New Jersey Devils Use Come-From-Behind Methods To Beat Hurricanes

Perseverance Prevails For New Jersey Devils

After a crucial game, the New Jersey Devils again come up big against a division foe in the Carolina Hurricanes. The confidence after a rough start has proven that there is “NO QUIT IN NEW JERSEY!!” Jack Hughes failed to light up the lamp. However, the critical play of Dawson Mercer, Jonas Siegenthaler, and captain Nico Hischier came up big in their ways.

The Devils just came off a come-from-behind win against their rivals the New York Rangers. That, along with the impending returns of Nathan Bastian and John Marino, has Devils fans riding high. With Vitek Vanecek coming off a hectic and outstanding comeback win, it would be wise for the New Jersey Devils to give him a game off versus Anaheim.

Anaheim recently got demolished by the Boston Bruins, and the Devils would be wise to play Akira Schmid or Mackenzie Blackwood, and let that one game off (3 days rest with 2 regular days off) that’ll allow a different goalie to take on a struggling Ducks team.

Starting Vanecek in net vs the LA Kings could counteract guys like Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe going on all cylinders offensively. The next game after that will be against the San Jose Sharks, who have really struggled to win games. They still have guys like Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl who can pose as offensive threats. The Devils need a great defensive effort no matter who is in net.

After that game with San Jose ends, it’ll be a two-day break until the Devils play at Climate Pledge Arena versus a more robust Seattle Kraken team with Matty Beniers and Vince Dunn all playing big roles offensively. The starters for that game could be Vitek Vanecek and Martin Jones. If the Devils go on to win all road games, it’ll be a bigger cushion for the Devils before going up against Pittsburgh and Vegas at The Rock on the 22nd and 24th of January.

NHL Trade Season

As the season gets closer to the NHL trade deadline, most teams far out of contention will be big sellers before the March 3rd Trade Deadline. This time around teams are looking to load up for their future in the 2023 NHL Draft with Connor Bedard, Matvei Michkov, and Adam Fantilli among many others at the top of Bob McKenzie’s Draft Ranking it is a bellwether.

This will be the first real trade deadline the Devils are going to be buyers. Expect them to make low-risk high reward trades that won’t jeopardize the team’s great prospects for a short-term reward. There will likely be some players that Tom Fitzgerald wants to move forward and add Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes’ to help make the team more dynamic and very talented on the Devils’ defensive end.

The Big Push

The New Jersey Devils are positioned to add key players to their roster. The Devils are currently on a 2 game “heater” and looking to stay north of the Wild Card, where they currently have a 7 game cushion. This currently learning not only how to win games but add more of these young players that become more like veterans. Forwards like Dawson Mercer will be key down the stretch, useful in heavy-fought games.

Ondrej Palat helped throw the body around and blocked a few shots while nearly coming up with a goal, and it is a very promising sign to see the veteran come back with the same vigor he had before his groin injury. It is all hands on deck for the New Jersey Devils, and young guys like Nikita Okhotiuk are looking to build on a winning culture, and having a player like John Marino coming back will be great to have that extra experience on the Devils blueline late in the season closing out games in front of their goalies.