The New Jersey Devils were riding high one week ago. They defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, who they are chasing in the Metropolitan Division standings, in shutout fashion by a final score of 4-0. That sent them into a very difficult week feeling good about where they were as a roster. Then, three games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and one against the Florida Panthers brought them back to Earth.
Obviously, those teams (including Carolina) are squads that have done a lot of winning in the past few seasons. It was a very good test for this young Devils team before starting a hopeful playoff run. The super hard week started on Tuesday at home against the Lightning. It turned out to be a dominating performance by the Lightning on the scoreboard. It was one of the few games all season the Devils lost by more than one goal.
The Devils went up 1-0 on a goal by Damon Severson that resulted from a great play by Jack Hughes and Timo Meier. From there, the Devils went up 2-0 thanks to a beautiful goal by Ryan Graves.
Unfortunately, the goal was called back on a very questionable goaltender interference call. After that, the Devils played terribly and lost 4-1. It was the type of game that took a swing in the wrong direction, but they scrapped it and moved on.
The New Jersey Devils had much to deal with during play last week.
A few days later, they celebrated St. Patrick’s Day a day early by wearing their sweet green warmup jerseys. They also played a much better hockey game, but the Lightning are great, so it was still a tough one. The Devils tied the game three times, including a Timo Meier goal with the goalie pulled to force overtime. Unfortunately, one point would be all they got as they fell in the shootout.
That brings us to the Saturday night game that dropped the Panthers in the middle of three Lightning games. The Devils had a steady start in that game as they took a 2-0 lead into the third.
It was one of the most disappointing losses of the season because they blew the game by giving up three goals in a five-minute span during the third period. They were unable to tie it from there and dropped the game in regulation. That left things feeling deflated.
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It felt even worse when they were down 2-0 one night later against the Lightning again. Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Dougie Hamilton led the way for this Devils team that decided not to quit. That included Nolan Foote’s first goal of the season in the NHL.
They came all the way back to win and ended the week on a high note. They would have liked to do even better during this really tough stretch (the Florida game hurts), but that happens sometimes. Stretches like these teach you lessons and get you ready for the playoffs.
The NHL is the best league in the world. Nothing is easy, but anything will be easier than a mini-series with one of the best teams ever. Next up is a Minnesota Wild team that is fresh off shaping their franchise record 14-game win streak. They need to keep the good times rolling.