The New Jersey Devils won a game on Saturday, beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-1. The Canucks scored the first goal, keeping the Devils streak of giving up the first goal intact. That had Devils fans thinking that it was going to be another disappointing performance. Then, the Devils took over.
It started with Nico Hischier, who got his first goal of the season on the power play. It was also the 200th goal of his career. It was the best the Devils power play has looked all season. A few minutes later, Jesper Boqvist scored his second goal in as many games. It was also the first point of Amadeus Lombardi’s career.
This was actually the first lead of the Devils’ season. The Devils won their first game on a Jack Hughes overtime goal. We got to see how the Devils play with a lead, and it was a great thing to see.
And here is what is different about the Devils this season. So often last season, the Devils desperately needed a win after a disappointing stretch, and they found ways to lose. That’s how the Devils went from one of the best teams in October to out of the playoffs by April. They had too many stretches of terrible play where they just couldn’t get out of it.
The Devils continued to pour it on, putting up close to 40 shots and scoring four goals. Nico Hischier got his second of the day, and Jesper Bratt added a hard-angled goal to cap off the day. (Bratt’s was technically first.)
This win finally made the Devils feel "different"
This was the first time this season that the Devils felt “different.” It’s just one game, and the Canucks are expected to be one of the worst teams in the league this season, but they had been playing well, and the Devils had not.
They had three days off after their 5-3 loss to the Utah Mammoth, which included a disappointing “intent to blow the whistle” call that took away a Timo Meier goal late in the third period. That entire game felt off; the Devils played from behind the whole time and couldn’t make headway against an upstart Mammoth team. Maybe there was some extra motivation since the Devils tried to steal Barrett Hayton from them, but either way, it was not a good showing.
Saturday was the opposite. The Devils dominated, and everything that was bad before finally started working. The power play was scoring. The penalty kill stood up after a bad move by Evan Rodrigues. They had timely scoring, and they never stopped pouring it on.
And they did it without Jack Hughes dominating. Don’t get us wrong, he played his best game of the season on Saturday with two assists, but he didn’t have to drive the offense. Hischier took on some of that load, and the fourth line did its best to create offense across the depth chart.
If the Devils can keep this kind of pressure up, the bad vibes will be a distant memory. However, this can’t be a one-time performance.
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