The New Jersey Devils earned a huge win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. It was their first game in eight days and they looked as fresh as they could possibly be. Beating a quality team like Pittsburgh 6-1 was much needed for their confidence moving forward.
It was also the return of Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton to the Devils’ lineup. Hamilton didn’t record a point, but he was a shooting machine as he led all defensemen on the team in shot attempts.
Similarly, Bratt led all Devils forwards in shot attempts. The difference here is that two of Bratt’s shots went in and he also chipped in an assist. It was a brilliant night for the team’s leading scorer for the season.
Bratt wasn’t the only Devil to have three points either. Both Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier did as well. These are the three most important offensive players on the team right now and could be for the next decade. Seeing what they can do in the future is going to be a major talking point.
Nico Daws played in his fifth career NHL game and was absolutely outstanding. It was his second career NHL win and it came making 37 saves on 38 shots. Even though the Devils scored 6 goals, the game very much relied on outstanding play from Daws.
The only goal he allowed came off the stick of Evgeni Malkin. It was assisted by Sidney Crosby on the power play and we all know what those two have done over the years. Add in Kristopher Letang and you have one of the all-time great NHL cores right there. They believe they can win the Stanley Cup which makes this Devils win even more impressive.
The New Jersey Devils are trying to carry the momentum from Thursday into Friday.
Speaking of all-time great cores, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are a part of one with the Chicago Blackhawks. However, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Corey Crawford are no longer there and they are a bad team as a result.
New Jersey is in Chicago on Friday to take on the Hawks in the second half of this back to back. Kane is still outstanding but Toews is missing due to an injury. Stars like Alex DeBrincat and Seth Jones have been making an impact for them these days as well.
The key to beating Chicago is finding a way to score on former Penguins superstar, Marc-Andre Fleury. He is the reigning Vezina Trophy winner and remains one of the best goalies in the NHL. Bodies in front and making good decisions with the puck are going to be important.
Coming off a big win against a good Penguins team may be able to give them the juice they need to come out strong in Chicago. If they do that, it will be an impressive two-game return from the break. As long as the right guys are producing (which they are), the rest of this season will be worth it.