News Devils Team Notes

[New Jersey Devils]

Fifty Games Into the Season, What Are the New Jersey Devils?

After last night’s victory in Edmonton and the Devils pulling a rare feat in itself where they swept a back-t0-back, they currently sit in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division with a 26-22-2 record and 54 points. Technically, one could argue they are tied with Philadelphia and Washington, but the Flyers have two games in hand and the Capitals hold the regulation wins tiebreaker, so I consider that 6th place placement to be accurate.

Much has been written on this website about what this team isn’t. They’re not a true contender because they don’t do X, Y, and Z well. They’re not a true contender because they can’t beat Carolina. They’re not big enough, strong enough, fast enough, talented enough, or mentally tough enough. A lot of those critiques are valid complaints when it comes to this group.

But what is this team? What are they trying to be when they’re at their best?

The Devils Are a Team That Can’t Score​

You can use whatever metric you so choose but the bottom line is this….the Devils simply aren’t good enough when it comes to putting the puck in the back of the net.

They’re 28th in goals scored, 29th in goals per game, 15th in power play percentage, and 32nd in shooting percentage. They’re 22nd in 5v5 expected goals for per 60 and 32nd in goals scored above expected. According to Moneypuck, they’re still 32nd in rebound goals despite being middle of the pack in rebound shots for.

I always like to say that your best players need to be your best players to ultimately raise the floor of the entire group. Unfortunately, the Devils best players haven’t been quite up to the task this season.

Jesper Bratt has 7 goals in his last 43 games. After scoring in his return from a hand injury, Jack Hughes has 0 goals in his last 14 games. Timo Meier has 5 goals in 22 games since Thanksgiving. Dougie Hamilton might have picked things up in terms of racking up assists, but he has 1 goal in his last 35 games. Even Nico Hischier, who leads the team in scoring, had a stretch where he basically went 0-for-most of the month of December.

Those are five of the highest paid players on the team. Those are the guys who are supposed to be driving the bus for the rest of the group. The fact that they’re not giving the Devils quite enough offensively is a big part of the reason why the Devils are where they are.

There has been a lot of piling on for guys like Ondrej Palat, Luke Glendening, and Juho Lammikko for not being very good. That’s fine, but they’re not the Devils best players (even though Palat is being paid like one). The Devils simply need more from their best players. All of them.

The Devils Do Defend. Sometimes.​

Sheldon Keefe mentioned after the win last night that from a defensive checking standpoint, the first two periods against Edmonton was about as well as the Devils had played in a long time, and maybe all season.

I don’t necessarily disagree with that. The fact the Devils held the Oilers to ten measly shots through two periods is a testament to how they are capable of defending well.

That said, there’s that, and then there’s whatever the third period was last night when they were more or less holding on for dear life and asking their goaltender, in this case Jake Allen, to win the game for them.

The Devils are 9th in shots blocked at 5v5, which is all well and good in the sense that you want players who are willing to get into lanes and do what needs to be done to keep the other team off of the scoreboard. But it’s also bad in the sense that you do not want to be a team that is getting bombarded. You don’t want to turtle. You don’t want to get caved in. Especially when you’re 3rd in the league in high danger shots at 5v5 against like the Devils also are.

For as much criticism that Jacob Markstrom has taken this season, and rightfully so, the Devils could stand to make things easier for both him and Jake Allen. A good start would be more periods like the first two in Edmonton last night where they’re not allowing the opposition to do much of anything with the puck. That does start with a good forecheck.

Some might say that’s boring hockey, but the Devils could use a little more boring given their offensive struggles.

The Devils Do Have a Grittiness Aspect That I Appreciate​

One of my guilty pleasures this season has been whenever the Devils post Sheldon Keefe giving the boys credit after a win on social media. It might be mostly cliche stuff and its not like the team is going to put stuff out there that they aren’t comfortable with the general public seeing, but when you get a chance to get a glimpse inside the room, it’s appreciated.

If there’s a common theme to those speeches, its usually how the team grinded, or battled through it, or whatever buzzword Keefe uses on any particular night.

I do appreciate that the Devils seem to have this quality. For all the talk about being able to play “playoff style” hockey, its something that you do need once you get there.

I simply wish the Devils didn’t need to grind as much as they apparently need to in the regular season.

Case in point, in the Devils last 13 wins, only three of those have been by multiple goals. The 5-0 win in Buffalo on the day after Thanksgiving, the 4-1 win vs. Anaheim, and the 5-2 win in Minnesota last week.

To borrow a gambling term, almost every Devils win is a “sweat” where its never easy. This goes back to what I said about their inability to score. Is it asking too much for this team to have a stretch where they win a bunch of games 4-1 and we’re not on the edge of our seats the entire time?

The Devils Have a Deceptively Good Penalty Kill With Brett Pesce Back​

If one were to take a quick glance at the stats, they would just assume the Devils with their 20th ranked penalty kill at 78% is mediocre at best and teetering towards not being very good.

I dove into the numbers a bit a few weeks ago when I said I was cautiously optimistic about the Devils, but to briefly recap, the Devils were killing penalties at a 90% rate pre-Pesce injury and a 66.6% rate while he was out. Since Pesce returned on December 17th, the Devils have killed 30 of 36 penalties (83.3%).

It’s not outlandish to suggest the Devils might’ve had a top 5 penalty killing unit had Pesce never gotten hurt. But when the team goes 10-13-1 without him in the lineup, those goals they’re allowing on the penalty kill add up. Conversely, the Devils are 16-9-1 with Brett Pesce in the lineup.

I don’t want to overrate Pesce’s contributions but he’s clearly an important piece to what the Devils are trying to do, and they’re better with him than without him.

Final Thoughts​

Fifty games in, I think what the Devils are trying to be is a team that wins because of their defense and goaltending. And they could actually potentially be dangerous if the guys who are being paid to puck in the net did their part and put the puck in the net.

I think you’re walking a tightrope trying to win in that manner.

For starters, it leaves little margin for error that you would have if the team was able to score goals more consistently. Yes, there will be playoff games where you need to win 2-1 but there’s plenty of playoff games where you need to be able to score four, five, even six goals consistently. It’s something all of the recent Cup champions from Florida to Vegas to Colorado to Tampa Bay have been able to do. They bludgeon teams in playoff games, and they do it consistently.

The Devils have scored five goals twice in a game since Thanksgiving….the aforementioned games in Buffalo and Minnesota.

Now, can the Devils get back to being that type of team? Perhaps. They showed an ability to score lots of goals during the 8 game win streak, and also defend. I don’t think that you necessarily just lose that ability overnight, although one might argue that they took advantage of some early season sleepwalking.

Maybe that’s the case, but now that we’re in the dog days of summer (or winter, whatever, you know what I’m trying to say), why can’t they get back to that?

Obviously, the Devils need more high end talent. Hopefully, Tom Fitzgerald finds a way to add some. But they also need the high end talent they have at home to start pulling their weight. Until they do, this feels like a fringe playoff team at best.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...nto-the-season-what-are-the-new-jersey-devils

 

[New Jersey Devils]

New Jersey Devils Grind Out 2-1 Win Over Edmonton Oilers

On the second half of a back-to-back, the New Jersey Devils went into Edmonton and came away with a 2-1 victory. Arseny Gritsyuk and Cody Glass were the goal-scorers, while Jake Allen was terrific in net with 22 saves on 23 shots. It was a pretty low-event game overall, which is impressive considering the best player on the planet, Connor McDavid, was on the other side. The Edmonton Oilers did not have Leon Draisaitl available to them, as he is currently back home in Germany attending to a personal family matter. Still, shutting Edmonton down sans-Draisaitl isn’t easy, and credit must be given to New Jersey for finding a way.

Let’s go through it.

First Period​

Because tonight’s game was part of a TNT national doubleheader, and the first game (Boston vs. Dallas) ran long, the puck didn’t drop in Edmonton until 10:22pm ET. Kill me now.

Once the game finally began, the Devils were on the front foot through the first few minutes of the game, but didn’t have any shots to show for it. As a matter of fact, at the first media timeout, shots were 2-1 in favor of Edmonton. It was a sleepy start to this very, very late game.

Around the 10-minute mark, the Jack Hughes line put together a terrific shift where they put the Oilers in a blender for about a full minute. But despite all the zone time and crisp passes and battles won, they couldn’t actually put any shots on net. That was New Jersey’s problem through the first half of the opening frame: They were outskating and outplaying the Oilers, but Edmonton was blocking every shot the Devils mustered, rendering all that territorial domination moot.

That changed with about 8:30 left when Cody Glass gained the zone and drew Oilers defenders to him on the near wall. He found Brett Pesce darting toward the net on the weak side and fed a terrific pass his way for the first premium scoring chance of the night for New Jersey. Alas, Pesce couldn’t beat Tristan Jarry and we remained scoreless. Hey, at least it was a shot that actually made it to the net. Progress!

A minute and a half later, the Oilers had their first good shift of the evening when they pinned the Nico Hischier line in and registered a couple shots on net. They were reasonably dangerous, but Jake Allen answered the call on each of them to bail his team out.

With 2:49 left, the one and only Connor McDavid cut into the zone on a rush up ice, and Johnny Kovacevic laid a moderately big hit on him in the slot. Vasily Podkolzin IMMEDIATELY charged toward Kovacevic and dropped the gloves, which I thought was totally unnecessary. The officials apparently agreed with me, as they tagged Podkolzin with the two-minute instigator, as well as a 10-minute misconduct, in addition to the five for fighting he and Kovacevic got.

On the ensuing power play, the Devils continued their months-long embarrassment with the mad advantage, as they registered only one shot on goal, and it wasn’t all that dangerous either. Edmonton held almost as much zone time as New Jersey during the power play, and the Devils were held without a goal.

The period ended shortly after. It was a frame that started quite well for New Jersey, even if tons of zone time didn’t result in shots. The Oilers started getting their chances around midway through the period, and it was pretty even until the power play late in the first. Shots were even at 4-4 after a low-event 20 minutes.

Second Period​

The second period began with the Glass line putting together a good shift with a couple shots on net, but still no breakthrough. Lenni Hameenaho, playing on Glass’ wing, had not been as noticeable as he was against Calgary thus far, but he certainly was not looking out of place through a period-plus.

Then with 14:37 left, the Devils finally broke through. It was once again the Glass line, with Glass himself corralling a Dougie Hamilton pass in the corner to Jarry’s right. Glass found a streaking Arseny Gritsyuk in the slot, and Gritsyuk absolutely blasted a one-timer through Jarry for his ninth goal of the season. The secondary assist gave Hamilton points in his last six games.

The lead was short-lived though. With 12:58 left, Jake Walman ripped a slap shot from the point off a faceoff win. Matt Savoie redirected the shot down and past Allen to knot the game at one. It was very close to being a high stick, but Sheldon Keefe chose not to challenge.

But then exactly 90 seconds later, the Devils retook the lead! Connor Brown, back in Edmonton, collected a pass in the neutral zone and found a wide open Gritsyuk at the blue line on the right wing side. Gritsyuk gained the zone and feathered a wonderful pass to a cutting Glass on the far side. Glass ripped a one-timer past Jarry to restore New Jersey’s lead.

At 10:08, Brenden Dillon took a puck over glass delay of game penalty to send the league’s top-ranked power play to their first man advantage. Granted, this was a unit without the services of Leon Draisaitl, but it is still a lethal grouping without him. New Jersey actually did a great job killing the first minute and a half of the power play when Brown led a 2-on-1 with Glass. Brown found Glass to Jarry’s left, and Jarry made a really nice glove save to rob Glass from his second consecutive goal and third point on the night. After the glove-save, the Devils successfully killed off the rest of the penalty.

With 5:50 left, the Hischier line was in the midst of putting together a nice shift with plenty of pressure and shot attempts. That all changed when Jonas Siegenthaler couldn’t handle a pass, and in the process of trying to recover the puck, he tripped Savoie to send the Oilers to their second consecutive power play. It was a really frustrating turn of events to INSTANTLY end the Devils’ attack.

About 30 seconds into the kill, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins slipped a great pass from the corner to an activating Jake Walman, but Walman was robbed by Allen sliding to his right. It looked like Allen got it with either his pad or the paddle of his stick. Either way, it was a big save.

Then, around 20 seconds after that, McDavid and Brown were called for coincidental minors after they got tangled up in the Oilers’ end. It remained a 5-on-4 PP for Edmonton, but without McDavid which is massive.

In the final moments of the power play, Hischier and Dawson Mercer were spring on a 2-on-1. Mercer took the shot, and because this is the 2025-26 New Jersey Devils, Mercer’s shot caught the shaft of Jarry’s stick and did not go in. This team is full of bad shooters, but their finishing woes are also the product of insanely bad luck. That Mercer chance was the perfect embodiment of that.

The period ended a few minutes later. The Hughes line put together another good shift that featured Timo Meier making a terrific play to steal a puck and set up Hughes in front, but Hughes couldn’t get a shot off. That was it until the horn sounded though. Aside from the penalties, it was another pretty good period for the Devils. The two goals were nice of course, and beyond that, New Jersey was starting to get some actual chances at the net. Shots 10-6 in favor of the Devils in the period.

Third Period​

The Oilers had the better of the play through the first few minutes of the third. Edmonton caught a massive break when Savoie blatantly clipped Meier up high with his stick, but the officials threw the dart at the dartboard and it landed on “keep the whistle in your pocket for no reason at all”, so we played on.

Then with about 14 minutes left in the period, Podkolzin (who had spent a large chunk of this game in the penalty box to this point) was sprung on a mini-breakaway. He tried to deke to his forehand, but Allen sprawled out and made a strong pad save. The Oilers buzzed for a while after that until Allen snatched an easy wrister from the point to get a much-needed stoppage. Edmonton was starting to tilt the ice, and New Jersey was hanging on for dear life.

As has been the case far, far, far too often this season, the Devils went an absurdly long time without registering a shot in the period. We reached eight minutes to go in the frame and New Jersey still hadn’t hit Jarry with a puck. Meanwhile the Oilers continued to pile up zone time, shot attempts, and quality looks at the net. It really seemed like the schedule was starting to factor in. Playing the third period of the second half of a back-to-back on the opposite end of the country very late at night was starting to take its toll.

Finally, almost exactly 15 minutes into the third, the Devils put a shot on goal, and it was a dangerous one. Brown was sprung on a partial breakaway, and he wired a wrist shot on target that Jarry made a glove save on.

Edmonton continued to apply pressure, but Allen continued to stand tall. With about two minutes left, Hamilton and the Hughes line combined to actually make Jarry work a little bit, but he turned aside both shots he faced on that shift.

Edmonton pulled Jarry with about two minutes on the clock. The Oilers sustained a lot of zone time and whistled a lot of shot attempts at the net, with some of them reaching Allen. But the Devils weathered the storm and the clock hit triple zeroes with New Jersey holding on for the 2-1 victory!

It was a tense third period, with the Devils seemingly running out of gas. Edmonton controlled play basically all period long. Shots were 13-3 in favor of the Oilers in the final frame. But Allen stood tall, the defense was structured enough, the team as a whole was lucky enough, and New Jersey held the fort to get a huge win.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

The Game Highlights: Courtesy of NHL.com

Quick Hits​

• Tonight was Jack Hughes’ 400th career game in the NHL. Congratulations to the middle Hughes brother on an even 400.
• The Gritsyuk-Glass-Hameenaho line was terrific this evening. According to Natural Stat Trick, in 5:10 of ice time together, that line out-attempted their opponents 5-0, outshot them 3-0, and won the Scoring Chances and High Danger Corsi battles 3-0 and 1-0 respectively. And of course, they outscored Edmonton 1-0. They controlled play all night long.
• Speaking of that line, Hameenaho was less noticeable than the night before, but I thought he had another solid game. He continues to look poised, smart, and dangerous when given a little room. More of him and less of Glendening, please.
• I also thought Timo Meier was great tonight. He was a forechecking demon, and the Oilers did not have an answer for him through the first two periods. I do wish he could have hit the net more, as he registered three shots on seven shot attempts overall. That number led the team, by the way.
• Finally, Jake Allen was dynamite in this game, and he needed to be, especially in the third period. Per NST, Allen saved 1.8 Goals Above Expected, which is stellar work. He was arguably the best Devil on the ice, with only Glass or Gritsyuk or Meier serving as his only competition.
• Don’t look now, but the Devils have won the second half of a back-to-back, and have won four of their last five overall. They still have way more work to do to climb out of the deep hole they’ve dug themselves, but four of five is a good start.

Next Time Out​

The Devils continue their west coast swing on Friday, when they travel to Vancouver to battle the Canucks. Puck drop is slated for 10pm ET.

Your Take​

Leave your take in the comments section. Goodnight.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...devils-grind-out-2-1-win-over-edmonton-oilers

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2025-26 Gamethread #50: New Jersey Devils at Edmonton Oilers

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (25-22-2) at the Edmonton Oilers (25-17-8)

The Time: 10:00pm ET

The Broadcast: TV — TNT, Radio — Devils Radio Network

The Game Preview: Matt wrote the preview this morning.

The Song of the Day: Last night, the Calgary Flames’ DJ at the Scotiabank Saddledome played Bon Jovi for an extended stretch in the third period, when the game was tied. I’m not a huge Bon Jovi person, but we’ll roll with it. Tonight’s song of the game is Livin’ on a Prayer. The Devils have won three of their last four, but they’re going to have to continue winning at that level to get back into the playoff race.

The Rules: If you have been a reader here, you already know the rules. But for the rest, a reminder: please do not swear in the comment section, and keep comments relevant to the hockey game going on. Beyond that, do not attack any other commenters, and do not ask for or pass along illegal streams on this board.

LGD!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...hread-50-new-jersey-devils-at-edmonton-oilers

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Game Preview #51: New Jersey Devils @ Vancouver Canucks

The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (26-22-2) @ Vancouver Canucks (17-28-5)

The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio Network

The Time: 10:00pm ET

Last Devils Game​

Late Tuesday night, the New Jersey Devils played the second half of a back-to-back in Edmonton against the Oilers. Arseny Gritsyuk and Cody Glass scored goals, Jake Allen was great, and the Devils grinded out a 2-1 victory over the Leon Draisaitl-less Oilers.

Last Canucks Game​

Vancouver was in action on Wednesday when they hosted the Washington Capitals. Despite the Caps jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, the Canucks scored four straight and eventually held on for a 4-3 victory. The win snapped a losing streak that we will talk about shortly.

Last Devils-Canucks Game​

On December 14, the Canucks visited New Jersey having just traded their captain and one of the best players in the world, Quinn Hughes. It didn’t matter, as they defeated the Devils 2-1 despite being held to just 15 shots. It was an infuriating game all around.

Clarity On Luke​

As you all probably know by now, Luke Hughes injured his shoulder in the game in Calgary back on Monday. Tonight won’t be the Devils’ first game without him in the lineup, but it will be their first game after getting a little more clarity on the situation:

#NEWS: We've placed D Luke Hughes (shoulder) on Long-Term Injured Reserve, retroactive to January 19.

We've also recalled D Colton White from Utica (AHL). He's met the team in Vancouver. pic.twitter.com/bunILuNMph

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 21, 2026

Not that it was any surprise, but Luke Hughes is now officially on LTIR. Crucially, the initial reports seem to indicate that New Jersey is NOT declaring his season over. He is also choosing to forgo surgery, opting for rehab instead. This also seems to mean that the Devils will not have his full $9m cap hit available to them. If they had elected to place him on Season Ending LTIR, they would. But because they are (for now) going with regular LTIR, they will get a shade over $3m in cap relief at the moment. This is all subject to change of course, but as far as I can tell, this is the latest info.

All of that is also secondary to the young man’s health. What is it with the Hughes brothers and shoulder injuries? I for one am pretty concerned since it appears to be his right shoulder that was injured this time, whereas the one he injured prior to last season was his left. It also appeared to be his left shoulder that he injured against Carolina in the playoffs last April. So unless I’m missing something, and please correct me in the comments section if I am, this is a supposedly perfectly healthy shoulder that simply fell out of its socket thanks to some very light contact. On the surface, that is very, very troubling.

In the here and now, Hughes will miss some time. How much time remains to be seen. Hughes was in the midst of a very disappointing season, but he was actually starting to put together a quality stretch of hockey over the past couple weeks, which makes the timing of this injury sting so much more. Here’s to a speedy recovery for the youngest Hughes brother.

The Blueline in Hughes’ Absence​

The good news (well, not actually good, but you know what I mean) is that the Devils have plenty of experience this season playing with a shorthanded defense corps. If Hughes really is done for the year, they will have played less than one handful of games with all of their NHL-level defensemen available to them. Johnny Kovacevic was the final piece to return, and he only played a few contests before Hughes got hurt. Pretty unbelievable.

In any case, New Jersey knows how to handle injury adversity, and along those lines, here is how they lined up in practice yesterday:

No changes for #NJDevils at practice today, coming off of back-to-back wins.

Glendening is skating as the extra forward, while Lammikko is paired with Colton White as an extra defensive pairing today.

Devils play the Canucks tomorrow evening: pic.twitter.com/7Psx6YzQJ4

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) January 22, 2026

As Stein mentions in her tweet, this is how the Devils lined up against the Oilers as well. Their response to placing Hughes on LTIR was to call Colton White back up to the big club. He’s skating as an extra for now, but don’t be surprised to see him get back into a game soon if another defenseman gets hurt.

So how do we feel about these pairings? Personally, I think this is about as good as it’s going to get unless Hughes returns at some point. I know Keefe isn’t crazy about having a defenseman play on their off-side, but it looks like he’s decided that is the lesser of two evils between that or playing White.

Lenni Looks Strong​

Lenni Hameenaho had his second consecutive strong game to begin his career on Tuesday. Skating on a line with Cody Glass and Arseny Gritsyuk, Hameenaho did not register a point, but he was on the ice to help create Gritsyuk’s goal. According to Natural Stat Trick, at 5-on-5, Hameenaho registered an unthinkable 100% Expected Goals For%. No, that’s not a typo. Perhaps it’s a bug in NST’s system, but it’s not a typo. Hameenaho somehow pitched a shutout in terms of xGF% against the Oilers, the only Devil to reach 100% xGF.

Unsurprisingly, his linemates were second and third on the club in xGF% on Tuesday, with Gritsyuk coming in around 87% and Glass getting to about 69%. In 5:10 together at 5-on-5, the trio out-attempted Edmonton 5-0, outshot them 3-0, outscored them 1-0, and yes, posted an xGF% of 100. It was an all around spectacular night from that line, and it already has folks around here calling for that line to be kept together for a while. It’s hard to argue against that when you see results like this.

Aside from the advanced metrics, Hameenaho just looks solid based on my own personal eye test. He does not look overwhelmed by the speed of this level, he has creativity and hockey IQ, and he’s putting himself in positions to help his team offensively and defensively. Hameenaho looks like he belongs. I think it’s only a matter of time before he gets his first NHL point.

Vancouver Blues​

Prior to Wednesday’s victory over the Washington Capitals, things were pretty bad in Vancouver.

How bad? How about 11 losses in a row bad.

Yes, the Canucks had lost 11 straight games before doing the Devils a solid and topping the Capitals 4-3 on Wednesday. The last time they had won a game before that was in another year entirely. 2025 to be exact. December 29, 2025 to be even more exact. Somehow, Vancouver went almost a full calendar month between victories.

Everyone except for Canucks ownership and management knew Vancouver was going to be bad this year. And while they weren’t awful to start the year, it’s mostly been straight down since they traded Quinn Hughes. This of course culminated in their 11-game losing streak, in which they allowed 50 goals. Overall, they were outscored 20-50 through those 11 games. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

The two remaining big-name players in Vancouver are Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. As you can imagine, both players have struggled this season. Pettersson has 13 goals and 29 points through 42 games, while Boeser is up to 11 goals and 24 points in 48 games. Way, way below what was expected out of either of them.

J.T. Miller is long gone. Quinn Hughes is gone. Kiefer Sherwood and his team-leading 17 goals is gone, traded to San Jose recently. There is such a dearth of talent in Vancouver these days. I know the Devils already lost to this team earlier this season, and I know they’re in the second half of a long west coast road trip. But I’m sorry, this is absolutely a must-win. You cannot lose to this team again, especially considering the Devils are trying to save their season at the moment. They’ve done a solid job of righting the ship with four wins in their last five games, but they absolutely need to make it five out of six tonight. Anything less than two points will be an abject failure.

Projected Lineup​

Here’s how the Canucks lined up in their last game:

Canucks taking on the Capitals.

Sportsnet Pacific
Sportsnet 650 pic.twitter.com/FvoeN2aYwi

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 22, 2026

Expect much the same tonight.

Your Take​

What do you think of tonight’s game? Do you agree that it is a must-win? How concerned are you about Luke Hughes’ long-term health? On the other hand, how impressed are you with Lenni Hameenaho? As always, thanks for reading!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...review-51-new-jersey-devils-vancouver-canucks

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2025-26 Gamethread #51: New Jersey Devils at Vancouver Canucks

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (26-22-2) at the Vancouver Canucks (17-28-5)

The Time: 10:00pm ET

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Radio Network

The Game Preview: Jackson wrote the preview this morning.

The Rules: If you have been a reader here, you already know the rules. But for the rest, a reminder: please do not swear in the comment section, and keep comments relevant to the hockey game going on. Beyond that, do not attack any other commenters, and do not ask for or pass along illegal streams on this board.

LGD!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...ead-51-new-jersey-devils-at-vancouver-canucks

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Late Night Nail Biter

They don’t ask how, they ask how many. That was a pretty ugly affair, but the game had to end sometime and fortunately after 60 minutes it ended in our favor, 5-4. Our new “4th line” led the way with Cody Glass potting two goals and Lenni Hameenaho added a goal and an assist.

1st Period​

The Devils got on the board early for a change, with rookie Hameenaho burying his first career goal just 1:41 into the game. This play started with a nice face-off win by Glass to Nemec who fired a shot that took a hard bounce off the end boards. Lenni poked the rebound home off the bounce and (I think) off Lankinen. I like this whole get the lead early thing, we should try that more.

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The rest of the first was generally a sloppy affair with pushes both ways, and the Devils finishing with an 8-7 shot lead, 12-7 scoring chance advantage. The only other thing that was a thing was a pretty dumb offensive zone trip on Bratt, but the PK shut it down. So far so good for Markstrom after 1. Emphasis on the “after 1” part (it’s called foreshadowing, look it up).

2nd Period​

Sustaining good or at least reasonable play period to period has been a massive challenge for this team, but we got a power play early in the 2nd with Willander tripping Gritsyuk in the corner. After a few tries, they finally got a clean zone entry, got set up with Jack on the flank who found Nico in the bumper, and he buries it, 2-0 good guys at just 2:34 of the 2nd. I wanted to scream at them SEE!! SEE HOW EASY THAT IS!! DO THAT MORE! But since they are in my TV across the continent I don’t think they would’ve heard me.

View Link

Less than a minute later, our 4th line heroes would get on the board again, with Glass and Grits doing some strong board work and Lenni and Siegs with a nice give-and-go up top. Oops, Vancouver you forgot about Cody as he snuck in tipping it him. 3-0? in this economy? What is this offensive explosion, surely this one will be a cakewalk from here on out? PS, I think we should keep this line together.

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Andddd Markstrom strikes. it can never be easy can it? He gives up an atrocious rebound on a muffin from the high slot. You are a professional goaltender, you need to catch that, man. Karlsson swooped in and banged home the rebound, closing the gap to 3-1.

We got another opportunity as Nico took a high stick to the face, drawing blood and giving us a 4 minute power play. The subsequent power play was the one we’ve come to know and hate as the zone entries were trash, and sure enough Bratt with an awful turnover at the blue line, leaving Dougie to defend a clean 3-1 on one. NJ’s finest Drew O’Connor floated a perfect pass to Blueger who buried it back across Marktrom. and its 3-2.

We got some more breathing room while still not the PP, as the second unit finally got in zone, and was able to work the puck around a bit. Gritsyuk with some good baiting work on the right flank allowing Brown to find a lane in the bumper – pass shoot score. and we are up 4-2 at 15:12 of the 2nd. Surely this time we can get to the room and lock it down in the 3rd, right?

Wrong. Mercer loses the draw cleanly, and Quinn Hughes Zeev Buium walked down the zone, cooked Cotter, floated a muffin on Markstrom, who left a nice juicy rebound sitting that Buium took care of himself. 4-3, heading to the 3rd.

3rd Period​

This was a bit lower event period, but was not without its… moments. I was certain the Canucks were going to tie it up on Dadonov’s totally unnecessary trip in the neutral zone at 7:28, but the PK came through.

Glass comes thorugh again at 11:03, off a nice chip play from Timo. Lankinen probably wants that one back, but it’s about time we got one of those.

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After some sloppy play, Vancouver pulled Lankinen with about 2:30 left. I don’t really know how else to describe what happened with the empty net except that is was some of the dumbest sequences of hockey with an empty net I’ve ever seen. We had maybe 20-30 seconds of actual O-zone time, and could not bury the ENG. Bratt got stopped by Elias Petterson, then he was stripped trying to dance at the blue line, Jack and Brown tried to be cute passing back and forth, Nico had one form the blue line blocked. I was literally cackling on my couch at these.

Vancouver did get the 4th to make it 5-4 with 1:12 left, but the Devils shut the door and closed it out. Totally unnecessary stress for this one, but a win’s a win and that is now 5 of 6. On to Seattle.

Some Scattered Thoughts​

I thought Jack looked stronger on the puck than he has since his return – he was shooting a lot (5 attempts) and was more engaged physically. He’s still not right, but better.

Probably the worst game I’ve seen Bratt play. Not sure what his deal is, but he is generally sure handed, and just is fumbling the puck every where, had that brutal turnover and this is the longest scoring slump of his career.

I’m not convinced this top 6 works as constructed, and wouldn’t mind seeing some new combos up there. Don’t touch Lenni-Glass-Grits.

Dadonov, Fitz’s big scoring addition this summer, that he praised effusively in his recent press conference – what is it that this guy does exactly? Good thing I gambled on him to finally score.

Markstrom was pretty bad, he was leaving rebounds everywhere. He does this thing where he looks around/behind him on shots and he did that A LOT tonight. It’s a pretty good indicator he’s gonna be an adventure, and he finished .7 below expected on goals tonight.

Timo was 6/10 in the dot. lol. Guess he’s a center now?

That’s it! Stay warm, hope everyone survives the storm on the east coast (I’m not proud of the things I did at the grocery store earlier, sorry ma’am, wherever you are).

See you back here on Sunday and let us know your thoughts below!

LGD

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/devils-game-recaps/65916/late-night-nail-biter

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils in the Details – 1/23/26: No Surgery (For Now) Edition

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

Luke Hughes update:

After consulting with doctors, Luke Hughes will not get surgery for now and instead rehab his upper body injury.

The Devils placed Hughes on LTIR today; he’s expected to be sidelined through the Olympic break then TBD.

— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) January 22, 2026

#NEWS: We've placed D Luke Hughes (shoulder) on Long-Term Injured Reserve, retroactive to January 19.

We've also recalled D Colton White from Utica (AHL). He's met the team in Vancouver. pic.twitter.com/bunILuNMph

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 21, 2026

It looks like Prudential Center renovations are coming soon: [NJ Spotlight News]

Hockey Links​

Notable dates:

Olympic Notes:

-Trade Freeze starts at 3 pm ET on Feb 4…to 11:59 pm ET on Feb 22

-Teams can not practice from Feb 6-16

-Teams can have full practices after 2 pm local on Feb 17

-Olympic Tournament is Feb 11-22

-NHL Schedule resumes Feb 25

— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) January 21, 2026

Josh Doan gets a seven-year deal:

SEVEN MORE YEARS OF DOANER

We have signed Josh Doan to a seven-year extension with an AAV of $6.95 million.

Details → https://t.co/zc05oBo2cE pic.twitter.com/XVhj1KQJFh

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 21, 2026

Could we get a new form of reviews around penalties? [TSN]

A look around the league at potential trade fits for the Rangers and Artemi Panarin: [The Athletic ($)]

Pete DeBoer: “I’m ready to get behind a bench again. I’m ready to dust my skates off and start to coach. You realize how much you miss it, especially as the playoff races heat up. That’s just how you’re wired. I’ve always believed that everything happens for a reason, and I know I’ll look back and be thankful that this happened, as painful as it was.” [The Athletic ($)]

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...he-details-1-23-26-no-surgery-for-now-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Game Preview #52: New Jersey Devils at Seattle Kraken

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (27-22-2) at the Seattle Kraken (22-19-9)

The Time: 3:00 PM EST

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Hockey Network

3 Points Out​

Since the New York Islanders lost yesterday to the Buffalo Sabres, who are now fourth in the Eastern Conference with their outstanding offense under Lindy Ruff, the New Jersey Devils are now only three points out of eighth place.

Yes, four teams have 57 points, in limbo on the bubble, between the Devils and Islanders. But no, the Devils should not care. A win will pull them to within one point of a playoff spot today.

The Devils are also on a three-game win streak for the first time since late November, when they beat the Red Wings, Blues, and Sabres from November 24 to 28. Perhaps more notably, their wins against the Oilers and Canucks this week are the first time they have had consecutive regulation wins since October, when they won eight straight in regulation during their nine-game winning streak, which ended with the overtime win over Colorado that featured Brett Pesce’s untimely hand injury. Truly, I am most concerned by the team’s reliance on overtime for wins while not forcing enough of their losses to the three-on-three for an extra point. But still, they are three points out.

Kraken With Similar Offensive Troubles​

Do not expect a high-scoring affair today. The Seattle Kraken have scored just 138 goals, which is five more than the Devils have scored to this point despite Seattle having played one fewer game. On the other hand, Seattle has allowed among the fewest goals against in the league, with just 148 against to date. By comparison, the Devils are -22 in goals scored. This is unacceptable for the Devils one way or another, as they have so much money invested into defense and goaltending that anything other than a top-10 defense should be considered an abject failure.

To their advantage, the Devils’ core is still built to score more than Seattle. Matty Beniers leads the Kraken in points with 33, while Jordan Eberle leads them in goals with 17 (also with 32 points…35 year olds are allowed to score?). Jared McCann, however, who missed 24 games with an injury, is already up to 12 goals — so he will be dangerous on the ice. That trio of McCann, Beniers, and Eberle is likely to be Nico Hischier’s task for the afternoon, as the Devils’ top scorer continues to play in a shutdown role because of the difficulty of finding a defensive fourth line center. On the other side, Chandler Stephenson and Frederick Gaudreau eat up defensive minutes so Beniers and Shane Wright don’t have to, though neither have been that good at it this season. Stephenson, in particular, is playing a far cry from his earlier days in Vegas, though he is still a legitimate power play threat playing around 20 minutes a night.

Ace Up the Sleeve​

The Devils’ third line of Arseny Gritsyuk, Cody Glass, and Lenni Hameenaho need to play more minutes. In three games together, they have created multiple goals and have had an impossibly high expected goals percentage, which has trended towards literal perfect levels when Hameenaho is on the ice. Between Gritsyuk’s measurable ability to tilt the ice, Cody Glass’s unsung goal scoring ability, and Hameenaho’s youthful skill and professional intensity, the Devils have a real third scoring line on their hands.

Whether this line ends up against Wright or Gaudreau today, they need to win their matchup, just as Hischier or Hughes need to win their matchup against Stephenson (though I expect Hischier to be going up against Beniers). Until this team shows it can combine a shutdown effort with a serious, NHL-level offensive attack, it will be up to this fast, skilled, young line to make up for what the veterans are not doing. I hope for another great game from them.

Note on The Storm​

I hope that everyone is home by now, if you are within the path of the winter storm enveloping the eastern United States today. Thankfully, the Devils are out west, or this would have likely been a postponed match. On our end at All About the Jersey, we will try to make sure that a game recap gets up today, but I am unsure about the power impacts. To the south, ice will threaten to cause multi-day power outages, while I expect to have about a foot of snow or more by the time this game ends, with snow falling at over two inches per hour for a decent stretch of the early afternoon. I will make sure the gamethread gets up, but in the case of widespread outages, the recap may just be a highlight-based discussion page. Hopefully, my internet is still on by 3:00.

Your Thoughts​

What do you think of today’s game? Will you be able to watch? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...review-52-new-jersey-devils-at-seattle-kraken

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2025-26 Gamethread #52: New Jersey Devils at Seattle Kraken

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (27-22-2) at the Seattle Kraken (22-19-9)

The Time: 3:00pm ET

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Radio Network

The Game Preview: I wrote the preview this morning.

The Rules: If you have been a reader here, you already know the rules. But for the rest, a reminder: please do not swear in the comment section, and keep comments relevant to the hockey game going on. Beyond that, do not attack any other commenters, and do not ask for or pass along illegal streams on this board.

LGD!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...thread-52-new-jersey-devils-at-seattle-kraken

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Cryptid Cup Returned to Seattle

The Devils finished their West Coast trip with a Sunday matinee in Seattle, dropping a tough one to the Kraken. Joey Daccord headlined this win, stopping 27 of 29 shots, including 12 of 13 in the final frame to send the Devils home with a 3-1 record on their northwest road trip. This one would feel better if they didn’t punt so many points early in the season, and it would’ve put us within 1 pt of the Isles in 3rd place. We need these games, and have very little margin for error.

1st period​

The first was mostly disjointed, save for a few shifts from Jack/Bratt/Timo, as penalties really defined the period. At 6:51 of the first, Shane Wright went off for high sticking on Glass (although was that friendly fire by Kovacevic?), and the power play got to work. After a few attempts to hit the bumper one-timer, they finally got a good look with Jack circling behind and finding Dougie who buried it far side through a screen. Seattle was clearly trying to shut down that bumper shot, which left Dougie wide open. That is now 3 PP goals in the last 4 chances.

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Don’t let Dougie get hot! That is 10 points in their last 8 games since the benching a few weeks ago. Also, I really think we should investigate getting on the board first, it seems to work for us as we were 18-4-1 coming into today’s game.

As mentioned, penalties were abound, and the biggest one was from Palat getting popped by Lindgren, which Mercer objected to. With the auto-instigator in place, he got a two and ten for some wrestling. After killing that one off, the Devils would go on the power play again at 15:28, but it would be short lived as Dougie picked Winterton on a zone entry and got 2 for being big. After killing the short PK off, and with time winding down, Cotter went off for a careless high stick at 18:56. Nearing the end of the period the Kraken got a glorious cross slot opportunity but Nico had a strong stick on the back door, shutting it down.

On to the 2nd.

2nd Period​

They started the period with 56 seconds to kill off in Cotter’s high sticking penalty, which they did with relative ease. Cotter got a good chance coming out of the box, but he got closed out and got a contested shot off that didn’t go. The rest of the 2nd was tilted to the Devils, in particular the Jack/Bratt/Timo line was buzzing, but couldn’t find the net. The Devils went back to the PP again, and got close but couldn’t squeeze it through Daccord on a split that his grandkids grandkids will feel. Timo also had a glorious chance blocked.

The Kraken tied it up 1-1 on an innocuous wrister from Ryker Evans at the point that pinballed through Markstrom. Your mileage may vary ascribing blame on this one, but it really started with a high flip from Timo that didn’t go anywhere and him subsequently getting pinned on a long shift. Add in a Kovacevic tip, Marky letting it leak through him and its 1-1.

3rd Period​

The wheels feel off for 17 seconds in the 3rd and that was basically all it took. at 7:04 Bratt and Nemo had a bad miscommunication, and Beniers roofs a backhand over a sprawling Markstrom after cutting across the crease. Shortly after they got another off a weird sequence. Nico lost the draw, and a shot from the top of the left circle found its way to Stephenson who fed it cross crease and to Catton who whiffed on it but it had enough momentum to have Kovacevic’s skate guide it in.

We did put another on the board as Jack gets a nice bounce off Larrson’s knee on the PP to make it 3-2. This new look powerplay has been cashing in as of late (25% since the new year / 11th in the league), with Brown moved onto the unit, and Dougie back where he belongs.

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But that was all we have as the hockey gods were not on our side – a bad bounce up at the point over Dougie’s stick sprung Eberle with 1:12 left, and he buried the empty netter, and that was that.

Some Scattered Thoughts​

I hate to continue harping on someone, but we really need more from Bratt. Since he scored twice against Minnesota, he has 1 assist in 6 games to go along with a -6.

I would really would love some analytics site to develop a strike zone or spray chart for where guys shoot the puck to. Timo, again, with multiple clean grade-A looks only to launch them high and wide, or right into the goalie’s logo. in his last 15 games he has 2 goals and 2 assists. We cannot wait until March every year for this guy.

The PK has been great, in their last 16 games (basically since Pesce’s return) they have gone 26/30 in the kill or 86.7% and are 4th in the league in 2026. It would be a lot of fun if we could have more than 1-2 things working at once.

Seattle blocked 20 shots, and while not a crazy number, they do a very good job of collapsing to the slot/netfront. Every pass we tried to get in there, it seemed like there were 3-4 Kraken around it at all times.

Pesce had a scary moment toward the end of the 2nd period, after being upended by Tolvanen and landing face first. His forehead was leaking blood, and it took about half way through the 3rd for his return. He had a gorgeous “hockey guy” gash in his eyeborw.

I wouldn’t necessarily say any of the goals were 100% on Markstrom, but his general sloppiness probably contributed to all three. The first one he needs to close off, the second he was way out and couldn’t recover, and over committed on the 3rd. Not his fault though when all we can muster is 2 PP goals, one of which went off the other team.

Again, it sucks that we need almost every game here on out, and psychologically getting within one point of the Isles would’ve done wonders. But 3-1 on this trip vaulted them back into the mix, and they have a stretch of winnable games coming up.

These D Pairs need some mixing, no idea why they are forcing Nemec to his off hand when Pesce is great on his off hand. Am I crazy thinking it should look like this:

Dillon-Dougie

Pesce – Nemec

Siegs – Kovacevic

Let me know your thoughts! Hope everyone stays safe and warm, and damage from the storm was minimal.

LGD

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/devils-game-recaps/65941/cryptid-cup-returned-to-seattle

 

[New Jersey Devils]

A Little Metropolitan Scoreboard Watching Until The Olympic Break

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:

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Pittsburgh Penguins​

2nd in Metropolitan, 63 points in 51 games

Date	Opponent	Home/Away
1/29	Chicago Blackhawks	Home
1/31	New York Rangers	Home
2/2	Ottawa Senators	Home
2/3	New York Islanders	Away
2/5	Buffalo Sabres	Away

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.

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New York Islanders​

3rd in Metropolitan, 59 points in 51 games

Date	Opponent	Home/Away
1/26	Philadelphia Flyers	Away
1/28	New York Rangers	Home
1/29	New York Rangers	Away
1/31	Nashville Predators	Home
2/2	Washington Capitals	Away
2/3	Pittsburgh Penguins	Home
2/5	New Jersey Devils	Away

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.

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Philadelphia Flyers​

4th in Metropolitan, 57 points in 50 games

Date	Opponent	Home/Away
1/26	New York Islanders	Home
1/28	Columbus Blue Jackets	Away
1/29	Boston Bruins	Away
1/31	Los Angeles Kings	Home
2/3	Washington Capitals	Home
2/5	Ottawa Senators	Home

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.

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Washington Capitals​

5th in Metropolitan, 57 points in 53 games

Date	Opponent	Home/Away
1/27	Seattle Kraken	Away
1/29	Detroit Red Wings	Away
1/31	Carolina Hurricanes	Home
2/2	New York Islanders	Home
2/3	Philadelphia Flyers	Away
2/5	Nashville Predators	Home

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.

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New Jersey Devils​

6th in Metropolitan, 56 points in 52 games

Date	Opponent	Home/Away
1/27	Winnipeg Jets	Home
1/29	Nashville Predators	Home
1/31	Ottawa Senators	Away
2/3	Columbus Blue Jackets	Home
2/5	New York Islanders	Home

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.

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Columbus Blue Jackets​

7th in Metropolitan, 55 points in 51 games

Date	Opponent	Home/Away
1/26	Los Angeles Kings	Home
1/28	Philadelphia Flyers	Home
1/30	Chicago Blackhawks	Away
1/31	St. Louis Blues	Away
2/3	New Jersey Devils	Away
2/4	Chicago Blackhawks	Home

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.

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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!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...e-scoreboard-watching-until-the-olympic-break

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Game Preview #53: New Jersey Devils vs. Winnipeg Jets

The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (27-23-2) vs. Winnipeg Jets (20-24-7)

The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio Network

The Time: 7:00pm ET

Last Devils Game​

New Jersey finished up a four-game, west coast road trip by losing 4-2 to the Seattle Kraken. Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes scored power play goals, but the 5-on-5 offense couldn’t finish (again), and the Kraken took advantage of fortuitous bounces and leaky play from Jacob Markstrom.

Last Jets Game​

Winnipeg was last in action on Saturday, falling 5-1 to the Detroit Red Wings. Cole Koepke was the lone goal scorer for the Jets, while Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves on 30 shots.

Last Devils-Jets Game​

It happened earlier this month on January 11, and it was a 4-3 regulation loss. It was a frustrating game with questionable defensive effort, and New Jersey could not outscore their defensive problems.

Return Of The Mac​

Tonight, the New Jersey Devils will induct John MacLean into the organization’s Ring of Honor. MacLean becomes the fourth member of the Ring of Honor, joining John McMullen, Sergei Brylin, and Jacques Lemaire. It is a well-deserved honor for a franchise legend and Stanley Cup champion.

MacLean was drafted by the Devils sixth overall in the 1983 Entry Draft. He was thrown into NHL action right away, playing 23 games in 1983-84 (all from October to December), registered one point, a goal, in that span. That paltry production didn’t last long, as he soon became one of the greatest forwards in franchise history. He set a career-high in points with 87 during the 1988-89 season, and a career-high in goals with 45 in 1990-91 (a year in which he also finished ninth in the Hart Trophy voting).

In all, he played 14 seasons in New Jersey, registering 347 goals, 354 assists, and 701 points. To this day, he is still second in Devils history in goals and points, looking up only at Patrik Elias, as well as fourth in franchise history in assists. MacLean was a terrific offensive producer from the early days of the organization’s time in New Jersey to the middle of the golden era of Devils hockey.

MacLean’s most iconic moment came on April 3, 1988 against the Chicago Blackhawks. On the final day of the regular season, the Devils needed a win to clinch the franchise’s first playoff berth since moving to the Garden State. They found themselves tied at three as the game headed to overtime. In the days of ties, New Jersey had to beat the clock and find the winner if they wanted to play past the regular season. With about three minutes left in the season, MacLean did a great job of keeping the puck in the Chicago zone and maintaining possession. Joe Cirella activated from the blue line and fired a shot that Darren Pang saved. But the rebound went right to MacLean in the high slot, who banged it home to give the Devils their first taste of postseason hockey.

Here’s the full clip:

New Jersey made it all the way to the Conference Final that year, eventually losing to the Boston Bruins in seven games. MacLean’s goal laid the foundation for the glory years ahead.

Seven years after MacLean’s goal, his Devils took down the mighty Detroit Red Wings in the 1995 Stanley Cup Final to claim the franchise’s first championship. It was a well-deserved reward for the stellar career MacLean had put together up to that point. He, along with Kan Daneyko and Bruce Driver, were the elder statesmen of that Devils team, and he was a key reason why New Jersey shocked the hockey world and brought the Cup to the Meadowlands.

John MacLean is a franchise legend, and this honor is well-deserved. Congratulations to an all-time Devil.

The Modern Day Devils​

As for the current Devils, they’re coming off a loss to the Kraken, as stated. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise successful road trip, where they took six of a possible eight points. The same problems New Jersey has faced all season long continued to plague the Devils on the trip, namely a lack of 5-on-5 offense and shoddy goaltending. If not for those struggles, it most likely would’ve been a perfect eight points out of eight.

New Jersey didn’t practice yesterday, so we didn’t get any new updates or tidbits to chew on. I’m going to assume we get the same lineup as we did in the Kraken game, though perhaps with some lines or pairings slightly juggled. The one change that absolutely needs to happen is Jake Allen needs to start tonight. I don’t think that Markstrom played a truly horrific game on Sunday. All three goals were varying levels of “Not his fault”, especially the last two. That being said, Markstrom gets paid to stop some shots that he shouldn’t from time to time, and he just never really does that anymore. He allows every single goal that you expect him to allow, and then he allows some goals that you don’t expect him to allow. Add it all up, and you get a truly horrifying .879 save percentage through 28 games. That is simply unplayable. And this isn’t a case of his defense leaving him hung out to dry to the point where his numbers look worse than he’s actually played. The defense in front of him is usually fine, Markstrom has just been completely terrible this season.

I don’t know how much longer the Devils can afford to keep playing Markstrom. He just refuses to give his team a chance to win anytime he plays. The fact that Tom Fitzgerald rushed into extending him for two more seasons after this one has the potential to set the franchise back a decade unless Markstrom figures out how to play goalie again. Or if Fitzgerald figures out a way to ship Markstrom out of town. Though honestly, I feel it would be more accurate to say if whoever replaces Fitzgerald after this season figures out a way to ship Markstrom out of town.

In any case, I do expect Allen to get the start tonight, so expect the Devils to at least have a chance to win this game.

Flight Cancelled​

The Winnipeg Jets won the President’s Trophy as the top team in the NHL last season. They will most decidedly not win the President’s Trophy again this year. At 20-24-7, they enter today tied for the second-worst record in the entire league, ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks. A season after finishing with 116 points, the Jets are on pace to not even crack 80. Needless to say, it’s been a terribly disappointing year for them.

How bad are things in Winnipeg? Here’s head coach Scott Arniel after their 5-1 loss to the Red Wings on Saturday:

#NHLJets HC Scott Arniel:

“That game didn’t turn. That was one of the most embarrassing games for me in the last month. All of us. We were looking for a pond hockey, don’t get hit, don’t hit anybody. Just play an easy, soft game. That’s pretty much what we did for two periods.”

— Ken Wiebe (@WiebesWorld) January 25, 2026

So, yeah…not great!

After defeating the Devils on the 11th, Winnipeg had a mini scoring bender, with five then six goals in their next two games (both wins). Since then though, offense has been hard to come by, with eight goals over their last five games. That includes exactly one goal in each of their last two outings. They enter having scored 149 goals, 23rd in the league. Combine that with New Jersey’s pathetic offense, and this game might be first to two goals wins.

On the other end, Connor Hellebuyck has taken a big step back this season, which is probably the biggest reason for their struggles next to their offense. Now granted, Hellebuyck was on such a high perch that even a steep drop still puts him at above average, but being merely above average just hasn’t been good enough for the Jets. The two-time reigning Vezina Trophy winner (and three-time overall winner) and reigning Hart Trophy winner enters this game with a .902 save percentage and 2.69 goals against average. According to Natural Stat Trick, Hellebuyck has saved 4.65 Goals Above Expected this season. Again, solid numbers, but nowhere close to his peak. I’m not sure if he’ll get the start tonight, and if he doesn’t, we’ll see former Devil (for one game) Eric Comrie get the call. Comrie has been pretty awful this season, with a save percentage of .888 in 18 games. This after a 2024-25 season in which he posted a stellar .914 save percentage in 20 contests.

As far as that limp Winnipeg offense goes, there is a huge disparity between the team’s big four and the rest of the depth. The two stars, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, are certainly holding up their end of the bargain. Scheifele leads the team with 25 goals and 61 points in 51 games, while Connor is right behind him with 23 goals and 58 points, also through 51 games. After that there’s a drop to Gabe Vilardi and his 19 goals and 44 points, then Josh Morrissey with 10 goals and 42 points. But after that? In fifth place in scoring on the Jets are Jonathan Toews and Alex Iafallo, both with 19 points each, less than half of fourth-place Morrissey.

See what I mean about a huge disparity? If New Jersey can lock up the four big guns in Winnipeg’s lineup, and particularly Scheifele and Connor, then even the Devils should be able to outscore the Jets tonight.

Projected Lineup​

Here is how the Jets lined up in their last game:

LINE CHART: January 24 vs. Detroit Red Wings pic.twitter.com/GORP1pvbKo

— Winnipeg Jets PR (@WpgJetsPR) January 24, 2026

Expect something similar tonight.

Your Take​

What do you make of tonight’s game? Will the Devils get back in the win column? What is your favorite memory of Johnny Mac? As always, thanks for reading!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...preview-53-new-jersey-devils-vs-winnipeg-jets

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2025-26 Gamethread #53: New Jersey Devils vs. Winnipeg Jets

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (27-23-2) versus the Winnipeg Jets (20-24-7).

The Time: 7:00pm ET

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Radio Network

The Game Preview: Jackson wrote the preview this morning.

The Rules: If you have been a reader here, you already know the rules. But for the rest, a reminder: please do not swear in the comment section, and keep comments relevant to the hockey game going on. Beyond that, do not attack any other commenters, and do not ask for or pass along illegal streams on this board.

LGD!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...ethread-53-new-jersey-devils-vs-winnipeg-jets

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils Come Up Short on Johnny Mac’s Big Night

The New Jersey Devils were looking for a little nostalgia when they made John MacLean the fourth member of the team’s Ring of Honor in a pregame ceremony Tuesday night at Prudential Center.

What they got instead was deja vu.

That’s because these Devils, who lost 4-3 to the Winnipeg Jets, are way more reminiscent of the 2010-11 team MacLean coached to a disastrous 9-22-0-2 record before being fired, then the plucky upstart Devils he starred for in the late 80s and early 90s, let alone the 1995 or 2003 powerhouses he won Cups with as a player and assistant coach.

With most of the franchise’s all-time greats looking on, the Devils no-showed the first two periods. A couple of late goals, one in the second and one in the third, made the final score look respectable, but this didn’t feel like a one-goal game.

The Devils, desperate to keep their playoff hopes alive, have now dropped two straight, all but wiping out any positive vibes they may have rekindled by sweeping their western Canada road trip last week. Somehow, they’ve found a way to lose to the 29th-place Jets twice in 17 days.

Tuesday’s loss meant they failed to gain ground on the idle Islanders and Flyers, and will have to hope Seattle beats Washington in Tuesday’s late game to remain a point behind the Caps. Both the Islanders and Flyers have games in hand on the Devils.

If MacLean hadn’t seen much Devils hockey recently, the team gave him a crash course in what’s made this year’s edition so maddening and disappointing. They played all their greatest hits. They opened Tuesday’s set by allowing a goal on the first shot, followed that by falling behind on two quick goals in the second, and closed with a frantic attempt to tie the game that was too little, too late.

The 15,454 in attendance hadn’t even settled into their seats before the Jets took advantage of a sloppy line change, with Mark Scheifele scoring his 26th of the season on a three-on-one break at 1 minute, 33 seconds to make it 1-0.

Finnish rookie Lenni Hameenaho, in just his fifth NHL game, scored his second of the year at 8:02. Arseny Gritsyuk tipped a bad pass from Jets winger Alex Iafallo to spring Hameenaho at the blue line. Hameenaho broke in and beat Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck five-hole.

Serve up that fresh Taylor Hameenaho. pic.twitter.com/M73o7aLsUF

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 28, 2026

But goals by Gabriel Vilardi and Cole Koepke 4:29 apart early in the second dropped the Devils in a 3-1 hole and left them reeling.

Nino Niederreiter’s 8th of the year at 16:42, scored off a two-one-one thanks to a failed pinch by Dougie Hamilton, made it 4-1.

As punchless as the Devils offense had been to that point – they had just 12 shots on goal with less than a minute to go in the second – it looked like an insurmountable lead.

But Jesper Bratt’s 12th of the year with 36 seconds to play got the Devils within two.

Bratt converted a slap pass from Jack Hughes, who was absolutely fantastic Tuesday, on a late power play.

Bratter cashes in. #NJDevils | @Mikes_Amazing pic.twitter.com/XCdKRvLqCZ

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 28, 2026

It was Bratt’s 485th career point allowing him to pass Scott Gomez for fifth all-time in franchise scoring.

He’d pick up his 486th with 1:46 to play in the third when he set up Nico Hischier’s 17th of the year with goalie Jake Allen on the bench for an extra attacker, but the Devils were unable to come up with the equalizer.

Palat Traded to Isles​

Some good news from Tuesday night: Ondrej Palat is gone. General manager Tom Fitzgerald sent Palat and what remains of his 5-year, $30 million contract to the Islanders along with a third-round pick in the 2026 draft and a 2027 sixth-rounder. The Devils get 27-year-old Maxim Tsyplakov in return. Tsyplakov has been a big disappointment to the Isles this season after a nice rookie season where he’d scored 10 goals and 35 points in 77 games. So far this season, Tsyplakov has a goal and two points in 27 games.

Up Next​

The Devils are back in action at 7 pm on Thursday night when they host the Nashville Predators. At 24-23-5 Nashville is four points back of the second wild card spot in the west. The Predators rallied from a 2-0 deficit on Tuesday before losing to Boston 3-2 in overtime.

Your Take​

What did everyone think? The Devils are a very frustrating team to watch. Every time it looks as though they’ve turned some kind of corner or they start to build momentum they throw it away. The first two periods tonight were totally unacceptable. They seem to think there’s a lot more runway left then there is.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...devils-come-up-short-on-johnny-macs-big-night

 

[New Jersey Devils]

New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: Your USHL Goaltender of the Week, Veeti Louhivaara

With plenty of positive goalie news amongst the Devils prospects in recent weeks, one goaltender’s achievements went largely unnoticed.

Veeti’s Very Good Week​

Goaltender Veeti Louhivaara has excelled since joining the Chicago Steel of the USHL midseason, his third team he’s played for this year. In seven games for the Steel, Louhivaara is 3-1-3 with a 2.63 GAA and .917 SV%. It was all capped by a glorious week earning the netminder USHL goaltender of the week honors for his two wins including a sterling 30 save shutout, his first in Chicago for coach Scott Gomez.

Yes, that Scott Gomez.

It’s too early and too small a sample size to call this a breakout yet for Veeti Louhivaara, but his overall play has improved since coming over to Chicago, making him a prospect to keep a closer eye on.

Around the Pool:​

Málek has stopped 99 of the last 106 he’s faced over the last 5 starts since being relieved Dec. 28.

1.41 GAA / .934 sv% in the 5 games. https://t.co/Sa7yyc1Hmu

— Ben Birnell (@BB_URSentinel) January 26, 2026

• I don’t know the Devils plans (if any) for center Samu Salminen, but they could use some centers in Utica.

Samu Salminen won 12-of-17 faceoffs last night and has won double-digit draws in 12 games this season.

More Notes: https://t.co/Hs8PEnLK2B#GoPios pic.twitter.com/Dco13p7B8H

— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) January 24, 2026

• Utica winger Shane LaChance has been hot this month with seven points in his last ten games, moving him up to seventh on the team in scoring with 15.
• Goaltender Tyler Brennan has been quietly putting together quality appearances for the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL and now sits with a 6-6-2 record, 2.51 GAA and .911 SV%.

Your Take​

Have an opinion? Post it in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/p...-ushl-goaltender-of-the-week-veeti-louhivaara

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Game Preview #54: Nashville Predators @ New Jersey Devils

As Bryce likes to call him, “The Captain..” | Photo by Rich Graessle/NHL via Getty Images

• The Matchup: Nashville Predators (24-23-5) @ New Jersey Devils (27-24-2)
• The Time: 7:00 pm EST
• The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio

Last Devils Game​

On Tuesday, the Devils lost their second game in a row to the 29th place Winnipeg Jets. Yes my friends, the Devils lost to a team that only has a better record than 3 other teams and more win than 2 other teams.

The teams went goal for goal in the first period to end the 1st tied at 1. Winnipeg would score 3 goals in a row in the 2nd period, before Jesper Bratt scored his 12th of the season to bring the Devils to within 2 heading into the final period. The Captain scored his 17th goal of the season late in the 3rd period, but by that point, it was too little too late.

Speaking of too little, too late, Ondrej Palat did not play on Tuesday. As you know by now, he was traded to the New York Islanders, along with a 2026 3rd round draft pick and a 2027 6th round pick for…checks notes…Maxim Tsyplakov. Not that it really matters, as it was simply time for the Devils to move on from Palat.

Jake Allen did another one of his spot on Markstrom impressions, letting up 4 goals on 26 shots, and the Devils showed yet again, that they are really not a good team.

Last Predators Game​

On Tuesday night, the Predators lost to the Boston Bruins, 3-2. Boston jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals in the first and second periods, before Nashville scored late in the 2nd period to make it 2-1. Nashville scored again, midway through the 3rd period to send the game to OT, where David Pastrnak won the game in OT for the Bruins.

Like the Devils, (and Winnipeg) the Predators are another team that is struggling this season, playing basically .500 level hockey. Or, as I like to call it, not good enough. Like the Devils, Nashville has also lost their last 2 games in a row. One of these teams will break their losing streak tonight.

Considering he has started 11 of the last 13 games for Nashville, I would expect Juuse Saros to play tonight. Though, if there is any team in the NHL to get your backup goalie a win against, it’s the Devils. Maybe Justus Annunen will get some ice time tonight in a rare start. It doesn’t get any easier for a goalie than facing the Devils offense!

Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.​

Ondrej Palat won’t be playing ever again for the Devils, so at least we can stop talking about whether the Devils should bench him or not.

Luke Hughes is not due to be back any time soon. Cody Glass left the game in the 2nd period on Tuesday and did not return. Hopefully he is back in action tonight against Nashville. However, based on a post from Amanda Stein from Tuesday, it doesn’t look promising for his return tonight.

Glass wanted to try to play at the end of the second; but being so close to the end of the period Keefe elected not to play him.

Wanted to give it a go, but ultimately in the second intermission did not feel well enough to play.

Further evaluation needed before any update.

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) January 28, 2026

Considering Jake Allen has only started back to back games 3 times, going back to November, I would expect Jacob “I’m not an NHL goalie any longer” Markstrom to get the start tonight.

Grimace’s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker​

Grimace dipped his toes back in the water recently in making another prediction and like the Devils, came up short. Like them, he is a .500 level predictor. Not. Good. Enough.

Grimace’s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 12-11-0.

Your Take​

The big news in Devils land is the Palat trade. He may be a winner, and a great teammate, but his time here had run its course. Honestly, other than the game 7 assist against the Rangers, I can’t think of any other memorable plays involving him in his time here. The way this season is going, he has a better chance with the Islanders anyway, and I wish him good luck. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!

In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris – thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my brand new podcast on here, if any of you are interested in listening. We have a light hearted, fun discussion about any movies, music or video games mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. Please feel free to listen to us on any of the formats below and any feedback is welcome (positive and negative). Also, please follow us and subscribe, even if you think we stink.

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Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...view-54-nashville-predators-new-jersey-devils

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2025-26 Gamethread #54: New Jersey Devils vs. Nashville Predators

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - NOVEMBER 25: Roman Josi #59 of the Nashville Predators takes the puck around the net as Nico Hischier #13 of the New Jersey Devils defends during the second period at Prudential Center on November 25, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (27-24-2) versus the Nashville Predators (24-23-5)

The Time: 7:00pm ET

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Radio Network

The Game Preview: Matt wrote the preview this morning.

The Rules: If you have been a reader here, you already know the rules. But for the rest, a reminder: please do not swear in the comment section, and keep comments relevant to the hockey game going on. Beyond that, do not attack any other commenters, and do not ask for or pass along illegal streams on this board.

LGD!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/d...d-54-new-jersey-devils-vs-nashville-predators