It was a game that New Jersey Devils fans were waiting for. The Devils played a full sixty minutes of hockey from start to finish and got some good timely goaltending from Mackenzie Blackwood. Now, New Jersey is on a two game winning streak. It is no coincidence that the Devils also held both the Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders to 20 or less shots.
How about Ondrej Palat? That contract he signed is looking pretty good right now and the assistant captain is leading by example. His goal against the Anaheim Ducks got things jump started when the Devils were down 2-0. That began seven unanswered goals that spanned nearly 5 periods over two games. Palat is leading the Devils with three goals tallied on the season and has steered this team back on track.
The Devils are a young team and found a way to get out of their funk early on this season. Palat’s value to his new teammates is that he has learned how to overcome adversity in rough moments when he was with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he won two Stanley Cups. That championship experience is now paying off dividends and the other young leaders on the team are following suit.
Jesper Bratt is tearing it up in the assists department and may be a realistic bet to top over 100 points this season at the rate he is going. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are contributing as well. This is what you expect from your marquee franchise players. As a Devils fan, you should be thrilled that they are stepping up their game.
In the past few seasons, New Jersey would get down on themselves and as a result, they would endure several long losing streak slumps. I know it is early, but they answered the bell after the “fire Lindy” chants at the home opener. How the Devils responded to this season’s early adversity is showing that the young squad is maturing. This should give the entire team confidence that they can “stop the bleeding quickly” moving forward when they go through a bad stretch.
And it was Palat that showed the young nucleus the path to winning.
Reverse Retro Jersey 2.0 - Devils Jersey
At first glance, it looked like a knockoff Devils jersey. But I like it and will buy. Plus it is better looking uniform with the Devils logo than “Jersey” written on the front.
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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