The New Jersey Devils lost again on Tuesday night. After a few days of practices, the Devils got shut out. They are responding to adversity in about the worst possible way a team could.
There are no more excuses. The Devils have had days off, so the schedule can’t be an excuse. There only current injuries are Simon Nemec, Evgenii Dadonov, and Zack MacEwen. None of those players were expected to play a major role coming into the season. They’ve lost all four games they’ve had since Jack Hughes returned.
If the Devils lose on Wednesday to the Columbus Blue Jackets, they could finish 2025 in last place.
The fanbase has turned on everyone. The coaches, front office, players, and trainers have all taken their share of the blame.
The team captain tried to do something. With the Devils down 2-0 and showing very little life in the third period, Nico Hischier did the one thing that has been motivating teams for decades. He fought.
Not only did he fight, but he fought Matthew Knies, who has two inches and about 30 pounds on Hischier. It was admirable, although probably not his smartest move.
“You wanna go?”
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) December 31, 2025
Matthew Knies challenges Nico Hischier to a fight, and makes QUICK work of him 😳👊 pic.twitter.com/ryoPkideCx
Nico Hischier should not be fighting
There are a few reasons why we hate this for Hischier. First of all, there are plenty of other players who should be fighting. Brenden Dillon, Stefan Noesen, and Paul Cotter all make more sense. Heck, even a guy like Dougie Hamilton, who could match size with Knies, makes more sense. We don’t want Hischier getting hurt. Too much has gone wrong this season.
Also, Hischier fighting means that he won’t be on the ice for five minutes. The Devils are down two goals with just 12 minutes remaining. We understand that Hischier has been struggling offensively, but Jesper Bratt showed us last game how quickly that can change.
And, unfortunately, this Devils team is not like previous teams. The “fight” didn’t resonate with the rest of the team, and they got scored on seconds later. Seconds after their captain fell on his sword, the team folded.
At the end of the night, the Devils were shut out again. The offense is nonexistent. The defense falls asleep at the worst times. Nothing is going right.