By Gilles Moncour


The Devils travel to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs Thursday in a rematch of their October 11 game at Air Canada Center. That game, a month ago, where the the Devils and Corey Schneider withstood the slings and arrows of a high-flying Leaf team (50 shots!) to find a way to put six past Freddie Andersen was the team’s most exciting and noteworthy victory… until last Sunday.

Down 4-1 in the United Center, with 21,000 plus baying for blood as the Blackhawks looked to exercise their early-season demons by burning the Devils at the stake… somehow these Devils ramped up the speed, kept charging the net, and turned the expected rout around 180°. No, it was far from the Devils’ best game of the year, but to rally from three goals down against a team with the pedigree and experience of the Hawks was truly impressive. Led by an indomitable Taylor Hall and an inspired Miles Wood, the Devils turned up the energy and the afterburners like they had done so often in the pre-season and the first few weeks of October. True, Crawford was struggling, and the Hawks right now are a far cry from their 2015 form… but I still think there aren’t many teams that can reach back on the second night of a back-to-back and fire the fastball hard enough to pop seven goals in a road game.


This was the first time the Devils scored ‘lucky seven’ since the St. Patrick’s Day game in 2016 (a 7-4 victory over the Wild). Looking over the rosters for that game, there is an incredible turnover in the Devil’s lineup : only 2 of 12 forwards, 3 of 6 defensemen, and the goalie (Kinkaid) from spring 2016 were also in the lineup for the Hawks game Sunday night. All credit must go to Ray Shero for such a quick turnover of a team that was obviously going nowhere. While not all of Shero’s moves will prove to be strokes of genius, the prospect of the franchise spending nearly a decade in the wilderness (ala the Oilers or Hurricanes) now looks more longshot than likely.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The second part of the Devils strange, segmented road trip will be a big challenge as they face two of the hotter teams in the league: a well-rested Toronto side on a four-game winning streak, and the Winnipeg Jets, who have gotten at least a point out of 12 of their last 14 games. The Devils rather thin defense will be put to the test against the talented and deep forward ranks of these two squads, and coach John Hynes will not be able to shelter his weaker defensive pairings. I’m not sure how much Mirco Mueller’s injury will hurt the Devs — despite some improvement in the last few weeks, I must admit that I feel a lot safer when he is off the ice — but he did eat up some minutes, played the body, and is fairly mobile. With Dalton Prout coming off an outing vs. Edmonton which showed why he is simply not an everyday NHL defenseman, Ben Lovejoy should draw back into the lineup. Lovejoy has not enjoyed much success since signing as a free agent last year, but I’d like to see him get a run of three or four games and see if he can approach anything like the level he reached previously with Pittsburgh — or at least not be a liability.

Anyhow, with the back line expected to be under sustained pressure, the best defense for the Devils may just be a good offense (fancy that Jacques!) The expected return of Travis Zajac will improve the faceoff percentages, add defensive stability, balance the lines, and increase the scoring depth even further. Plus, the positive Zajac — a great team player returning two months early from a torn pectoral muscle — should provide a jolt to a young squad that needs to keep its energy levels high to be effective, even as the grind of the winter NHL schedule starts to set in.

While last year’s version of the Devils started with a similar (9-3-3) record, a brutal run in November and December (4 wins in 20 games) exposed that team as more pretender than contender; this year, with wins like the one in Chicago, it seems somehow different... we shall see if this is, indeed, the case.



Devils’ Trivia:
Only one defenseman has ever led the Devils in scoring …. Was it:
Tapio Levo in 1982-83
Dave Pichette in 1984-85
Bruce Driver in 1987-88
Scott Stevens in 1993-94
Scott Niedermayer in 1997-98
Brian Rafalski in 2006-07

(no Googling!)

Join the Discussion: » 19 Comments » Post New Comment

» Wally Pipp Moment

» KRAKEN HOCKEY IS BACK!

» Release the Kraken!

» The RF Plan

» THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE KRAKEN GOALTENDING