The New Jersey Devils are returning home this week from a successful west coast road trip. The final game of that swing, a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken, left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouths, but aside from that, three wins against the western Canada teams went a long way toward getting the Devils right back into the thick of the playoff picture. The loss to Seattle was a real missed opportunity to put them right on the edge of a playoff spot again, but as we enter the final week of this month,
New Jersey has done well to right their season after a horrific month-and-a-half stretch from the beginning of December to the middle of January.
The NHL is set to pause their season for the Winter Olympics in Italy in a couple weeks, with NHL players returning to the games for the first time in over a decade (if they can finish the rinks in time, that is). For the Devils, their last game before the break is scheduled for February 5. With that being the case, I figured now is a good time to take stock of where the Devils stand in the Metropolitan Division after their long road trip, what’s left for them until the break, and what the other teams around them in the standings have coming up until the Olympics as well. The only two teams I won’t be covering will be the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers, because the Hurricanes are too far ahead of the Devils for New Jersey to have the luxury of worrying about them, and the Rangers have completely fallen apart and are essentially out of the playoff picture.
Let’s dive in:
Pittsburgh Penguins
2nd in Metropolitan, 63 points in 51 games
Entering the season, the Penguins were expected by most to be a bottom-feeder. Instead, they are number two in the Metropolitan Division coming into the week. An Eastern Conference-leading 11 loser points makes their record look a lot better than it actually is, but in Gary Bettman’s NHL, racking up points by any means necessary is the name of the game. We all keep waiting for Pittsburgh to fade, but maybe they just won’t. This stretch before the break will be huge for them, as they not only play two in-division games, they also play a pair of Atlantic teams right in the Wild Card mix as well. For the Devils, you need to hope for the Penguins to actually finish games in regulation for a change.
New York Islanders
3rd in Metropolitan, 59 points in 51 games
The Islanders are going to be very busy until the Olympics. Whereas most teams have five or six games until the break, New York will fit seven into their schedule before the pause. This could be a season-defining stretch, with six of these seven contests being Metropolitan Division showdowns. This is another team that was expected to have a down year, but thanks in large part to falling backwards into Matthew Schaefer, they just refuse to fade. The ask from a Devils standpoint will be simple: For the love of god, keep the three-point games to a minimum.
Philadelphia Flyers
4th in Metropolitan, 57 points in 50 games
Yet another team that wasn’t expected to be great this season that just keeps finding ways to stick around. Are you seeing a theme here? The Flyers’ secret weapon is the fact that they’ve played the fewest amount of games of anyone we’ll be discussing today, which is always an advantage in a points-accumulation system. Philadelphia has three in-division games, one other Eastern Conference game, and then two games against Western Conference foes, so it’s a pretty even mix.
Washington Capitals
5th in Metropolitan, 57 points in 53 games
The Capitals have the same amount of points as the Flyers, but in three more games played, which makes a huge difference. Washington was looking pretty good for the first couple months of the season, but they’ve been sliding in a big way since mid-December, hence their precarious spot in the standings. Three in-division games for them until the break, including a date with the top dog Carolina Hurricanes.
New Jersey Devils
6th in Metropolitan, 56 points in 52 games
The Devils get four home games until the break, with the final two contests sticking out as extra important. Two division games, one against a team behind the Devils and one against a team ahead of them, will go a long way toward New Jersey either being in good position entering the pause, or terrible shape. New Jersey really, really, REALLY needs to figure out how to get results against Metro teams, as they will enter those games with a dismal 4-9-2 record against in-division foes thus far. To make matters worse, only two of those wins have come in regulation (both against Columbus). That means that in 15 total games, New Jersey has held Metropolitan opponents without a point in two of them. Two of 15. Unacceptable. If the Devils want to make a true push for the playoffs, they absolutely NEED two wins against the Blue Jackets and Islanders, with at least one of them coming in regulation.
Columbus Blue Jackets
7th in Metropolitan, 55 points in 51 games
The only Metropolitan team (aside from the Rangers) that New Jersey has more points than, and the only Metro squad that the Devils have a regulation win against. Unlike a lot of these teams that are outperforming mediocre to bad preseason projections, the Blue Jackets are the opposite. They made a shocking playoff push last season only to fall just short, which raised expectations. They’ve disappointed relative to those expectations, to the point where they fired their head coach a couple weeks ago. As far as their schedule until the break goes, It’s an even mix of Western Conference teams and Metropolitan opponents. The Devils are in there, and maybe New Jersey can keep their success against Columbus going on February 3 with another regulation win.
New Jersey has 10 points up for grabs between now and when they break for the Olympics. In my opinion, they need seven of those 10 points at a bare minimum, with at least three of them coming against the Islanders and Blue Jackets. Considering how beatable every one of the teams on their schedule is, I really don’t think this is too much to ask.
As stated up top, after a nightmare stretch from December to January, the Devils have resurrected their season a bit. They’re only three points out of a playoff spot entering the week, though the third-place Islanders have a game in hand. Then again, the tables will turn and New Jersey will be the one with a game in hand by the time we reach the break. But of course, there are the Flyers and Capitals in between New Jersey and the third-place Isles, and you can’t count on all of those teams losing every night. The fact of the matter is, the Devils need to take care of their own business, and they need some help on the out of town scoreboard. That is the position their play up to this point has put them in.
What do you think of the Devils’ schedule until the Olympics? What amount of points do you consider to be the bare minimum that they need between now and then? Which Metropolitan Division team are you most worried about? What about the Metro team that you think is most likely to fade? As always, thanks for reading!
