A Devil-may-care attitude
New Jersey riding a 13-game streak
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils can’t sneak up on teams anymore.
The once-laughable also-rans have gone from a team that has missed the Stanley Cup playoffs nine of the past 10 years to currently the NHL’S hottest team.
Coach Lindy Ruff’s young, basically no-name crew beyond top picks Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes tied a franchise record Monday night, beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 for their 13th straight win. The mark could fall Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs at home.
“It’s something I don’t even want to talk about because I don’t want to jinx it,” Ruff said. “But I know we’re finding a lot of different ways to win, a lot of different personnel and I think the important part is it really has been about the team. In any given time, somebody has come up big for us, scored big goals, big saves and special teams has played a big part of that.”
The previous time the Devils lost was a 6-3 setback to Washington on Oct. 24.
Since then, they have outscored opponents 56-24, averaging 4.31 goals and 35 shots. They have swept two roads trips through Canada, beating Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa twice in the run and Montreal and Toronto once. They also have a win over the reigning champion Avalanche.
New Jersey’s 16-3 record is second best in the league to the Boston Bruins’ 17-2 mark.
“I don’t know if it’s us needing to prove anything, really,” said Hughes, the No. 1 overall pick in 2019. “I think it’s more like we set ourselves up really well in the standings so far. We’re getting to 20 games and we set ourselves up nicely. I think teams are starting to realize we’re not a pushover game and we’re a pretty good team. And they’re coming to New Jersey now and they are going to have to work for a win.”
In the previous four seasons, the Devils won 31, 28, 19 and 27 games, respeciviely, finishing either seventh or eighth in the Metropolitan Division. Their longest winning streak in each of the past two seasons was three games.
There’s no doubt the 21-yearold Hughes is becoming a star and Hischier is starting to deliver along with forward Jesper Bratt, who might be one of the NHL’S most underrated players.
Dougie Hamilton, a big free agent signing a year ago, leads a solid defense that isn’t allowing a lot of shots. The ones that are getting through are being stopped by free-agent signee Vitek Vanecek, who is 9-1.
“We have four lines and three D pair makes a big impact and our goaltending advantage has probably been the biggest impact,” Bratt said. “So our team effort overall is what is making us win games right now.”