It's almost over.
A season that long ago seemed promising after a 3-0-0 start has gone downhill ever since - the Devils have won 29 of their last 77 games - and will conclude against teams the season started with: Tampa Bay and Florida.
Up first are the Lightning who, unlike the Devils, are still playing meaningful games, as the Lightning are two points back of Montreal for tops in the division with a pair of games remaining.
The Lightning are fresh, they're at home, and they're much better, so there isn't much reason to be optimistic entering tonight's game.
New Jersey is a very old, slow team - particularly up front - and they tend to struggle against teams with a lot of speed, so this could get ugly, especially with the Devils playing for nothing while there is a lot at stake for the Lightning.
Tampa Bay can roll four lines. They have speed and skill on each line, and realistically they have two lines that could be considered among the top-10 in all of hockey, so it's hard to key on any one unit.
On the other side we have a Devils offense that, beyond Mike Cammalleri, is as likely to get production from Reid Boucher and his 11 minutes per night than anyone else on the roster.
That's not a knock on Boucher, who has played well and deserves more minutes, but it puts in perspective how offensively challenged this team is.
As is the case every night, the Devils are going to need excellent goaltending to have a shot. If the team allows more than two goals, they likely aren't going to win. That's going to be a tall order against Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, and Nikita Kucherov, among others.
It could be another long night in a year that's been full of them but, hey, at least it's almost over.
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