The 2023-24 New Jersey Devils season opens in just 52 days (at the time of the writing). At this time, on October 4, the Devils will be fighting the Buffalo Sabres in Prague, Czechia. To get ready for the season, we're doing a daily piece countdown of all the numbers of the Devils sweaters and moments in Devils franchise history. Since we are 52 days away, we will focus on the 52-win season of 2022-23, now the franchise record of wins in a singular Devils season. So, let’s look over the highlights of the record-setting franchise season.
Most people remember the season starting poorly, as the Philadelphia Flyers dominated the Devils. They also remember the home opener against the Detroit Red Wings, where, due to a lack of effort and lousy goalie play by Vitek Vanecek, the frustrated fans chanted “Fire Lindy,” and it didn’t go unnoticed by commentators. Three days later, the Devils would finally get their first win of the season over the Anaheim Ducks, where the Devils bounced back from a 2-0 hole with four unanswered goals from Ondrej Palat, Nico Hischier, Dougie Hamilton, and Dawson Mercer.
After a few more wins and a loss to the Washington Capitals, the Devils tied a Devils franchise record by winning 13 straight games from October 25th against the Red Wings with a 6-2 win in Detroit to November 21st at home vs the Edmonton Oilers.
The streak had a ton of great games, like the Devils in Edmonton, down 3-1, came back late with goals from Ryan Graves and Jesper Bratt 7 seconds apart with just 3 minutes late to a 4-3 win, to 3 overtime victories in Canada with Fabian Zetterlund winning it against the Calgary Flames on November 5, Nico Hischier against the Senators on November 10th, and Yegor Sharangovich against the Maple Leafs on November 17th. During the final few minutes against the Coyotes on November 12, the fans chanted “Sorry Lindy,” which Ruff appreciated in the postgame. Unfortunately, the record would not be broken, as two days later, after the win against the Oilers, the Devils would lose at home to the Maple Leafs 2-1, as the game was remembered mainly for Chris Rooney taking three goals off the board for Devils, which caused the fans to throw stuff on the ice.
Throughout the rest of the season, the Devils piled up great wins, and thanks in large part to the team's talent, we would see so many great games, like Jack Hughes getting his hat trick against the Capitals on November 26th at home. On Valentine’s Day, Ryan Graves scored a buzzer-beater to beat the Blue Jackets in Columbus 3-2. After shutting out the Flyers at home, the Devils acquired Timo Meier, who scored his first NHL goal in a 5-4 overtime win in Arizona against the Coyotes on March 5th, a franchise record 10th overtime win of the season. On March 25th against the Senators, thanks mainly to the Rangers beating the Florida Panthers, the Devils clinched the 2023 NHL Playoffs. After a 6-2 win on April 11 against the Buffalo Sabres at home, the Devils tied the franchise record for wins in a season. They had one game left in Washington against the Capitals to set the record. They pulled off a dramatic comeback down two 3-0 and 4-1 to win the game 5-4, thanks to 2 goals from Erik Haula, a powerplay goal from Miles Wood, and goals from Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes in overtime, which was his first NHL goal, which set the record and ended the season on a very high note.
Thanks to the Devils beating the Rangers in the season series, they hosted the Rangers in round 1 of the playoffs. After being down 2-0 in the series, they came back and won game seven at home, perhaps the best Devils playoff game in recent memory.
However, even though their season ended in the next series against the Carolina Hurricanes in 5 games, this 52-win season will be remembered by anyone who is associated with the organization.