What an upset win in Newark last at the Prudential Center!

The New Jersey Devils were down 2-0 from the start as the game became a seesaw battle with the Carolina Hurricanes. In the end, Andreas Johnsson, Pavel Zacha, Jack Hughes, and Jesper Bratt came alive to put the nail in the coffin with a 7-4 victory.

Ryan Graves had a bounce back game after a dreadful performance against the Arizona Coyotes. After being down early 2-0, a pair of quick shots towards the net by Graves led to the two Nathan Bastian goals upfront to equalize the game before the first period ended. It changed the momentum of the game and gave the Devils some confidence going into the second period.

The Devils were resilient all night. They were not perfect however. Turnovers and failure to clear the puck continue to plague New Jersey as each of the Hurricanes goals were due to costly giveaways. In fact, Devils had 25 giveaways. You cannot expect to win games consistently if this trend continues.

Tonight, the Devils will take on the Los Angeles Kings at the Prudential Center. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Mackenzie Blackwood will be in net for the Devils. Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick gave up three goals in his last game to the Colorado Avalanche last Thursday. Quick has been playing better as of late has a 2.56 GAA this season. Maybe Tom Fitzgerald should make a trade for Quick to fill that mentor backup role in the future perhaps? Jonathan Bernier is on injured reserve and Corey Crawford did not worked out.

Offensively, look for the Devils to keep putting the puck on net and establish positioning inside the high danger area. That allowed them to get several goals last night. Bastian and McLeod are benefitting and scoring again.

Defensively, no more turnovers and giveaways. Use the board and clear the puck out of your own zone. Make your outlet passes count.

Let’s see if the Devils can sweep the weekend!

Johnsson Getting His Scoring Touch Back!

Andreas Johnsson is a streaky goal scorer. Will he get hot?

JOHNSSON FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/dsMl85Fwtx

— Devils on MSG (@DevilsMSGN) January 23, 2022

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Sam Woo is co-host and executive producer of the Let's Go Devils Podcast which can be heard live every Sunday at 9pm ET and Wednesday at 8:30pm ET.

You can follow Sam on Twitter: @PrimetimeSamWoo

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