The New Jersey Devils have done well surviving Jack Hughes‘ injury to keep themselves afloat this season. Actually, they’ve dealt with quite a few injuries this season. The latest is youngster Tyce Thompson, who was placed on IR this week. This is forcing the Devils from cyphering a lot of players from the Utica Comets. That hasn’t mattered. The Comets haven’t lost a game since the start of the season.
The latest player to get a call up was Fabian Zetterlund. The long-time Devils prospect has been in the AHL for three seasons, but he has yet to make his NHL debut. That will likely change soon as the Devils could thrust him into the lineup as soon as Thursday.
All these losses and the Utica Comets keep winning. Since the beginning of the season, Utica has had to play without Alex Holtz, Thompson, Nico Daws, Jesper Boqvist, Colton White, and Freddy Gauthier because they were all playing in the NHL. It didn’t stop the Comets from winning 11 games in a row to start the season. It ties a record for most wins to start a season. The Comets can break the record on Friday night.
It seems like it’s a new face every night that’s winning these games. On Wednesday night, Reilly Walsh scored in his second straight game to tie it up in the second period, then Robbie Russo gave them the go-ahead goal a free minutes later. 14 players have at least five points this season. None of them are Nolan Foote, who is one of the few players on the team who is getting off to a slow start. Once he gets going, it could be even better for the Comets.
To compare, only nine players on the devils have at least five points this season. And the New Jersey Devils have played more games.
The Comets are winning in different ways every night, but as of late, they have been winning with pure tenacity. They’ve been down in each of the last two games but have come back to take the lead and hold it through the third period.
Cleveland is technically second in the division with the Comets. Utica has a six-point lead on the Monsters in the standings despite Cleveland playing two more games. The Toronto Marlies have the second-best point percentage, but they are still down eight points with the same amount of games played at Utica.
The Comets are gaining a massive lead in the North Division, and it’s quickly becoming insurmountable. This team will eventually lose. It’s how it goes, but when they do it will be a good time to look back. For now, let’s look forward to the next game and the record-breaker.