The New Jersey Devils' matchup Saturday night against Carolina will be one of the biggest games of the year. While that has been said a few times lately, with all of the recent events surrounding this team, earning a win again the Hurricanes is crucial.
Coming off a week in which the Devils went 0-3 and were outscored 16-2, including a 9-0 blowout by the Islanders, they have a chance to turn their season around with a win against the Hurricanes, which would make three straight this week. Getting this one against a division rival would not only help them gain in the playoff race but instill some much-needed confidence in the group.
There is reason to believe this could be the Devils turning a corner after a rough month of December, where they went 5-9-1. Over the past week, they have looked much closer to the team we saw in the first 20 games of the season, and they scored 5 goals in a game on Monday against the Wild for the first time since the 28th of November in Buffalo.
Jack Hughes, currently on a four-game point streak, seems to be getting back to his superstar form after easing his way back into the lineup. Dougie Hamilton has bounced back with a couple of strong performances after being scratched last weekend. While the rumors around Hamilton being moved have picked up in recent weeks, as long as he is here, he can still help the Devils win games.
Johnathan Kovacevic is back from the long-term injury that kept him out of the first half of the season, and if he can play the way he did last year for the Devils, he will play a huge role in shutting down opposing teams' top players. This team is the healthiest they have been all season, and they desperately need to start stringing wins together in order to climb back into a playoff position.
The Hurricanes have had the Devils' number so far this season, and currently sit comfortably atop the Metropolitan Division. If there is anything the Devils can look to take advantage of, it is that Carolina is on the second night of a back-to-back after playing a home game against the Panthers last night, though they handled them 9-1. With the Devils set to head out west for a four-game road trip this week, picking up this win against a rival and giving them a much-needed 3-game winning streak would be the perfect send-off.