Jets on opening night. They could not afford to lose another shootout to the Jets again. For the Devils to win, they needed some players to step up in a big way. Luckily for the Devils, those players were the rookies.

When Nikita Gusev went up first, he was able to beat Hellebuyck to put the Devils up first. Then, it would be Jesper Boqvist who would score the second goal, which hit off the post and past Hellebuyck to put the Devils up 2-0. But Blackwood would also be a hero, as he stopped shots from Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine. The Devils won the game 2-1 and got revenge on the Jets. This game showed that Nikita Gusev could become a clutch player and how good Mackenzie Blackwood would be as a goalie. Please join me for my next entry in this series, when I talk about a big win for the Devils on Christmas Eve Eve.

Home/Editorials