New Jersey Devils Finish Off The Philadelphia Flyers

After an atrocious ten-game losing streak, the New Jersey Devils have found some positive momentum against big rival the Philadelphia Flyers. After Saturday night’s 4-1 win, they now have taken three straight games. What’s even better, the Devils officially put the Flyers playoff hopes in the dirt. With only five games remaining getting a few more wins will let the young players feel good going into the offseason and hopefully be the first step to breaking the culture of losing the organization has developed over too many bad seasons.

The Good

Jesper Bratt netted points in 3 of 4 games, giving him 28 in 41 games so far. It has been an odd year but he’s scoring at a 56-point pace if it was an 82-game season. It will be very interesting to see what he can bring in a season when he is ready to go right away and has Nico Hischier as his center for a full season.

The Captain much like his linemate has found his groove again and looks more like the player we know now. With a pair of goals and an assist, the points are coming, but the best play he made was leading up to his shorthanded goal. The backchecking, the stickwork, and tenacity were all amazing to watch and really the part of Hischier’s game that makes him so special. Without the effort on each and every part of the play, it would amount to nothing.

The best 4th line in the NHL really continued the breakout season and put up some great numbers while giving the normal edge to the Devils game that they need. Wood scored twice and added an assist, Mcleod a goal and two assists while Bastian had a pair of helpers. The line also put up 28 hits on the scoresheet over four games, only 1 of which belonged to Miles Wood somehow, and they really will be punishing other teams in series like this moving forward when it matters for the team. Sure they didn’t score in the final two games but getting this out of depth is something good teams have.

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Kevin Bahl got into his first pair of NHL games and in the short timeframe, I must say that what he gave the team was impressive. Sure it was not flashy but there were no big mistakes and ending up a +1 with an assist in your first pair is a good start. Despite his massive size he was a little hard to notice sometimes on the ice if one was not looking and really this is something they need. Much like Ryan Murray, his game is about being quiet and just flat out stopping the other team from doing much of anything. As it stands now he might be getting a look for the rest of the season and at this rate can make a good case to be on the roster next season.

Losing a player like Kyle Palmieri hurt, but Yegor Sharangovich really is the real deal and fans won’t have to wait and pray for Alexander Holtz to take the step or rush him to the NHL which bodes well for everyone involved. Sharangovich continued to prove he is the best sniper in the organization with 4 goals in the last 3 games and as Hughes’ wingman could easily make big waves next season. With 15 goals this season in 49 games his pace is not all that far off from 30 in a regular year which is just incredible in a rookie year.

The Bad

Mackenzie Blackwood like all Devils’ goaltending this season has been inconsistent and the set of four games against the Flyers showcased it in a big way. With save percentages in all ends of the spectrum at .917, .867, .875, .969 night in and night out it is just hard to tell what they will get now. Blackwood really has struggled to find his game since the return from the extended break the team had and it will be interesting to see how many games he gets in the remaining five. It’s nice to see a good performance, but he needs to be more consistent.

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