News Devils Team Notes

[New Jersey Devils]

Weekly Metropolitan Division Snapshot: 4/6/2025 - 4/12/2025

The Caps remain at the top, even for this sourpuss of a Capitals fan. | Photo by Katherine Gawlik/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In the twenty-third weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the 2024-25 season, Carolina clinched a playoff spot, Philadelphia got eliminated, the Devils are on the verge of clinching, and Pittsburgh simply would not tank. Learn about what happened last week and what’s next in this post.

We are coming to the end of the 2024-25 regular season. This is the penultimate weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot for this campaign. The picture is almost complete. The Carolina Hurricanes joined the Washington Capitals in clinching a playoff spot in this past week. The New Jersey Devils have all but clinched one themselves. The Pittsburgh Penguins have all but been mathematically eliminated. Not that you would know that from the Penguins’ play as of late. The Philadelphia Flyers have been mathematically eliminated as of Saturday night. The wild card in the Eastern Conference has one real opening - Ottawa has the other - and given Montreal’s hot streak, that may be closing fast. Which is bad news for the New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets, the New York Islanders, and Detroit. Not that they helped their own causes all that much. (Well, Detroit did.) Clarity may not be asked for but it will come with two weeks left in this season. Here is how the division looks as of this morning.

Standings via NHL.com, Playoff odds via Moneypuck, First overall draft pick odds via Tankathon
Metropolitan Division Standings as of the morning of April 06, 2025 with Wild Card Watch

I hope you like games within the Metropolitan Division. All eight teams have at least one to play and all but two days in the week has at least one. As ever, those games are in bold and highlighted. The two games between Columbus and Ottawa are in italics even if the Sens are not really a “watch” team for the wild card and are more of a “locked” for the wild card.

Schedules via NHL.com
Metropolitan Division Schedule for April 06, 2025 through April 12, 2025 with Wild Card Watch teams

Here is the week that was and week that will be for all eight teams.

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Washington Capitals​

Sunday vs. Buffalo - First in the East hosted Last in the East. But no one told these Sabres to lie down and die. No, they shocked D.C. with a spirited performance in a high-scoring game. The first period had just 2 goals. Jakob Chychrun opened the scoring past midway through the first. A Rasmus Sandin boarding call yielded a Tage Thompson power play goal to tie it up shortly after. The second period had 4 goals. Ryan McLeod put the Caps down 1 with an early goal. No matter, Chychrun responded on the next shift to tie it up. A few minutes later, Alex Tuch tipped in a Connor Clifton shot to make it 3-2. Several minutes later, Sam Lafferty backhanded in a 4-2 score. Where was Washington’s response? In the third period, that had 7 total goals. Aliaksei Protas scored shorthanded within the first minute to put the Caps within a goal. Thompson scored on that power play (a double minor on Pierre-Luc Dubois) to put the Caps down 5-3. Jack Quinn made it 6-3 minutes later. The PutinTeam Leader tipped in a Sandin shot to make it 6-4. A Beck Malenstyn tripping call yielded a PPG for Dubois to put the Caps within one once more. Buffalo avoided that fate when Tuch tipped in a second goal of the day to make it 7-5. Washington’s loss was secured when Peyton Krebs put in an empty netter. An 8-5 loss to Buffalo may be a cause for concern, Capitals.

Tuesday at Boston - The Capitals shipped up to Boston to end a slide. They would do so. In the first period, a pair of penalties helped the Capitals go up 2. Dylan McIlrath was in the box for cross checking. Nic Dowd scored shorthanded. Before that call ended, David Pastrnak took a hooking call. After McIlrath served his penalty, the Putinist put in a PPG for 2-0. Boston would claw their way back in the second period. Vinni Letteri made it a one shot game over 6 minutes into the period. Late in the second, a Chychrun holding call was punished by Pastrnak to make it 2-2. Washington would respond in the third period. Dylan Strome broke the tie past halfway and Tom Wilson added an insurance goal over four minutes later. It would be needed as Pastrnak scored shortly after Wilson’s score. Washington would hold on to get a 4-3 win. They ended their slide while Boston’s free fall continues.

Wednesday at Carolina - It was a big-time matchup with little stakes for Washington beyond wanting to see what the Capitals could do in Raleigh. They showed that they could take a beating. Carolina went up 3-0 in the first period. Sean Walker opened the scoring, and a pair of power play goals ran up the score. Jackson Blake punished Lars Eller’s interference penalty and Seth Jarvis punished a delay of game call on Rasmus Sandin. The Capitals were dug in deeper in the second period by Logan Stankoven. Their one glimmer of hope was when Putin’s Favorite converted a power play late in the period. Down 4-1, though, a comeback was unlikely. And it was. Blake extended the score with a second PPG of the game that punished a Jakob Chychrun slash. Washington may have got mad but they did not get close to winning the hockey game. They suffered a 5-1 loss.

Friday vs. Chicago - The Capitals needed a win to avoid losing the week. The media has been all focused on the Putinist’s drive to beat Wayne Gretzky’s career regular season NHL goals record. The Blackhawks are playing for lottery balls. Everyone got what they wanted on Friday night. The PutinTeam Leader opened the scoring to put himself one behind Gretzky’s 894 early in the first. Tyler Bertuzzi tied it up later on to give the game some tension. Tension that ramped up when Frank Nazar III made it 2-1 for Chicago 31 seconds into the second period. Martin Fehervary tied it up for the Capitals later on - which lasted all of 10 seconds. Philipp Kurashev scored right after Fehervary’s goal to make it 3-2 for the visitors. The score held until nearly four minutes into the third period. Something wacky happened. During a power play from a Pat Maroon tripping penalty, Dylan Strome fired a shot. It off the skate of Connor Murphy to go in. Still counted, 3-3. A little later, Connor Bedard held up Ryan Leonard. This was punished by the PutinTeam Leader and #894 was achieved to put the Caps up 4-3. The historic goal also held up as the game winning goal, bucking a trend of #8’s milestones coming in Washington losses. Leonard scored his first NHL goal with an empty netter to seal up the 5-3 win. Washington split the week, their star nearly has his desired record, and there are games left to play to prepare for the playoffs.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Capitals will play within the division for this and next week. They can have a say in the deeper parts of the wild card race. Washington visits the Islanders on Sunday afternoon. Then they will get a shot at revenge against the Hurricanes as they host them on Thursday night. On Saturday afternoon, they begin a home-and-home weekend set with Columbus. This Saturday’s game will be on national television. Attention will be all about when the Putinist scores his next goal. The real issue is that the Capitals just have to get into good form. Thursday’s rematch against Carolina may be telling.

Carolina Hurricanes​

Sunday vs. New York Islanders - The Hurricanes had a chance at earning an X, or clinching a playoff spot, if they won and Montreal lost. The latter didn’t happen but the Hurricanes held off an increasingly desperate Isles team. Carolina struck first and second with a quick pair of goals from Mark Janikowski and Logan Stankoven. The Isles responded later in the first period with a score from Pierre Engvall and a PPG from Kyle Palmieri. Engvall broke the tie for the Isles early in the second. Carolina would restore the tie near midway with a power play goal by Sebastian Aho. Late in the period, Seth Jarvis scored shorthanded to put the Canes up one. The Isles equalized early in the third with a goal by Anders Lee. Carolina went up again about five minutes later thanks to Dmitry Orlov. Any late drama was dashed when Jarvis scored within the final 3 minutes. Carolina prevailed 6-4. Clinching would have to wait another night.

Wednesday vs. Washington - Any point earned on Wednesday night for Carolina would secure them the vaunted ‘X’ for clinching the playoffs. They understood the assignment when they hosted the Washington Capitals. They put a hurting on them. Sean Walker opened the scoring over six minutes into the game. A Lars Eller interference penalty was punished by Jackson Blake minutes later. Minutes after that, Seth Jarvis punished a Rasmus Sandin delay of game penalty. Carolina never stopped in the second period. Logan Stankoven made it 4-0 close to halfway through. A Brent Burns penalty yielded a goal for the Putinist within the final minute of the second period. It was a consolation PPG. Blake punished a Jakob Chychrun slash on Jarvis in the third. The Caps got mad but they didn’t get anywhere close to reducing the four goal deficit. Carolina clinched the playoffs and did it with a decisive 5-1 win.

Friday at Detroit - Detroit had it all to play for and the Hurricanes found that out the hard way on Friday night. The Red Wings went up first and second with two goals 26 seconds apart at the nine minute mark in the first period. Ben Chiarot with a clapper was followed by Marco Kasper with a backhander. Carolina got the score back on track with an early second period goal by Jackson Blake. Then the Red Wings scored 21 seconds apart at the nine minute mark in the second period. Yes, really. Patrick Kane got a snapper in and Michael Rasmussen beat Pytor Kochetkov again. The Canes cut the deficit to two with a goal from Eric Robinson. But it took another period for Carolina to make it a one-shot game thanks to Brent Burns. Yet, that one shot would not come. Cam Talbot ensured that if it did, it would be stopped. The game was ended with a last second ENG from Alex DeBrincat. The Hurricanes lost 5-3 to a Detroit team that badly needed the win. Still got their ‘X’ so it is no big deal.

Saturday at Boston - The Hurricanes went up to Boston and got absolutely waxed. Wait, what? The team who was winless in their last 10 games beat Carolina by how much? Four? The B’s put the Canes down 2-0 by the first intermission with a quick double within the final 1:11. Morgan Geekie scored first and then Elias Lindholm made it 2-0 with 13 seconds left. Over halfway through the second, David Pastrnak scored to make it 3-0. Pastrnak made it a brace 88 seconds into the third period. He completed his natural hat trick with fewer than five minutes left for a 5-0 score. The Canes avoided the shutout loss to Jeremy Swayman with a last-minute consolation goal by Justin Robidas. So they lost 5-1. Which is still rather ugly. Carolina, what was that? The Canes end their week at 2-2-0. They did get their ‘X’ but being on the edge of a losing streak this close to the end of the season is a little worrisome. If it is any comfort, the win did not keep the Bruins from being mathematically eliminated with Montreal winning their game on Saturday night.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: Carolina will play three games over five days with the last one starting a weekend back-to-back. They will be on the road for the first two games: Tuesday night in Buffalo and Thursday night in Washington D.C. The former is a trap game and the latter is a chance to really make another statement on the division’s top team. On Saturday, they will return home to host a potentially desperate Rangers team for an afternoon game on national television. The Canes just have to maintain good form. That would start by getting a win in Buffalo.

New Jersey Devils​

Monday vs. Minnesota - The Devils ended their month with a rematch against Minnesota in Newark. This one would be closer. The Devils struck first with Luke Hughes ripping a shot past Jonas Gustavsson in the first period. The 1-0 score held up until the third period. A long shot from Middleton was tipped in by Hinastroza to tie it up. Brett Pesce almost answered back on the next shift when a shot popped up and rolled down Gustavsson’s back. While his butt and glove were in the net, officials couldn’t confirm the puck was over the line. The Devils did answer back a bit later when Nico Hischier one-touched a pass in for 2-1. Then disaster hit the Devils within the final minutes. Brenden Dillon turned the puck over behind his net. The puck hit off Marcus Foligno’s skates and fell right to Matt Boldy all alone in front. 2-2 and overtime was needed. It was thought that Paul Cotter won it with a one timer. But the Devils were offside after review. OT continued and was not decided. In the shootout, it was straight forward. Cotter and Jesper Bratt scored. Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy did not. The 2-0 shootout gave the Devils a 3-2 win in the shootout.

Saturday vs. New York Rangers - The New Jersey Devils enjoyed a break in the schedule before taking their hated rivals on national television on Saturday afternoon. This was apparent as the Devils skated the Rangers off the rink in the first period. Not that the Devils put a lot together, but they pushed the tempo early and often against a Rangers team not as desperate as you would expect. The Rangers would play much better in the second period, but the Devils went up after Jacob Markstrom kept it at 0-0. Just past midway through the second, Sam Carrick clobbered Stefan Noesen in front of the New York net without the puck. It took just four seconds for Timo Meier to slam in a power play goal to open the scoring. Dawson Mercer took an ill-advised tripping penalty on the next shift. But not only did the Rangers not convert on the power play, Brenden Dillon sprung a 2-on-1 for Nico Hischier to Jesper Bratt. The passes went in that order and Bratt made it 2-0. The Rangers sagged a bit with an inconsistent offense. They ran up shots but could not beat Markstrom. Meier put in a killer goal from a cross-ice feed from Seamus Casey; the puck slid under Igor Shesterkin’s skate just over the line with just over five minutes left. Peter Laviolette pulled the goalie for six skaters. It ended with Jesper Bratt getting blocked on an empty net try and Nico Hischier cleaning it up for a 4-0 score. It is always great to beat a rival. The victory was sweet for the Devils. It was also sweet for Tampa Bay, who clinched a playoff spot with this result. It was positive for Montreal, Columbus, the Islanders, and Detroit. Going back to the Devils, they also won their week at 2-0-0 and enter this one coming up with three straight wins. And if results go their way by this coming Tuesday night (Tampa Bay wins on Monday), they could be playing for an ‘X’ against Boston. Awesome.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Devils will have another light week coming up with just two home games to play. Both are against teams with nothing to really play for too. They will host Boston on Tuesday and Pittsburgh on Friday. The goal for the Devils is to get more wins to enter the final week with some kind of heat as well as completely lock up a playoff spot. Those who want a four-game winning streak may get it on Tuesday. Let us hope.

New York Rangers​

Wednesday vs. Minnesota - This was a must win game for both sides. The nerves were on display as the goals mounted. It started with an Alexis Lafreniere penalty in the first period. That yielded a PPG for Gustav Nyquist. Braden Schneider tied it up minutes later. But the Wild answered back with a strike by Brock Faber with 5 minutes left in the first. The Rangers flipped things in the second period. K’Andre Miller tied it up early and Chris Kreider put the Rangers up a score close to five minutes later. Minnesota tied it up with a shorty by Marcus Johansson. The score held until the final minute of the second. Artemi Panarin went off on a breakaway and scored to make it a 4-3 game to start in the third. It would not take long for Minnesota to respond. Marco Rossi tied it up at 4-4 just 22 seconds into the third period. The scoring stopped and overtime would be needed. It was short. Vincent Trocheck earned New York a needed second point when he one-touched a feed from Panarin just 24 seconds into OT. The Rangers prevailed 5-4 and they remain right with Montreal for the last playoff spot in the East. Columbus, Detroit, and the Islanders did not like this result.

Saturday at New Jersey - The hated rivalry was a crucial date for the Rangers. They need every point. They went out there on a cold, rainy afternoon in Newark and did not get it done. They came out flat in the first period. An 11-4 shot count was corrected down to 7-4 but one cannot ignore how the Devils were a crossbar and Shesterkin’s saves away from a hole. The Rangers came out better in the second period. Only to discover how good Jacob Markstrom was going to be that day. The goals would come against them. It took just four seconds from a Sam Carrick interference call for Timo Meier to blast in a PPG for a 1-0 deficit. The Rangers got a break when Dawson Mercer tripped Alexis Lafrerniere on the next shift (and on the forecheck). Yet, this yielded a second goal against: Brenden Dillon sprung Nico Hischier for a 2-on-1 and Hischier set up Jesper Bratt for the shorthanded goal against. The Rangers sagged their way to the third period. There, they would attack more but the Devils kept them honest with zone time and attempts. It was not like Markstrom was going to give up much - and he did not. The Devils would get a killer insurance goal when Meier buried a cross-ice feed from Seamus Casey. Igor Shesterkin got a piece of it but the puck slid over the line for the goal. Peter Laviolette pulled Sherskterin early for an extra skater. It ended with Vincent Trocheck denying Bratt an empty net goal only for Hischier to slam the loose puck in for the ENG instead. Just over a minute after Meier’s goal too. The Rangers conceded from that point. They lost 4-0. A brutal result because it is a rivalry loss. And, more relevant to their playoff chances, they needed help to avoid falling behind. While Columbus failed to prevail, Montreal beat Philly so the Rangers are now four points back. The Rangers split the week at a point where that is not good enough.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Rangers will be very busy in this week coming up with four games in six nights to play. They need as many points as they can get. The opponents, on paper, will not make it easy. They will host a very good Tampa Bay team on Monday night. The Rangers will host Philadelphia on Wednesday and their hated rivals in the Islanders in Long Island on Thursday. That is a tricky back-to-back as the Flyers can and have upset teams and the Isles remain a wild card. New York’s week ends in Raleigh, North Carolina for a Saturday afternoon game on national television. All the while, they will be paying very close attention to what Montreal, Columbus, Detroit, and the Islanders do in their games. It remains a stressful time in Manhattan.

Columbus Blue Jackets​

Tuesday vs. Nashville - Columbus brought the offense in a you-better-win game against Nashville. Kirill Marchenko scored over a minute in. A quick double by Adam Fantilli and a PPG by Sean Monahan made it 3-0. Filip Forsberg got Nashville on the board on the shift after Monahan’s goal. Marchenko opened a second period filled with goals to make it 4-1. Nashville clawed their way back to a one-shot game with Michael Bunting and Jakub Vrana each scoring within a minute. Fantilli dashed any hopes of a Predator comeback when he made it 5-3 with eight minutes left in the second. Monahan punished a Forsberg slash to make it 6-3. Dante Fabbro scored with 19 seconds left to make it 7-3 going into the third. Marchenko completed his hat trick for 8-3. A goal by Jordan Oesterle was just for consolation. The Blue Jackets won big time, 8-4, to stay relevant in the wild card race.

Thursday vs. Colorado - The Blue Jackets are capable of lighting teams up. What about an opponent who can bring a frightful amount of offense? The Avalanche, well, avalanched the Blue Jackets in Ohio on Thursday night. It was not immediate. Colorado did go up in the first period. Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring. Sean Monahan scored minutes later, only for Brock Nelson to break the tie with fewer than two minutes left in the first. In the second period, Columbus hit back with a pair of goals. Zach Aston-Reese and Boone Jenner flipped the score to make it 3-2 by the halfway mark. Then came the goal-storm from Colorado. Charlie Coyle tied it up at 12:39. Parker Kelly made it 4-3 at 14:02. A slashing penalty called on Aston-Reese was punished by Cale Makar at the 19:22 mark for a 5-3 score. After an intermission, two more goals: Devon Toews at 4:01 and Miles Wood at 5:49. The Blue Jackets were wrecked in the second half of this game and lost big-time, 7-3. Trying to get a result against the Avs is challenging enough. But at least try not to get routed.

Saturday at Toronto - Columbus surely had to know that the Rangers lost before stepping on the ice in Toronto. They had a real chance to move on up. They blew it. The Maple Leafs showed no mercy. Nick Robertson put the Blue Jackets down one halfway through the first period. He put them down two over twelve minutes into the second period. Then William Nylander took over for scoring. He scored over a minute into the third and then again over four minutes into the third. Auston Matthews decided to join in late in the third. Where was Columbus in all of this? Not putting any of their 27 shots on net past Anthony Stolarz. And not helping Elvis Merzlikins enough. And certainly not helping their own playoff cause with a 5-0 defeat in Toronto. The Blue Jackets lost the week by going 1-2-0 and remain behind the Rangers. Worse, Montreal won and that is the team they needed to lose today. Their playoff hopes are fading fast.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Blue Jackets have four games to play and will need as many points as they can possibly get. They will finish their weekend in Ottawa to take on the Senators in an evening game. Then the Blue Jackets will host Ottawa on Tuesday night. Thursday night will have some potential respite - or a massive trap - when they host Buffalo. Their week ends with a tougher game against Washington on Saturday afternoon. It has to happen this way if it happens at all, Columbus. Go forth.

New York Islanders​

Sunday at Carolina - The Islanders need a win for their playoff hopes. They would not get one in Raleigh. Carolina struck first and second with a quick pair of goals from Mark Janikowski and Logan Stankoven. The Isles responded later in the first period with a score from Pierre Engvall and a PPG from Kyle Palmieri. Engvall broke the tie for the Isles early in the second. Carolina would restore the tie near midway with a power play goal by Sebastian Aho. Late in the period, Seth Jarvis scored shorthanded to put the Canes up one. The Isles equalized early in the third with a goal by Anders Lee. Carolina went up again about five minutes later thanks to Dmitry Orlov. Any late drama was dashed when Jarvis scored within the final 3 minutes. Carolina prevailed 6-4. Another winless game for the Isles, who really cannot afford much more of this losing.

Tuesday vs. Tampa Bay - Once again: the Islanders need a win for their playoff hopes. They would not get one in Belmont. Not even with the idea of revenge on their mind. The first period ended even. Oliver Bjorkstrand tipped in a Darren Raddysh shot for a score, but Bo Horvat tied it up with a shorty a little later. However, the game got away from the Isles in the second period. Jake Guentzel and Victor Hedman each scored just over two minutes apart to make it 3-1. The Islanders could not respond. A Nick Paul empty netter sealed up a 4-1 loss for the Isles. This loss combined with results from Columbus, their hated rivals, and Montreal further reduced the Isles’ chances at crashing the wild card picture.

Friday vs. Minnesota - Once more: the Islanders need a win for their playoff hopes. Sliding into seven straight winless games will not get it done. The Islanders...did it. They won. And they did it against a Wild team that may have just realized that they need to sort their own stuff out to avoid a drastic fall. The Wild did strike first with an early second period goal from Mats Zuccarello. The Isles responded when Casey Cizikas tipped in a Noah Dobson shot. Simon Holmstrom took the lead less than two minutes later for a 2-1. That held up. In the third period, Yakov Trenin high-sticked Ryan Pulock. Dobson punished that with a slapshot power play goal for 3-1. The insurance goal made it less tense and the Islanders did not blow the third period lead. They won. Their slide ended. They are still way behind in the wild card picture. They still lost the week by going 1-2-0. While the Rangers and Blue Jackets failed to pull ahead, Montreal (and Detroit!) did. Any postseason dreams could be over real soon, Islanders fans.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Islander playoff dream is still hanging by a thread. And they have this slate of games to try to pull themselves up. They will host Washington today on national television in an afternoon game. Then the Isles will go to Nashville to get two points from them. After that is a return to Belmont to host their hated rivals in what could be a must-win game for either team. The Islanders’ week will end in Philadelphia for a Saturday afternoon game that begins a weekend back-to-back set. Good job on winning a game. But if you do not win more, Islanders, it may be curtains.

Pittsburgh Penguins​

Sunday vs. Ottawa - Pittsburgh vs Ottawa - Regulation ended up being a showcase for Tristan Jarry of the Penguins and Anton Forsberg of the Senators. Neither goalie would budge for sixty minutes. They were perfect in all three periods, stopping all pucks that came their way. A rare 0-0 score at the end of regulation forced overtime. One problem: Just after a 4v4 situation ended before the end of the third period, Ridley Grieg hooked Sidney Crosby. That meant Pittsburgh began overtime with that power play. Pittsburgh would make it count. Who else but Crosby would end it? His one timer from Erik Karlsson gave Pittsburgh the 1-0 win. Unfortunately for the wild card picture, Ottawa got a point and are all but secure in the first spot. Pittsburgh does not care.

Thursday at St. Louis - St. Louis has been the hottest team in the NHL with 10 straight wins going into Thursday’s game against Pittsburgh. The Pens, of all teams, made the Blues sweat in this one. They started off well with an early goal by Bryan Rust. The Blues hit back hard in the second. Jake Neighbours tied up the game 39 seconds in. While Connor Dewar scored in fewer than four minutes later, Pavel Buchnevich tied it up again over two minutes after Dewar’s goal. Jordan Kyrou made it 3-2 at the 8:05 mark, or fewer than two minutes after Buchnevich’s goal. It seemed like the Blues would run away with the game after Neighbours scored close to six minutes into the third period at 4-2. But the Penguins had other ideas. First, Justin Faulk held up Ville Koivunen for a penalty. Second, Rickard Rakell made it a one-shot game with a power play goal. The score stood until there was 1:54 left. Third, Pittsburgh pulled their goalie. Fourth, they attacked. It worked. With 25 seconds left, Rutger McGroarty scored his first NHL goal to tie it up and force overtime. In overtime, Kris Letang slashed Kyrou. The Penguins won the draw to start the penalty kill, and the Blues power play were held without a shot - until Kyrou set up Robert Thomas in the right circle. Thomas took a touch and blasted one in for St. Louis’ eleventh straight win. The Penguins lost 5-4, earning an unnecessary point while also failing to cool off the league’s hottest team. Good job?

Saturday at Dallas - The Penguins went to Dallas on Saturday afternoon and decided to disregard the idea of tanking once again. The Stars seemingly disregarded the idea of defense since the Penguins dropped 40 shots on the Stars in their building. The Penguins opened the scoring with Sidney Crosby punishing a Mason Marchment tripping call. This was equalized by Evgenii Dadonov past halfway through the first. Dadonov struck again over two minutes past halfway through the second period. He scored a PPG to punish a Kris Letang holding call. Then the third period began and the Penguins popped off. Crosby tied up the game 20 seconds into the period. Dadonov held off the Pens with a backhander for a hat trick and a 3-2 lead. Pittsburgh was far from done. Crosby set up Bryan Rust with over 11 minutes left in regulation to tie it up at 3-3. The game dragged until the final two minutes. That was when Thomas Harley ran into Cody Ceci on the break out. Danton Heinen took the puck, fed Blake Lizotte, and Lizotte scored to make it 4-3. Crosby secured a hat trick of his own and a four-goal third period with an empty netter. A stunning win for the Penguins! They won 5-3 to go 2-0-1 in the week. Tank? What’s a tank?

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Penguins are heading towards a playoff-less end. They seem uninterested in gaining more lottery balls. They will take on Chicago twice in this week coming up. They have a game this evening in Chicago and the rematch is in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. After two days off, they will head to Newark to play a Devils team that will be going to the playoffs. The Penguins clearly mean it when they say they are playing for pride. For better or worse. They may still get mathematically eliminated in this week depending on how the results work out.

Philadelphia Flyers​

Monday vs. Nashville - Philly has decided tanking is for suckers and have continued to win. It was a low scoring affair against Nashville, but they got the result. All of the goals happened in the second period. Ryan Poehling opened it by tipping in a Travis Konecny feed before halfway through the second. Over 4 minutes later, Zachary L’Heureux tied it up. On the next shift, Matvei Michkov set up Jamie Drysdale to make it 2-1. Ivan Fedotov stopped everything from then on to preserve the score. The 2-1 win would be Philly’s third straight victory.

Saturday at Montreal - A lot of teams outside of Philadelphia became temporary Flyers fans for this evening. Specifically in Manhattan, Belmont, Detroit, and Columbus. They were all disappointed. The Canadiens went into this one with three straight wins like the Flyers. But the Flyers fell apart late. They did go up first with Ryan Poehling scoring over four minutes into the game. Philadelphia maintained the score all the way to the third period. Montreal decided they had enough. Brendan Gallagher beat Sam Ersson to tie it up at 1:24. At 2:40, Lane Hutson scored a beauty to make it 2-1. The Flyers got a power play close to midway through the third period when Juraj Slafkovsky boarded Sean Couturier. Not only did they not punish the penalty, but they conceded. Nick Suzuki picked up a cleared puck out of no-man’s land for Ersson. He wheeled around to the slot and hammered a shot off the post and in for a shorthanded goal. A backbreaker for the Flyers. Or was it? Michael Matheson cleared a puck over the glass with fewer than two minutes to go. Tyson Foerster would punish that to make it 3-2 with 40 seconds left. Would the Flyers stun the Canadiens to go to OT? No. They would not. The Flyers’ winning streak ended with a 3-2 loss. Montreal gained two huge points. For the Flyers, they split the week and remain in eighth.

However, the other results in the league on Saturday night worked out that it is now official. The Philadelphia Flyers have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. The most they can earn is 81 points - and Montreal has 83. They get an ‘E’ for this reality.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: Philadelphia will play just two games in their penultimate week of this season. Both could impact the wild card race. They can play spoilers in both. The Flyers will visit the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. On Saturday afternoon, the Flyers begin a weekend back-to-back by hosting the Islanders. The Flyers seemingly want to go out with dignity. They could get some by beating both - which is entirely possible. They got nothing else to play for anyhow.

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That was the twenty-third and penultimate weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot for this season. Next week is the last one for 2024-25. Now that you know what happened and what will happen next, it is now your turn. Will Washington and Carolina have better weeks? Can the Devils get the ‘X’ in this week coming up? Is the second wild card spot all for Montreal, and if not, who among the Rangers, Islanders, Blue Jackets, and Red Wings will rise up? Can someone tell the Penguins that these points do not help them? Will Philly spoil the New York teams in this week coming up? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about the week that was for all eight teams in the division and the week ahead for them. Thank you for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...first-devils-third-canes-in-flyers-eliminated

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2024-25 Gamethread #77: New Jersey Devils vs. Our Hated Rivals

More, please! | Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils begin their final month of the regular season against the one team everyone who matters wants the Devils to always beat: Our Hated Rivals, the New York Rangers. Talk about the Devils in this post, a Gamethread.

This is the first game in April for Our Favorite Team, the New Jersey Devils It is against Our Hated Rivals. Three words: Just expletiving win.

The Time: 12:30 PM ET

The Broadcast: TV: ABC; Streaming: ESPN+; Audio: Devils Hockey Radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils vs. Our Hated Rivals

The Song of the Afternoon: Two words for the Devils today: LEAVE SCARS.

The Rules: The rules remain the same as the Devils are playing against Our Hated Rivals. Please keep your language clean (this means no swearing, don’t mask it, it’s not enough, no swearing), respect your fellow Devils fan with no personal attacks (play nice or you will not play here), no illegal streams (this means no asking, no hints, no nothing about it), and please keep your comments relevant to this game. Go Devils!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...-york-rangers-leave-scars-devils-destroy-them

 

[New Jersey Devils]

DitD & Open Post - 4/7/25: Great 8 Edition

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) scores a goal in the 2nd period against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. The goal is the 895th of Ovechkin’s career, breaking the NHL all-time career goals record previously held by Wayne Gretzky | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 4/7/25

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

Timo Time continued Saturday as Meier scored twice and helped to push the Devils to a 4-0 win over the Rangers. [Devils NHL]

Could we see Arseni Gritsyuk in New Jersey soon?

Dynamo eliminates SKA St. Petersburg in six games with a 5-2 win today, so Arseni Gritsyuk's KHL season is over.

KHL contracts expire in late May, but we'll see what comes next. #NJDevils

— Alex Chauvancy (@AlexC_NJD) April 6, 2025​

A look at what’s left on the schedule as we zero in on the Stanley Cup Playoffs: “Not only are there some winnable games for the Devils, but there’ll be some much-needed rest since they’ve already played 76 games.” [Devils on the Rush]

Hockey Links​

And there it is: Alex Ovechkin has the scoring record.

ALEX OVECHKIN IS THE GREATEST GOALSCORER IN NHL HISTORY! #Gr8ness pic.twitter.com/NKef3VvNaJ

— NHL (@NHL) April 6, 2025​

Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's record in the same amount of games pic.twitter.com/FlXfzEdsok

— ESPN (@espn) April 6, 2025​

A look at the pomp and circumstance as Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal on Sunday: [Associated Press]

“Ovechkin now stands alone. And it’s quite a mountain to climb to catch him.” Will anyone be able to surpass Alex Ovechkin’s goals record? [The Athletic ($)]

Another bit of history:

Most 20-goal seasons by a U.S. born player in NHL history + his 100th point as a Red Wing.

Congrats, Kaner! pic.twitter.com/Fmbb5UGFEp

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) April 5, 2025​

Blues are still rolling:

A record-setting night!

12 consecutive wins (most in Blues history)… Jordan Binnington’s 10th straight home win (matches franchise record) and 100th home win as a Blue (most among Blues goalies)… plus Pavel Buchnevich’s 100th goal as a Blue. pic.twitter.com/fQdU033Dh5

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 6, 2025​

A lengthy streak comes to an end:

The Bruins have been eliminated from the playoffs.

This is the first time since 2016 that Boston will miss the postseason pic.twitter.com/KCaxSBlj6b

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 6, 2025​

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

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/4/7/24402697/devils-in-the-details-4-7-25-great-8-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Six Reasons To Believe the Devils Are on the Upswing Again

A future Selke winner and one resilient goaltender. | Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils’ magic number is down to three, and they have plenty of reasons to believe their playoff appearance won’t just be for show.

Even though the Devils are set to clinch a playoff spot in the next few days, the overall energy surrounding the team seemed very negative until very recently. The Devils were down three huge contributors, they were blowing games, and they looked lost on offense for much of the first half of March. That all changed when the team went to Minnesota, looking to take wins against a playoff team. After succeeding there, the Devils buried the New York Rangers in another home shutout of their rival, restoring much of the team’s vibe to what they were like earlier in the season.

But this is not just a team that stocked up enough points in November and December to sleepwalk into the playoffs. There are real reasons to leave disappointment behind, choosing to embrace hope as the end of the season draws near.

Reason One: Bratt, Hischier, and Meier Are All Producing​

Since Jack Hughes’s injury last month, all of Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier have done well to make sure the team’s offense has stayed afloat. Bratt has 4 goals and 20 points. Nico has 10 goals and 19 points, and Timo has eight goals and 10 points since Hughes’s injury. While Timo’s total points have lagged a bit behind the other two, his goal-scoring is what’s important, and scoring more than a goal for every two games played is more than enough to stimulate the offense. Bratt, meanwhile, has regained his early-season form, while Nico seems intent on reaching 40 goals this year.

People do not give Nico Hischier enough credit. When Jack Hughes went down, it did not occur to anyone that Hischier might be able to put the team on his back. But Nico is a first overall pick. Nico has 35 goals. Nico plays all situations and is a constant offensive creator. If he plays like he has been in the playoffs, the Devils will dominate the Carolina top line.

Reason Two: Brian Dumoulin is Helping to Stabilize the Defense​

In total, since joining the New Jersey Devils against Winnipeg on March 7, Brian Dumoulin ranks second on the team in CF% (53.33) and xGF% (49.04) at five-on-five. For a team that was desperately searching for an answer to Jonas Siegenthaler’s injury, Dumoulin has been a solid partner for Johnny Kovacevic. He might not be the flashy player everyone wanted at the trade deadline, but Dumoulin has been excellent over the last seven games. During this span, he had a CF% under 50.00 only once (against Chicago), while only posting an xGF% under 50.00 twice (38.26 against Winnipeg and 49.03 against Minnesota). It might have just taken Dumoulin a minute to adjust from Anaheim Ducks hockey to Sheldon Keefe’s Devils, but he has integrated himself very well. One area I really enjoy watching Dumoulin is how steady he is with the puck in the defensive zone, as Kovacevic was turning the puck over a lot between Siegenthaler’s injury and the point that Dumoulin became comfortable with the team. Now that they have played 14 games together, the Devils’ second pairing is now able to move the puck much more efficiently against the forecheck.

Reason Three: Jacob Markstrom is Playing Like Himself​

While the initial few appearances after his return from a knee injury did not go very smoothly, Jacob Markstrom has settled back into his 1A level of play with five straight games allowing three or fewer goals. Over the last three starts, Markstrom has held opponents to two or fewer goals per game, winning both ends of a home-and-home with the Minnesota Wild before sticking a nail in the New York Rangers’ coffin with a Saturday afternoon shutout. In these last five games, where Markstrom has given up 10 goals, he has stopped 3.99 goals above average.

Now just three points away from clinching a playoff spot, the team will be able to split playing time pretty evenly between Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen. I would expect Markstrom to play three more games, with Allen getting two. Since Allen was playing well prior to Markstrom’s full recovery, the Devils do have a safety net for the playoffs. However, I would love to see Markstrom take this run of excellent play into Carolina — he is now the team’s true X-Factor in how the rest of the 2024-25 season goes. Since I believe Markstrom wants to win a Cup in his career, I do not think he’s going to care that much about how far people expect the team to go without Jack Hughes.

It’s hard not to believe in him when he’s putting it all out there. His puck tracking has taken a huge step over the last week — just look at his save against Zibanejad on Saturday above.

Reason Four: Luke Hughes is on a Tear​

Luke Hughes started this season off a bit slow offensively, focusing mostly on defensive fundamentals with his rock-solid partner, Brett Pesce. As he has felt more comfortable over the course of the year, his creativity has flowed. Shots that would miss the net in November are going in. Passes that got broken up in December are hitting teammates’ sticks. Now, with 16 points over his last 14 games played, including two goals on 1.59 ixG, Luke is picking up for a lot of the offense that was lost when Jack and Dougie got hurt.

It is easy for some to forget how young Luke Hughes is. What he is doing this season is something top defensive prospects aren’t expected to pull off — combining offensive production and defensive excellence — until they’re 23, 24, or 25 years old. Some never put the two together. But Luke is just 21 years old, and he is going to be incredibly difficult to contain when players start getting worn out in the playoffs.

Reason Five: Dougie Hamilton May Return Soon​

While Seamus Casey had a beautiful assist in his return against the Rangers on Saturday, the Devils should still get a massive offensive boost from Dougie Hamilton over the next few weeks. Pierre LeBrun reported last week that the Devils have some hope that Hamilton may be able to play in regular season games, after initially believing him to be out until the second round or later. Dougie will pass the five-week mark on his injury tomorrow, meaning he is towards the end of his timetable.

In conjunction with Reason Four, getting a Dillon-Hamilton third pair on the ice would be a matchup nightmare for opponents. Dougie is still an elite, top defenseman in the NHL. However, given that he is coming off a knee injury, he can be eased back into his responsibilities with easier competition, allowing the Hughes-Pesce and Dumoulin-Kovacevic pairings to continue winning their matchups in the top four. Getting Dougie on the ice with the bottom six should also open up a lot of ice, with many deflection goals to be picked up by those who have a knack for it (looking at you two, Mercer and Noesen). Getting anyone who can score at any time onto the ice is a blessing.

Reason Six: Arseni Gritsyuk May Be a Devil​

I was originally going to mention Gritsyuk in the above section, as I was uncertain about whether Gritsyuk would sign this or next season. Due to visa concerns, KHL contracts, and the proximity of this team to the playoffs, not many outlets were expecting Gritsyuk to wear red and black this season. That has changed today, with SKA St. Petersburg eliminated from the KHL playoffs. To bring him over, Tom Fitzgerald and the Devils’ ownership group would have to come to a buyout agreement with SKA to release Gritsyuk from his contract that expires around the third round of the NHL playoffs. Today, some accounts on Twitter, including Hockey News Hub and JP Gambatese, began to say that Gritsyuk was set to sign his ELC soon.

Hearing #NJDevils prospect Arseni Gritsyuk will sign his ELC soon.

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) April 7, 2025​

So, Arseni may be a Devil this year. I was kind of expecting Fitzgerald to save his Entry-Level Contract year for 2025-26, but going this route would make Gritsyuk available for the playoff run — potentially making up for some offense lost to injuries — while making Gritsyuk a bit happier, as he would get an RFA contract next season. We are still in the rumor mill stages here, but perhaps a reporter will give us more reason to hope soon.

Your Thoughts​

How are you feeling about the team following their recent three-game winning streak? Do you feel more confident in this team? What are you most excited to see from this group over the next couple weeks? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...ischier-hughes-gritsyuk-new-jersey-nhl-arseni

 

[New Jersey Devils]

New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: Three Devils in the Frozen Four

Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The Devils will have four prospects in the Frozen Four this year. This post covers who and when.

Frozen Four Schedule​

The NCAA Frozen Four is on Thursday, April 10th. This is the schedule per FloHockey.

Thursday, April 10

• 5:00 p.m. ET - Denver vs. Western Michigan (ESPN2)
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Penn State vs. Boston U. (ESPN2)

Saturday, April 12

• National Championship (ESPN2)

Who to Watch​

The early game features University of Denver center Samu Salminen, who had his best collegiate season this year after transferring from the University of Connecticut with 10 goals, 28 assists in 43 games. Denver is a stacked team and Salminen typically centers their second line.

For those who like the fancy stats, here are some for Salminen’s growth season.

Moving to Denver was the right move for Salminen. Looked way better at getting in opponents' faces, fighting for pucks, and pushing for chances in the middle of the O-zone. Good stuff, good growth. https://t.co/6uQUJgYhyd pic.twitter.com/vOdYrb6O1J

— Foley (@NHLFoley) April 5, 2025​

The other two Devils play for Boston University in the 2nd game. Foward Shane LaChance potted 11 goals and 29 points in 38 games this year for the BU Terriers. His rights were acquired by the Devils shortly before the trade deadline. The other Devils prospect is goaltender Mikhail Yegorov, who has been a beast in net since joining Boston mid-season. Yegorov quickly took over the starter’s net and flashed gaudy numbers of a 2.04 GAA and .931 SV% to go along with a 10-5-1 record and 1 shutout.

Both games should be an entertaining watch, with the BU game being of a particular interest. When the playoffs are over, Devils fans should have a better sense of what may happen with Samu Salminen this offseason as the center would be entering his senior year next season.

Around the Pool​

• For those wanting Arseni Gritsyuk or Lenni Hameenaho to come over early, you must wait a little longer.

Both Arseni Gritsyuk's SKA and Lenni Hämeenaho's Ässät stave off elimination today, 1A for Gritsyuk in their OT win over Dynamo Moscow #NJDevils

— Brandon Holmes (@BHolmes_Hockey) April 4, 2025​

Update: SKA has now been eliminated. Whether the team will grant Arseni Gritsyuk leave to sign as they did with Demidov remains to be seen, but this is a very encouraging sign:

#NJDevils prospect Arseni Gritsyuk says goodbye to SKA fans via his IG. pic.twitter.com/a4nJcnjYz3

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) April 8, 2025​

• Devils forward prospects Cam Squires and Matyas Melovsky played in the 2nd longest game in QMJHL history finally ending 1:32 into the 5th overtime on a Cape Breton goal, extending the series. Cape Breton and Baie-Comeau will have played game six on Monday with Cam Squires and his Cape Breton Eagles facing elimination again.
• Anton Silayev’s season ends. Torpedo fired their head coach Igor Larionov after the game. Hopefully, his replacement keeps giving Silayev quality minutes.

Nizhny Novgorod and 18 Y/O Anton Silayev ('24, 1st Rd) have been swept in the first round of the KHL playoffs by #1 seed Lokomotiv.

His second full season ends with:

- 63 GP, 12 Pts (2G & 10A), +1, 117 hits, 101 blocks & 17:25 T.O.I

- 18:25 T.O.I in Playoffs#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/la1dMOGHga

— Daniel Rebain (@pvtmcbain) April 2, 2025​

• The Utica Comets season is crawling to a merciful close with the Comets likely to finish last in the North Division. The Devils AHL affiliate did win a 6-4 contest on Saturday against the Providence Bruins. Max Willman led the charge for the Comets with two goals, two assists. Willman has been on fire lately with seven points in three games. Defensive prospect Topias Vilen added two helpers, increasing his total to 21 on the year. Nico Daws stopped 20 of 24 shots for the win, even earning an assist on one of Willman’s goals.
• OHL forward Cole Brown tied for first place in the Coach’s poll for most improved player. Whether Brown signs with the Devils this summer or heads to Notre Dame remains to be seen.
• Lastly, goaltender Jakub Malek backed up Dominik Pavlat in the first round of Ilves sweep of Tappara. Pavlat had a 1.00 GAA and .961 SV% in the four game series. Malek and Pavlat platooned much of the season, but Malek had the better numbers leading the Liiga in GAA and tying Pavlat for fourth in the league in SV%. This seems to be the team riding the hot hand of two quality netminders. It’s common for teams in the Liiga to use both goaltenders. Even though Malek platooned with Pavlat during the season, Malek still played in the 8th most games of all goaltenders in the league with 33 to Pavlat’s 28.

Your Take​

Post your comments below. Let us know what you think.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...ospect-update-three-devils-in-the-frozen-four

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils Hammered by the Bruins in 7-2 Loss

Fraser Minten celebrates a goal against the New Jersey Devils. | Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Devils failed to grab the point needed to clinch a playoff spot and got run out of The Rock by the Bruins. Let’s take a look at what went wrong in this game recap.

The New Jersey Devils entered Tuesday night’s game against the Boston Bruins needing just one point to clinch a playoff spot thanks to the Rangers’ loss yesterday. They were also looking to win four straight games for the first time this season. Did anybody tell them?

First Period

Unfortunately, the Devils did not play with the fire of a team hunting for a playoff berth. Within the first few minutes, there were a few instances of miscommunication, leading to poor pass attempts and turnovers. Sloppy breakout passing and turnovers were themes throughout the first frame and complete game. Timo Meier had one of the few scoring chances from the high slot within the first two minutes, but his shot stung Dawson Mercer on the way to the net and deflected away.

At 13:36, Seamus Casey took the time to settle the puck in the defensive zone and skate up ice, drawing a hooking penalty on Boston’s Jakub Lauko. The first power play unit could not get anything going despite winning the ensuing faceoff. With about 30 seconds remaining with the man advantage, the second power-play unit of Daniel Sprong, Ondrej Palat, and Stefan Noesen got some the best looks. Their closest scoring opportunity was on a scramble for a rebound after Luke Hughes’ shot from the point, where Sprong and Noesen had some dangerous shot attempts. The Devils did not convert on the power play and paid for it.

About a minute later, pressure from the Bruins forecheck forced some sloppy passing between Luke Hughes and Jesper Bratt. Bratt hurriedly tried to force a pass through the center of the ice. The pass was intercepted by David Pastrnak, who walked in on Jacob Markstom and sniped a shot by Markstrom’s left pad. 1-0 Bruins.

The Devils continued to have trouble breaking the puck out of their defensive end when under pressure from the Bruins’ forecheckers. New Jersey was constantly chasing the puck as Boston whipped it around the Devils’ zone. Sprong’s line with Cody Glass and Paul Cotter was one of the few exceptions. The line had another good shift around the six minute mark, creating some scoring opportunities, but nothing beat Swayman.

In the period’s final two minutes, the Bruins were all over the Devils, forcing turnovers, intercepting passes, and hemming New Jersey up in their defensive end. The aggressive forecheck paid dividends for the Bruins with 35.3 seconds left. After some crisp passing within the offensive zone, Michael Callahan sent a wrister past Markstrom on the short side from the top of the left circle. 2-0 Bruins at the end of period number one. Ugh.

Second Period

The second period started on a similarly ugly note. 30 seconds in, Jesper Bratt took a hooking penalty on David Pastrnak. Fortunately, the Devils penalty kill stepped up and did not allow a single shot while the Bruins held the man advantage. About a minute after the penalty kill ended, the puck took an awkward bounce past Luke Hughes at the point, who appeared to lose his balance and was recovered by Jakub Lauko, who had raced by Hughes. Lauko took the puck into the Devils’ zone on a two-on-one and put a perfectly placed shot over Markstrom’s blocker-side shoulder. 3-0 Bruins…

About three minutes after the goal, the Devils’ Dawson Mercer was penalized for another hook on Pastrnak. Again, one of the bright spots in this game was New Jersey’s penalty kill, which stepped up again, not allowing a goal and holding Boston to one shot. Following the penalty, the Devils tried to get some offense going. Nico Hischier tried to set up Brian Dumoulin on the doorstep for a tap-in, but the play was broken up. Paul Cotter tried to stuff one home on Swayman at the side of the net, but Boston’s goalie made the save.

The only offense the Devils exhibited in the remainder of this game took place within 19 seconds, starting with just over six minutes remaining in the second period. With a delayed penalty call on Boston coming, New Jersey was able to capitalize on the six-on-five advantage. Hischier passed down to Sprong at the left side of the net. Sprong made an excellent no-look, backhand pass to Noesen in front of the net for an easy tap in goal. 3-1 Bruins.

The Devils got the puck deep into the Bruins zone off the following faceoff. After a Boston turnover, Erik Haula took a spin-around shot that deflected off Timo Meier up and over Jeremy Swayman and into the Bruins’ net. 3-2 Bruins.

The Devils briefly looked like they could build momentum following the two goals. With just under five minutes remaining, Hischier had a strong shot blocked. Mercer hammered a one-timer from the right circle, but nothing else beat Swayman. With less than three minutes remaining, Markstrom made a big save on a shot from Vinni Lettieri, which, at the time, looked like it could be a game-saver. That was not the case.

For the second time in this game, New Jersey allowed a goal with less than a minute remaining in the period. Casey Mittelstadt fired a turn-around wrister from the point that deflected off of Seamus Casey’s stick. Markstrom could not locate the deflection as it sailed over him and into the net. 4-2 Bruins, and that is how the period ended.

Third Period

Things really got ugly in the final frame. New Jersey had a few offensive chances early on, but it was more of the same. Boston won the races to the loose pucks. Boston won puck battles along the boards and for rebounds. New Jersey could not get the puck cleanly out of their own zone. Early on, Mercer had a backhand swipe at a puck in front of the net, and Sprong sent a shot through traffic a couple minutes later, but that is where the offense stopped.

With five minutes elapsed in the third, the Bruins were buzzing all over the Devils’ zone. Following a shot from the point, Pastrnak made a ridiculous spin-around pass from the sideboards that went through Elias Lindholm and directly to a wide-open Morgan Geekie standing at the side of the net. Geekie, standing alone in front of the net, swatted it past Markstrom. It was Pastrnak’s 100th point of the season and Geekie’s 30th goal of the year. 5-2 Boston.

The fifth goal appeared to take any remaining air out of the Devils’ sails, who played dejected hockey for the remainder of the game. Two minutes after Geekie’s goal, an errant breakout pass by the Devils led to a shot from the point on Markstrom. Fraser Minten beat all Devils to the rebound, spun around, and fired a shot over Markstrom into the net. 6-2 Bruins.

The night’s final and most embarrassing goal came off the stick of Cole Koepke nearing the midway point of the final frame. The Bruins banked a puck out of their defensive zone and off the boards in the neutral zone. Koepke outbattled Luke Hughes, who couldn’t recover the puck off of the boards, and Brett Pesce to take the puck in on Markstrom. Koepke managed to fend off both Devils’ defenders to chip the puck through Markstrom somehow. That play summed up the night for New Jersey. 7-2 Bruins.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe pulled Markstrom and sent Jake Allen into the game following the seventh goal, but the damage was done. The Devils put two shots on the net in the game’s final nine minutes. They played as if this contest could not end soon enough, which is how they played for most of the third period. When the final horn sounded, Boston waltzed out New Jersey with an easy 7-2 victory.

By the Numbers

According to Natural Stat Trick, New Jersey recorded five shots in the third period. Other than Mercer’s backhand early and Sprong’s shot through traffic, I cannot remember any others. New Jersey allowed five high-danger scoring chances in the third period, which matches what everyone watched - if you lasted that long. In another example of how statistics do not necessarily match what is happening on the ice, the Devils actually led in high-danger scoring chances through the first two periods, nine to four. The Devils also only trailed the Bruins by three total shots when all was said and done. Those stats do not embody what really happened in this game. The Devils came out flat, discombobulated and played that way to the final whistle, even when they were one goal shy of tying the game with less than six minutes to go in the second period.

Game Stats: NHL.com Recap, NHL.com Game Summary, NHL.com Event Summary, NHL.com Full Play-by-Play, NHL.com Shot Report, Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

Takeaways

Lack of Urgency

Urgency might not be the right word, but with the playoffs within reach, the Devils came out flat. Boston has been eliminated from playoffs and has been losing a lot lately. That said, they beat Carolina recently, as John mentioned in his preview. I don’t know what New Jersey expected to face, but Boston wanted to block those playoff aspirations. I expected to see a Devils team hungry to get that one point and take control of their future, but that was not the case. The team could not have looked less hungry, which was highly disappointing.

Breakouts Need Work

At least two goals tonight resulted from bad breakouts that led to turnovers. The first goal by Pastrnak was the result of pressure from the Bruins, forcing a weak pass from Hughes to Bratt and Bratt’s hurried pass attempt through the center of the ice, which was ultimately picked off. Minten’s goal stemmed from a turnover off of a Pesce pass into no-man’s land. Despite shutting out the Rangers, New Jersey had similar issues in the second period when New York started to forecheck more aggressively. They obviously had a much better outcome in that game, but the cracks were visible. We have seen the Devils struggle with turnovers and breakout passing throughout this season against teams that pressure aggressively on the forecheck. The Devils will experience that pressure from whomever they face in the playoffs, so it needs to be sorted out now. Hoping they get injured defensemen back in the lineup is not the solution.

Rough Game For A Good Pairing

Luke Hughes has made considerable strides in his game this year, especially defensively. Brett Pesce has mostly played the way the Devils expected after signing him in the offseason. Tonight may have been the worst game of the year for the duo. Hughes was on the ice for four of the seven goals by Boston, and Pesce was on the ice for three. Hughes had the puck hop by him on Lauko’s goal. Pesce had the wayward pass leading to Minten’s goal, and both got burned on the seventh goal. Everybody has an off-game, so let’s hope the pairing can shake this one off quickly.

Lone Positives: Daniel Sprong & the Penalty Kill

One player that stood out while this game was competitive was Daniel Sprong. Aside from the beautiful assist, Sprong was among the few players getting dangerous shots on net. According to Natural Stat Trick, Sprong was tied for second on the team with ten shots while allowing only three during his 12:36 of ice time. Sprong’s line with Cody Glass and Paul Cotter was easily the best line for New Jersey, with a Corsi For percentage (CF%) of 73.33 at five-on-five, which actually matches what was observed on the ice. Sprong led the team with a CF% of 74.07, and Cotter wasn’t far behind at 70.00. I think many people wanted to see Sprong continue to get opportunities in the lineup down the final stretch, and he showed why that was the case tonight.

The penalty kill had another efficient night, allowing only one shot during Boston’s two power plays.

Playoff Implications

As of the conclusion of the Devils’ game, to clinch a playoff spot, the Devils still need a point, OR the Rangers and Islanders each need to lose a game. The Islanders lost in overtime to the Predators tonight. The Rangers will face the Flyers on Wednesday and then the Islanders on Thursday.

Up Next

The Devils will face the Penguins at home on Friday at 7:00 PM ET.

Your Thoughts

What did you make of this blowout? Do you chalk it up as a bad night and move on? How do the Devils clean up play in the defensive end? Let us know in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/4/9/24404400/devils-hammered-by-the-bruins-in-loss

 

[New Jersey Devils]

The Devils Still Need to Learn How to Manage and Handle Success

The Bruins celebrating one of approximately 400 goals scored last night against the Devils | Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

New Jersey had a chance to not only clinch a playoff berth, but win four games in a row for the first time in two years. They failed to do both. There’s a reason for that.

I want to revisit and expand upon a thought I touched on a couple weeks ago when I talked about how this Devils team is exhausting.

Every time this team has had any modicum of success the last few years, they find a way to go right back to being a letdown, which is part of the reason why this team hasn’t won four in a row for almost two years now.

The New Jersey Devils were coming off of a pretty good week last week. They picked up 4 points against the Wild in what I deemed playoff-like efforts, and followed that up by beating that team across the river one last time in 2024-25. Those wins, along with Rangers losses, trimmed the Devils magic number down to 1, which is good! For the sixth time this season (and fourteenth time since January 7-16, 2023), the Devils had won three in a row and were looking to win a fourth straight game. This is also good!

They also entered last night’s game with everything to play for, needing just a single, measly, lousy, stinkin’ point to clinch a playoff berth for the second time in three seasons. One point. You don’t even have to win the game to get one point! The bar literally could not be set any lower.

Standing in their way? The Boston Bruins, who entered last night tied for last place in the Eastern Conference and essentially had nothing to play for but pride. A team that traded away their captain and several other role players at the trade deadline last month. A team that was 1-8-1 in their last ten games entering last night and had recently been eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in nearly a decade.

The Devils had everything to play for in their building. The Bruins are playing out the string.

Take a guess which team took it to the other last night.

If you guessed Boston taking it to the Devils, you’d be right.

You might have watched last night’s game and thought to yourself “Actually, I thought the Devils mostly took it to Boston, at least before the game got out of hand”. And you may point to the fancy stats to support that argument. But by now, you know me well enough to know that I care far more about REAL goals than expected goals. And once again, the Devils gave up far too many real goals because of their inability to manage the game. They gave up real goals because Jesper Bratt made a boneheaded turnover that led to a goal, Luke Hughes overskated a puck that led to breakaway and another goal, and Seamus Casey redirected a fluttering puck into his own net as it somehow got by Jacob Markstrom. They let Morgan Geekie get to the front of the net to score a goal. They failed to clear the puck off of a big rebound that led to a Fraser Minten goal to put the game out of reach. They did nothing to take away Boston’s only legitimate offensive threat in David Pastrnak, despite having home ice and the benefit of last change. And they weren’t done giving up goals either. They gave up seven in total to the team in the Eastern Conference who has scored fewer goals than anyone.

Unacceptable.

I don’t care what the “Deserve to Win O’Meter” says. We all watched the game. The Devils did not deserve to win.

They fell behind 3-0 on home ice in a “win and in” scenario against one of the worst teams in the conference. They gave up a backbreaking goal late in the second period when they managed to show a little fight and claw within one, effectively killing any chance they had of stealing a point. They got their doors blown off in the third period. And once again, that elusive four game winning streak would have to wait another day. Clinching a playoff berth would have to wait another day. The only things they managed to do, aside from embarrassing themselves, was play down to their competition. Something they’ve actually done consistently plenty of times these last few years.

I don’t want this to come across as me completely disparaging the Bruins or dismissing them. No, they’re not very good. But they were very good last night. They are a team of professional players. The NHL is the toughest league in the world. Organizations might tank but players don’t tank. Players are playing for jobs, whether it is in Boston or elsewhere next season. The tape doesn’t lie.

I also acknowledge that not every team is not going to be on top of their game every single night over the course of an 82-game season. I’m not in the room and I’m not a mindreader, so I can’t get into the players’ heads and what they’re thinking.

That said, games like last night are why this Devils team is as frustrating as they are. It’s why I wrote two weeks ago that they’re exhausting to watch. It’s why they’re tough to take seriously as a legitimate threat to do anything once they get to the playoffs. Yes, every team will lose to a bad team once in a while, but when you do it as consistently as THESE Devils do, you haven’t earned the benefit of the doubt that its a one-off or a fluke. At some point, when you do this time after time, this is who you are as a team.

The fact that this has gone on now for multiple years, under multiple coaches, with multiple goaltenders and different skaters though? That suggests that there might be a bigger problem at hand.

Let me re-write the highlighted portion what I started this article with.

Every time this team has had any modicum of success the last few years, they find a way to go right back to being a letdown, which is part of the reason why this team hasn’t won four in a row for almost two years now.

I didn’t just throw that statement out there willy nilly. I threw it out there because its true.

The Devils had success in 2022-23, setting a franchise record in points and beating their biggest rival in a playoff series. Yes, they lost to Carolina in the next round, but the foundation was in place to build upon that success. Did the Devils do that though?

No, they did not. They had one of the more frustrating seasons in franchise history, and while yes, while injuries were a major part of it, the amount of self-inflicted mistakes contributed even more so. Things got so bad that Tom Fitzgerald was quoted on breakup day last year saying that the players weren’t spending enough time in the gym, which is code for “you didn’t work hard enough over the summer, and you damn well didn’t work hard enough during this past year”.

Does that sound like a team that handled success all that well the previous year? Having what is essentially your boss call you out for not working hard enough? No, it does not.

That’s why I was particularly pleased with the start of this season, where the Devils not only entered the Christmas break 23-11-3 but were doing so off of the back of several dominant defensive efforts. I figured the Devils took that message to heart, showed up to camp with a “no nonsense” attitude, got off to a good start, and put those failures behind them. Why? Because their body of work in the early portion of this season said so.

I don’t know what happened after that where the Devils got away from that for the better part of several months, and I get you’re not going to go balls to the wall for 82 games if you want to have anything left in the tank for the playoffs, but there were far too many efforts in late December, January, February, and the early portion of March to just entirely dismiss it either.

The Devils did enough over the first few months of the season to solidly put themselves in a playoff spot, only to go into cruise control. They still haven’t been able to clinch a playoff berth through Game 78 of the campaign.

Does that sound like they’re handling success? Or does that sound like a team that is content to squeak in, thanks in part to the ineptitude of the rest of the Eastern Conference.

I already mentioned their failure to win four in a row this season. What I didn’t mention is that most of those losses going for that fourth game are against teams that nobody would exactly consider a juggernaut. Losses to teams like San Jose at home, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and now Boston at home. Sure, there are playoff teams like Carolina and St. Louis mixed in there as well. But because the Devils failed to get those points then, they have to play for those points now, at a time where they should be resting up for what’s to come.

Does that sound like a team that is managing success?

Stop me when I start telling lies.

If you’re going to consistently be a letdown against the San Joses and Anaheims and now the Bostons of the world, how am I supposed to take you seriously when the stakes are raised and you’re facing Carolina in a best of seven series?

It’s not that the Devils can’t beat good teams. They’ve shown this year they can beat good teams like Florida, Carolina, and Washington. Unfortunately, they’ve also shown they can lose to anyone on any given night.

The worst part is this falls under the intangible portion of evaluating players and teams. I mentioned how I’m not in the players’ heads and I don't know what they’re thinking. But I do know the “this is a young team” excuse doesn’t really fly when the team has gotten older the last few years with as many veteran imports as they’ve had.

I do know that we apparently haven’t gotten to the point that somebody in that room hasn’t said “we’re not losing this (bleeping) game”, which is far different than another local team where one of their leaders said “we don’t get swept at home”. Because if we have gotten to that point, the Devils wouldn’t be losing games like last night. The Devils would’ve clinched already.

I do know if this is part of the maturing process of a hockey team, the Devils better figure it out. And fast. Once you get into a playoff series, every game is a must win. You can’t afford no-shows like what the Devils did last night. Not unless your goal is to be one-and-done because you’re just happy to be there.

The energy that you need. That level of compete. The sense of urgency. They all need to be there from puck drop through the final horn. Every game. Not once a week. Not twice a week. Not with “we won three in a row so we can afford to take a night off” regularity. Every. Game. The rest of the league is too talented. The Devils can’t just ramp it up for 5 minute intervals here and there and expect to win games, and the elite teams in the league are too talented to let you get away with that at all.

Until the Devils learn that they need to play that way consistently, games like Boston are going to continue to happen.

Seventy Eight games into the 2024-25 campaign, its who the New Jersey Devils are.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...eed-to-learn-how-to-manage-and-handle-success

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Ray Shero: 1962 - 2025

RIP Ray Shero | Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images

In surprising and saddening news, the Minnesota Wild broke the news that Ray Shero had passed away at the age of 62 this afternoon. This post is in remembrance for what he did with the Devils and in the NHL.

It was reported this afternoon earlier today that Ray Shero has passed away at the age of 62. It was both shocking and saddening news. The NHL and the hockey world has been in mourning since as Shero had an impact on so many in the game for over 30 years.

Ray Shero was the son of Fred Shero, the former professional defenseman and legendary head coach, best known with his time behind the bench with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1970s. Ray was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1962 while Fred coached the St. Paul Saints of the IHL. He was actually named Rejean after famed Montreal Canadien Rejean Houle. He would follow his father’s footsteps into hockey. Ray was a center and suited up for St. Lawrence University from 1980 to 1985. He did well enough to be picked as an overager in the eleventh round of the 1982 draft by Los Angeles. But pro hockey as a player would not be in his future. Shero became an agent instead.

His experience as an agent would prove valuable as he joined Ottawa in 1993 as an assistant general manager under Randy Sexton. Given that Ottawa was entering its second season as a franchise, Shero got in early and dealt with the challenges that come with growing an organization. After five seasons, Shero would move on to another expansion team: Nashville. Under David Poile, Shero learned even further about building up an organization, a team identity, and how to manage from the team point of view. It went so well that Pittsburgh hired him to replace longtime Penguins GM Craig Patrick. in 2006. With 13 years of being an assistant GM, it was Ray Shero’s time to make his mark as the boss.

Shero did so right away. He connected with Sidney Crosby to be the cornerstone of what that team would become. He added Jordan Staal to a core featuring Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury. He swung for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis, the latter becoming the first of many players elevated as a Crosby complement that would help build the team. He fired coach Michael Therrien for Dan Bylsma and brought in the final pieces that led to Pittsburgh’s first Stanley Cup with Crosby and the franchise’s third in 2009. The Penguins became a contender with Shero. It would be easy to claim anyone could do that if they had Crosby and Malkin. It would also be wrong because franchises have faltered with stars before and since. Shero was a key reason why the Penguins became a force from the late 2000s and throughout the 2010s. The Penguins fired Shero in 2014 but his fingerprints were all over the Cup winning teams of 2016 and 2017.

Shero was also a key reason for many others in management to further their careers. Bill Guerin, Chuck Fletcher, Jason Botterill, Mike Yeo, and Tom Fitzgerald are all part of the Shero management tree. You could even add other support staff with the Penguins that also received mentorship and advancement under Shero. You could also even add his work with USA Hockey too.

Shero would not be out of work for long. He joined the New Jersey Devils organization on May 4, 2015 to replace legendary Devils GM Lou Lamoriello. For a few months, Lou was the team president and provided some guidance to Shero. That ended in August when Lou left the Devils outright to become the GM for Toronto. Even with Lou as president, Shero was in charge of making decisions. Following up Lou was an unenviable task. But he did the job. He brought in John Hynes to be the head coach. He talked up being “fast, attacking, and supportive.” He began a painful and necessary rebuild. Which paid off in the third season.

Shero’s biggest move during his time as a GM was simply telling Peter Chiarelli that if he wanted Adam Larsson, then he wanted Taylor Hall in return. Instead of that meaning “buzz off” to Chiarelli, we got the famous “The trade is one for one: Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall.” That deal would lead to Hall having his best season ever, becoming the first Devil to ever win the Hart Memorial Trophy for league MVP, and the winger dragging the Devils to their first playoff appearance since 2012 in 2018.

Shero’s longest lasting move during his time as GM was two-fold. The first was selecting Nico over Nolan in 2017 with the first overall pick. It was a real debate between Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick at the time. History has shown it was not even close as to who would have the better career, and Hischier is on his way of establishing himself as one of the best centers in team history. The second was listening the scout who saw a waterbug of a winger in Sweden’s second division to get drafted. Or however it went when the Devils picked Jesper Bratt in the sixth round in 2016. Bratt has emerged as a point-machine and one of the best scoring wingers in the world. Shero also picked The Big Deal, but that was a fairly obvious choice in 2019. Those other two required a choice to be made. Shero made the right ones and the Devils are still reaping the rewards today.

Shero’s time ended shortly after that 2018 playoff appearance. The team crashed in 2019 after not many additions made in the 2018 offseason. An unhappy Hall wanted improvements and ownership clearly wanted a better team. Shero made a big deal for P.K. Subban, moved to get and sign Nikita Gusev, added Wayne Simmonds, kept Connor Carrick and Mirco Mueller, won the Will Butcher sweepstakes, and cursed out the possibility of Pavel Zacha playing elsewhere before re-signing him. Hall was pleased. I was pleased. You probably were pleased. Then the 2019-20 season began and no one was pleased. It would be the end for Taylor Hall’s time in New Jersey and on January 12, 2020, the Devils and Shero “parted ways.” Shero’s assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald would be named the interim and, eventually, the full-time GM for the Devils. A job he still has to this day.

Once again, Shero would not be out of work for long. He joined the Minnesota Wild in the 2021-22 season to be a senior advisor to GM Bill Guerin. Guerin cherished Shero bringing him in as a veteran for that Cup in 2009 and, later, as a development coach in 2011 with the Penguins. This was a way to pay that back while also having an experienced member of the front office. He served in that role until this day. Shero was indeed a lifer in hockey.

And like a lifer in hockey, the tributes and memories and statements shared have echoed and will continue to echo throughout the NHL. Here is just a sample:

• The Minnesota Wild announced Shero’s death
• The NHL also passed on the news
• Gary Bettman released this statement
• As did the New Jersey Devils
• And the Pittsburgh Penguins
• And the Nashville Predators
• And the Ottawa Senators
• And the Philadelphia Flyers
• And USA Hockey offered their condolences
• Sidney Crosby made this statement
• Bill Guerin: “He changed my life” via Michael Russo. Guerin had more to say here at the NY Times.
• John Hynes gave his thoughts via Michael Russo
• Jesper Bratt offered his condolences on Instagram
• P.K. Subban offered his condolences
• As did Beau Bennett
• Tom Gulitti recalled how supportive Shero was when he was covering the Devils.
• Frank Seravalli wrote this remembrance at Daily Faceoff, revealing how quick-witted and he was filled with stories from his life in hockey.
• Brooks Bratten shared this story about Shero leaving Nashville for Pittsburgh.
• NHL on TNT had this short bit for Shero and Greg Millen, who also passed away recently.

And there are more and there will be more. From anecdotes to tributes to moments of silence. All of it deserved as Ray Shero was highly respected in the tight-knit world of the NHL. The Shero name will continue. His sons, Kyle and Chris, are scouts for Philadelphia and Columbus, respectively. The memories will also continue as Ray Shero was a part of multiple organizations over 30 years. For now, it is a time of remberance and mourning.

Our condolences to the Shero family. Rest in peace, Ray Shero.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...s-predators-penguins-devils-wild-hockey-lifer

 

[New Jersey Devils]

The New Jersey Devils Need Momentum Heading into the 2025 Playoffs

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

After an embarrassing loss earlier this week, the New Jersey Devils have four games left in the regular season. They need to put together some wins and build some momentum to make a wave to ride in the playoffs.

After a drubbing from the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night, the New Jersey Devils still locked up a playoff spot yesterday thanks to one set of rivals beating up another set of rivals. With the third spot in the Metropolitan Division now unattainable by any team chasing them, the Devils are locked into third place as they return to the postseason. With the division leading Washington Capitals too far ahead for anyone to catch, that means the Devils are locked into a first round dance with the team that eliminated them in 2023: the Carolina Hurricanes.

The narrative are already out there of course. Fans of other teams (and even some who claim to be Devils fans) are already saying the Devils are an easy play in round one. That without Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler, the Devils don’t stand a chance. I’m not coming to you here today to guarantee a Devils first round win; honestly there’s always the chance for an upset, that’s why the games are played. The Devils (especially with injuries) may not be as good as Carolina on paper, but if they pick up some momentum in the final four games and bring that with them into the playoffs, perhaps they could make some noise.

Firstly, the Devils need to figure out what’s up with their goaltending over the next week. With Jacob Markstrom’s early season play, that concern seemed assuaged, but then his injury happened and while there was optimism he was past it, Tuesday’s game again Boston happened. Some of the blame lies with the defending, but some of those goals were downright bad shots to be letting into the net. With Utica being mathematically eliminated from the AHL playoffs, I expect the Devils to call up some players to the NHL roster for the postseason. Perhaps having Nico Daws in the fold along with Jake Allen will give the Devils someone they can turn to if Markstrom falters.

Hopefully he doesn’t. Hopefully, the Devils start to realize how they need to play with three of their bigger names out of the lineup. I mean, they should have done that already, but for one reason or another it hasn’t all come together yet. And while there’s a chance for at least one return (looks like Hamilton could be ready soon), it’s not a panacea for the ails of the team. I do think though that the Devils could go further than people think if they can string some wins together to close out the regular season and build some confidence.

The Carolina Hurricanes are a good team, but they’re not some unbeatable juggernaut. Heck, they’re only 7 points above the Devils and while the Devils last game wasn’t great, Carolina is doing a bit worse right now. They've lost their last three in a row, including a 5-1 game against the same Bruins team, and a 3-0 shutout loss to Buffalo. Neither Boston nor Buffalo are revered for their defending or goaltending this season, so maybe, just maybe, Carolina is going cold at the right time for us and wrong time for them. Additionally, both team are fairly close in terms of goals for and against, so all it would take is one team getting going at the right time.

And that’s why it is imperative the Devils finish the next four games strong. Take all three home contests convincingly and go get revenge on Boston in their house. Encourage Timo Meier, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt to shoot as much as they want; get pucks on net and have support players like Stefan Noesen and Dawson Mercer crash the net and cash some pucks in. Make sure the defense is covering the right spots and playing odd man rushes correctly if they happen. Figure out the goaltending, one way or another; if Markstrom still seems off, give someone else the net and bring him in if they struggle. The team has been inconsistent all of 2025 up to this point; maybe putting together a four game win streak to close out the campaign would be the way to propel the team in the right direction.

One last point today as well: the Devils and Canes split their season series, with each team winning their pair of games on their home ice. All it takes is the Devils to defend The Rock and steal one on the road to take the series. This group has shown a lot of heart and a willingness to battle for each other at times this season. Put it all together and win some games/series when it matters the most, both in this last stretch and when the playoffs are on. Remember what a sixth seeded Devils team did in 2012; what’s to stop the 2025 version from being the team to do it again?

What are your thoughts on the Devils needing momentum heading into the playoffs? Do you think it will help the team to play stronger against Carolina? Do you think momentum is overrated? How confident are you in the Devils chances against Carolina whether they finish strongly or not? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...-need-momentum-heading-into-the-2025-playoffs

 

[New Jersey Devils]

DitD & Open Post - 4/11/25: Remembering Ray Shero Edition

New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero speaks to the media prior to a game between the New Jersey Devils and the Vegas Golden Knights at Prudential Center. | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 4/11/25

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

Some very sad news about former GM Ray Shero:

The New Jersey Devils organization mourns the passing of Ray Shero. pic.twitter.com/oklizOMh5W

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 9, 2025​

Remembering Ray Shero.

Our players and head coach Sheldon Keefe shared their stories and memories of Ray.

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 10, 2025​

Folks, the playoffs are official.

WE UST CLI CHE

It’s not the playoffs without NJD#NJDevils | @CitizensBank pic.twitter.com/vZGJkRXgrC

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 10, 2025​

LOCK IT IN.

The Hurricanes and Devils will play each other in the First Round of the #StanleyCup Playoffs! pic.twitter.com/GoNxHZENCa

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 10, 2025​

Some good news:

#NJDevils coach Sheldon Keefe provided an update on Dougie Hamilton (lower body) this morning pic.twitter.com/c9HJZZJAex

— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) April 8, 2025​

#NJDevils Dougie Hamilton is out on the ice now. On the other side of the rink skating is Jonas Siegenthaler.

— Kristy Flannery (@InStilettos_NHL) April 10, 2025​

#NJDevils HC Sheldon Keefe on Jonas Siegenthaler:

“It is very, very preliminary at this point.”

— Kristy Flannery (@InStilettos_NHL) April 10, 2025​

Jesper Bratt is the New Jersey Devils nominee for the 2024-25 Bill Masterton Trophy: “It means a lot. It is a very nice recognition, and I am very thankful. I think that it gives me a receipt of what I have done, my hard work, and how much I want this team, this organization, and myself to succeed and get better and better every year. I am very, very thankful and very proud of it.” [The Hockey News]

Stan Fischler weighs in with his ranking of the greatest games in Devils history: [Devils NHL]

Hockey Links​

A look back at the hockey legacy of Ray Shero: [The Athletic ($)] [NHL.com]

Looks like Brock Boeser will be moving on from the Canucks:

Brock Boeser, who's a pending UFA, says he does not expect to return to the Canucks next season

(h/t @imacSportsnet) pic.twitter.com/yoXhnvCuf8

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 10, 2025​

On Sean Monahan’s path forward after losing his best friend, Johnny Gaudreau: [The Athletic ($)]

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

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...details-4-11-25-remembering-ray-shero-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2024-25 Gamethread #79: New Jersey Devils vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Bratt! Grzelcyk! Tonight! | Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils end the penultimate week of their 2024-25 season schedule with a Friday night home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. A team still with stars but heading towards a rebuilding era. Hopefully, NJ helps them get there tonight. Talk about it here in this Gamethread.

The New Jersey Devils host another team that is not making the playoffs. This one features two of the best players of their generation and a franchise that may have to accept their rebuilding fate. Step lightly. The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Devils real bad in their previous meeting.

The Time: 7:00 PM ET

The Broadcast: TV: MSGSN, SportsNet-Pittsburgh, NHL Network; Audio: Devils Hockey Radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Song of the Evening: Continuing the tradition: Pittsburgh equals Don Cab. One of my favorite songs, this instrumental reminds me of my college days for some reason. It has movements. It is five minutes of an aural journey. From the seminal What Burns Never Returns, this is “Slice Where You Live Like Pie.”

The Rules: The rules remain the same as the Devils are hosting a Penguins team that will have to accept their fate sooner or later. Please keep your language clean (this means no swearing, don’t mask it, it’s not enough, no swearing), respect your fellow Devils fan with no personal attacks (play nice or you will not play here), no illegal streams (this means no asking, no hints, no nothing about it), and please keep your comments relevant to this game. Go Devils!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...hier-bratt-hughes-crosby-malkin-karlsson-guys

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils Fall Asleep After Taking Early Lead, Giving Away 4-2 Game to Penguins

Too late. | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Despite scoring two early goals, the Devils just did not have the finer details nailed down tonight.

First Period​

Starting the second line, the Devils took possession early, after the Penguins turned it over. Erik Haula, fresh off a practice-time facial injury, was wearing a fishbowl under his visor. He used Dawson Mercer as a shield for him to take a pass and zip down the middle of the ice right to Tristen Jarry. Haula shot and scored! He hit the top corner to make it 1-0 just 15 seconds into the game. Brett Pesce got the secondary assist for making a nice play to interrupt the Penguins’ attack.

Ondrej Palat drew a hooking penalty from Kevin Hayes a few minutes later, giving the Devils a power play while already up a goal. Nico Hischier was kicked from the faceoff draw, and Tim Meier did enough to get the puck back. Hischier’s shot from the point was disturbed on its way through, and the the Penguins temporarily pushed the Devils to center ice before they came right back in. Jesper Bratt took a shot on goal after circling, collapsing the Penguins’ penalty kill and creating a battle for the puck in the crease. Stefan Noesen came onto the ice after Jarry froze the puck to replace Dawson Mercer on the first power play, getting a chance to dig away at the puck off a Bratt shot right away. Jarry, again, made the stop. This was the best chance for the remainder of the power play, which was solid but failed to convert.

However, the Devils’ third line stayed on the ice with the puck in the offensive zone. Seamus Casey shot the puck wide of goal while there were still four forwards on the ice, but the Devils kept possession as Noesen went off for a change. Daniel Sprong went cutting down the right side, and Casey chose to slide the puck left to Cody Glass near the point. Glass’s slap shot boomed off his stick, getting a handy deflection from Ondrej Palat to make it 2-0!

The Penguins got their first shot on goal past seven and a half minutes into the game, with Evgeni Malkin banking a shot off Jake Allen’s pads. However, they did not muster a ton of offense over the next several minutes. The game instead took on an even nature, with Pittsburgh mostly relying on long-range shots to get rubber on Allen. Not lapsing in their game, the Devils were on a good run of defensive hockey until Johnny Kovacevic fell backwards and tripped Malkin up with under six minutes to play in the period.

On the penalty kill, Dawson Mercer cleared out an early rebound from the crease and then rushed to the blueline to get the puck out of the defensive zone. The Devils then repelled the Pittsburgh entry and got a line change on the following clear. Bratt made a lot of trouble at the top, and Pittsburgh failed to get another shot on goal until the final 30 seconds of the power play, after the Devils had changed their penalty killers again to get Glass and Noesen out. The Devils successfully killed the penalty, but they would fall victim to another goal in the continuation of offensive play. Jake Allen was trying to stop the puck from trickling in from the side with his skate, and Luke Hughes played the puck into the goal, making it 2-1. While Luke played it into the net, though, Allen did not really do him any favors with the way he tried to keep the puck out of the net.

After Jarry denied Palat on a dangerous chance, Allen came diving out to poke a loose puck away from a speeding Bryan Rust, allowing Brett Pesce to send it away. The Devils took their 2-1 lead to intermission, with the officials missing a clear trip on Bratt with New Jersey threatening in the dying moments of the period.

Second Period​

Brett Pesce took a hooking penalty, sending Pittsburgh to the power play a minute into the period. Evgeni Malkin blasted a shot off Allen, and the puck deflected off Valtteri Puustinen into the net to tie the game at 2-2.

After losing the lead, the Devils pushed back against Pittsburgh. Ondrej Palat drew another penalty from Matt Grzelcyk, who took him down as he tried to get juke around the Penguins defenseman on a transition play. On this power play, the Devils kept possession in the offensive zone for much of the first minute, but missed their best chance when Meier whiffed on a potential one-timer from Bratt. The second unit was unsuccessful, as well.

The third line had another excellent shift, performing an excellent cycle in which Luke Hughes tried to label two shots for the far post, missing one high and ringing the second off the outside of the iron. Luke then made a wicked play under pressure to trickle the puck into the slot, and Paul Cotter reached his stick through his legs to bank the puck off Jarry’s pad. The Devils later iced the puck after Pittsburgh got it out, but the Devils continued to pressure after they won the puck and got new lines onto the ice.

Stefan Noesen tried to enter the offensive zone for an opportunity with under five minutes in the period, but he was tripped by Conor Timmins. On this power play, Dawson Mercer took a Timo Meier shot up high, having to go off for Noesen. Bratt tried to slap a pass to Noesen at the side of the net, but the puck deflected off of Hischier and away from the goal. The Devils again failed to convert on the power play. At the very end of the period, Brett Pesce made a bad play to slash the stick out of Bryan Rust’s hands, as the puck got past Pesce at the blueline with under three seconds to play in the period. Not realizing the period was expiring, Pesce went too far to prevent a chance that never could have come to pass. Rust had far too much ice to cover in the time left on the clock.

Third Period​

The Devils did much better on this penalty kill, keeping Pittsburgh from registering a shot for the whole first minute. Jake Allen ended up making two shots on Sidney Crosby and one on Letang in the second minute, with the Penguins keeping their scorers on for the length of the advantage. A couple minutes after the penalty expired, Allen made a huge stop on Rickard Rakell to keep the game tied, and the Penguins iced the puck about 15 seconds after the following faceoff. The Devils were denied on a few faceoff plays after this, and it took the Penguins about a minute to get possession of the puck back in their offensive zone.

As the period went on, the two teams played very tight hockey. It looked like the Devils were finally going to get a break for Sidney Crosby holding Cody Glass’s stick, but Glass was the one actually called for high-sticking Crosby. So, with eight minutes, the Devils went to the penalty kill. Nico Hischier worked hard to get the puck down the ice, but nobody got off the ice, leaving the same penalty killers on the ice for the second minute. Sidney Crosby tapped in a go-ahead goal with 6:39 with the Devils’ penalty killers tired and slow, chasing behind the play.

After falling behind, the second line tried to create a chance to tie the game. They created chaos, but did not score. That second line stayed on for an extended shift that came close to two minutes by the time they got off. Keefe then sent out a few bottom sixers, and Seamus Casey leveled Ville Koivunen in the defensive zone. With Bratt and the defense’s extended shift, the clock ran too fast for them to get Nico Hischier back onto the ice, who was dealing with an equipment issue.

The Devils had possession with Allen going off for the final two minutes. They got the cycle going for a minute, but Bryan Rust sealed the game at 4-2 after Luke Hughes’s shot was blocked.

After Sheldon Keefe called timeout, Jake Allen again left the net with 1:30 to play, down two. The Devils failed to keep the offensive zone, forcing him back into the net for a neutral zone faceoff before he could get to the benches again. The Devils put some more rubber on Jarry, but still lost the game.

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

When the Puck is Down the Ice on the PK, Change!​

In what I have felt has been a recurring theme in penalty kill breakdowns of late, the Devils again had the puck in the offensive zone while down a man, only to keep personnel on the ice. This led to Sidney Crosby’s game-winning goal tonight, as Nico Hischier gave Dawson Mercer, Johnny Kovacevic, and Brenden Dillon plenty of time to get off the ice. I don’t know what was going on there, but Ryan McGill’s unit has to be a lot better about keeping their defensive shifts short. One bad play can lead to tired legs being hemmed in, and it happened tonight.

I am most frustrated with Brenden Dillon here, who went way out of position on the goal against, but Brett Pesce also put the defensemen in a tough position as a guy taking a lot of penalties. Still, Dillon and Kovacevic already should have been off for Pesce and Dumoulin about 30 or 40 seconds before the Crosby goal was scored, as that goal came on the Glass penalty.

Some might question the effort tonight. But, the Devils outshot the Penguins in the first and third period. Each teams only had four shots on goal in the second period. The Devils took nearly twice as many attempts at the net as Pittsburgh. Not a single one of Pittsburgh’s second, third, or fourth goals came off of especially dominant play by Pittsburgh.

Natural Stat Trick

If these games are about getting fundamentals in check and staying healthy, a great way to do that would be not extending shifts long beyond what they need to be. You can see the shift chart above. What do they do right after that disastrous marathon PK shift? The defensemen and Bratt stay on way too long, killing much of the remaining time left to tie the game.

Eh​

The best positive I can pull out of today is that nobody got hurt. Nobody was really gaining anything out of winning today, except for, perhaps, the Devils worrying about home ice against possible opponents if they can win the round against Carolina. To me, though, it seems this team is not putting their eggs in that basket. The goal for this team is to stay healthy and work on details.

I get it, but it’s going to be occasionally frustrating. A game focused on the little things could have used more of the little things. A bit of desperation from Curtis Lazar or Luke Hughes to keep the puck out with Allen trying to freeze it with his skate? Allen even trying to freeze pucks with his skate? Taking reactionary penalties, under no threat, with seconds left in periods? The Devils again failed to get their details in order.

I did like the third line of Palat, Glass, and Sprong today. Palat, in particular, had a vastly improved game from his performance against Boston. Sprong continued to be a noticeable puck mover in the offensive zone, but they really need to open him up for some shots. And Glass, of course, with the big slap shot leading to Palat’s goal, had another nice even strength game — and he performed well in over six minutes matched up with Crosby. He needs to keep his stick down, though.

Hockey for Ray​

This was the first game for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils since the news broke that Ray Shero passed away at the age of 62. It would have been really, really nice if the broadcast showed any of the on-ice tribute for Shero. You can see an unofficial video of it below.

As far as the Shero style of hockey goes, this game had a bit of it. He always wanted to build skilled rosters above all else. Unfortunately, the Penguins were a bit reliant on the power play, so it’s not like this was a shootout by any stretch — Crosby was held to a 15.00 CF% at five-on-five — but there were not a ton of extra-curriculars in today’s game. It was pretty hockey-focused, and I can only think of a third period exchange between Kris Letang and Timo Meier as a negative moment between the teams. So, I’m happy this game was kept pretty respectful.

The Penguins are pretty much a relic team at this point, and, honestly, there is about as much worth keeping from the past 10 years or so as there is from the Shero years. Malkin, Crosby, and Letang can still turn a game on its head. As can Bryan Rust, a Shero draftee. And Tristan Jarry, who was in Shero’s final draft class in Pittsburgh, seems to have completely turned it around. He was excellent in net for them yet again.

I still believe the Devils have plenty of hope for the playoffs. And honestly, I think a better-run Penguins team over the past few years would still be a yearly playoff team. They have the talent and experience at the top to do it. Ray did leave both teams with a lot to work with.

Your Thoughts​

What did you think of tonight’s game? What did you think of the finish? When did things go wrong, in your opinion? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...-4-2-game-penguins-sidney-crosby-glass-malkin

 

[New Jersey Devils]

The AATJ Preview and Open Thread for the 2025 NCAA Frozen Four Final: Boston University vs. Western Michigan

Tonight should be fun. | Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Boston University goaltender and New Jersey Devils prospect Mikhail Yegorov has taken the college hockey world by storm. Will Jay Pandolfo’s squad take the Championship game? Or will Pat Ferschweiler’s balanced and experienced Western Michigan team come out victorious?

The Matchup: Boston University Terriers (24-13-2) vs. the Western Michigan Broncos (33-7-1).

The Time: 7:30 PM EDT

The Location: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri

The Broadcast: TV — ESPN2, ESPN+

The Rules: All usual site rules apply for this thread. No foul language, no streams, and no personal attacks.

Phenomenal Play​

Earlier this week, James wrote about our prospects in the Frozen Four. Tonight, we will be seeing Mikhail Yegorov play alongside newly-acquired Shane LaChance. James said about the two:

The other two Devils play for Boston University in the 2nd game. Forward Shane LaChance potted 11 goals and 29 points in 38 games this year for the BU Terriers. His rights were acquired by the Devils shortly before the trade deadline. The other Devils prospect is goaltender Mikhail Yegorov, who has been a beast in net since joining Boston mid-season. Yegorov quickly took over the starter’s net and flashed gaudy numbers of a 2.04 GAA and .931 SV% to go along with a 10-5-1 record and 1 shutout.

We came close to having three New Jersey Devils prospects in tonight’s Final, but Samu Salminen’s University of Denver was knocked out by Western Michigan in double overtime. So, alas, we will not get to see Boston University take on the defending champions — and the two teams, widely considered the best two in college hockey, did not even play each other this season. No, instead we will see an “underdog” program in Western Michigan try to take down an old powerhouse. This is Western Michigan’s first Frozen Four appearance, after all.

Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
These guys want to win.

Per Mike McMahon of College Hockey News, both teams bill themselves as playing pro-style hockey. McMahon quoted Coach Ferschweiler of Western Michigan as crediting Jay Pandolfo for bringing the Boston Bruins style down to the college-level, while Pandolfo noted Western Michigan’s heavy nature and their desire to work pucks down to the end boards, creating chances from behind the goal and through chaos around the net. And if these teams truly play a solid pro-style, NHL GMs should be keeping an eye on the undrafted college kids who put on a good show today — McMahon also notes that these are two of the biggest teams in college hockey.

The Scorers, The Prospects, and the Goalies​

Western Michigan has seven NHL draftees on their roster:

• Hampton Slukynsky, Los Angeles Kings goalie prospect (18-5-1, .922 SV%, 1.90 GAA)
• Alex Bump, Philadelphia Flyers forward prospect (23 goals, 24 assists in 41 games)
• Zachary Nehring, Winnipeg Jets forward prospect (13 goals, 17 assists in 41 games)
• Joona Valsanen, Pittsburgh Penguins defense prospect (4 goals, 21 assists in 41 games)
• Matteo Canstantini, Buffalo Sabres forward prospect (8 goals, 15 assists in 39 games)
• Ty Hendricks, New York Rangers forward prospect (7 goals, 5 assists in 40 games)
• Wyatt Schingoethe, Toronto Maple Leafs forward prospect (4 goals, 5 assists in 30 games)

Their roster also features several notable undrafted players who have scored 20 or more points this season, or who performed very well in net:

• Timmy Washe (Captain), 23 y/o forward (16 goals, 20 assists)
• Grant Slukynsky, 23 y/o forward (10 goals, 26 assists)
• Owen Michaels, 22 y/o forward (16 goals, 18 assists)
• Liam Valente, 21 y/o forward (14 goals, 19 assists)
• Samuel Sjolund, 23 y/o defenseman (4 goals, 25 assists)
• Iiro Hakkarainen, 21 y/o forward (12 goals, 15 assists)
• Cameron Rowe, 23 y/o goalie (15-2-0, .924 SV%, 2.00 GAA)

On the Boston University side, there are fourteen NHL draftees.

• Mikhail Yegorov, New Jersey Devils goalie prospect (11-5-1, .934 SV%, 1.98 GAA)
• Cole Hutson, Washington Capitals defense prospect (14 goals, 33 assists in 38 games)
• Ryan Greene (Captain), Chicago Blackhawks forward prospect (13 goals, 24 assists in 39 games)
• Cole Eiserman, New York Islanders forward prospect (24 goals, 11 assists in 38 games)
• Shane LaChance (Captain), New Jersey Devils forward prospect (11 goals, 18 assists in 39 games)
• Jack Harvey, Tampa Bay Lightning forward prospect (11 goals, 16 assists in 39 games)
• Jack Hughes, Los Angeles Kings forward prospect (7 goals, 18 assists in 39 games)
• Matt Copponi, Edmonton Oilers forward prospect (6 goals, 18 assists in 39 games)
• Tom Willander, Vancouver Canucks defense prospect (2 goals, 22 assists in 38 games)
• Kamil Bednarik, New York Islanders forward prospect (2 goals, 16 assists in 39 games)
• Devin Kaplan, Philadelphia Flyers forward prospect (10 goals, 7 assists in 37 games)
• Gavin McCarthy, Buffalo Sabres defense prospect (3 goals, 13 assists in 38 games)
• Brandon Svoboda, San Jose Sharks forward prospect (7 goals, 2 assists in 32 games)
• Aiden Celebrini, Vancouver Canucks defense prospect (2 goals, 6 assists in 30 games)

The Terriers feature just one very notable undrafted player in Quinn Hutson, who had 23 goals and 27 assists in 37 games for the team this season. Quinn is the only forward of the Hutson family, and he is 23 years old — ready to sign with a team after this game.

In any case, it is very interesting to see two college teams competing by building in completely different fashion. With Western Michigan’s reliance on older, mostly undrafted college players and Boston University’s reputation as a feeder school for the NHL, many players on the ice can take big steps forward in their careers tonight. The undrafted seniors on the Western Michigan side will not want to end their college careers without a championship, and many on the Boston University side might be making the jump to professional hockey through their drafting clubs as well.

All that said, let’s watch some hockey!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...r-final-boston-university-vs-western-michigan

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Game #80 Preview: New York Islanders at New Jersey Devils

Stefan Noesen celebrates a goal against the New York Islanders. | Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images

After clinching a playoff spot and following their loss to the Penguins, the Devils face the Islanders in their second-to-last home game of the regular season. Let’s take a look at the matchup in this game preview.

The Essentials

Matchup: New York Islanders at New Jersey Devils

Date: April 13th, 2025

Time: 1:00 PM ET

Broadcast: TNT, TruTV, Max

Listen: Devils Hockey Network

The Last Devils Game: The Devils lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 in their first game after clinching a playoff spot. It was a challenging game for the Devils in terms of puck luck and special teams. New Jersey got off to the start they wanted when Erik Haula scored 15 seconds into the game, and Ondrej Palat scored later in the first, but things went downhill from there. Luke Hughes inadvertently backhanded a puck into his own net near the end of the first frame. Pittsburgh got a deflection off of a skate during a power play to tie things up. The penalty kill allowed Sidney Crosby to tap in a back-breaking goal midway through the third period. The Devils’ power play went zero for three. Pittsburgh buried an empty netter, and that was that. If you’d like to read more about that game, check out Chris’ recap.

The Last Islanders Game: The game against New Jersey will be the second game of a back-to-back for the Isles, having played and lost to the Flyers in a shootout on Saturday afternoon. The scoring kicked off in the second period when Tyson Foerster scored on the power play. Foerster added another goal in the third period. Anders Lee and Noah Dobson added goals to end the second period with the Islanders leading 2-1. Flyers forward Jakob Pelletier notched a goal along with Foerster to take a 3-2 lead late into the third. Bo Horvat pulled the Isles back into the game by scoring with just over one minute left in regulation. However, New York could not earn more than one point, as Flyer Bobby Brink scored the lone goal in the shootout after the overtime period went scoreless. To read more about this game, check out NHL.com’s Gamecenter page.

The Last Devils - Islanders Game: The Devils last played the Islanders on November 9th, 2025, and won 4-3 in overtime. Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway following an alert outlet pass by Dougie Hamilton. It was Hughes’ second goal of the contest. Now Devil Dennis Cholowski and Brock Nelson had scored goals midway through the third period to give New York a 3-1 advantage. However, Dawson Mercer and Stefan Noesen scored late in the third period to tie things up. Noesen scored the game-tying goal with only 50 seconds left on the clock. Jacob Markstom saved 19 shots in the victory. At the time, it was the third win in a row for the Devils. If you’d like to reminisce over this OT win, check out Chris’ game recap.

Recent Momentum: The Devils (41-31-7) have lost two straight to teams with poor records. New Jersey has won three of their last five games and four of the previous ten. The Islanders (34-33-12) were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday with their loss. To make matters worse, New York allowed nine goals to the Rangers last Thursday and has now lost three in a row.

Lineups

New Jersey Devils

The Devils played the following lines against Pittsburgh. Head coach Sheldon Keefe has continued to tinker with the lines, and he is expected to do so again against the Islanders, so this is just a projection. Per Amanda Stein on Devils Now on YouTube, Dougie Hamilton was a full participant in practice but will not play against the Islanders. More on that below. Simon Nemec will start in place of Seamus Casey.

#NJDevils lining up with the same group they did yesterday ahead of facing Pittsburgh tonight:

• No extra forwards skating with this group this morning.
• Lazar and Bastian in, Dowling and Tatar out.
• Cholowski and Nemec make up a 4th pairing.
• Markstrom in starters net pic.twitter.com/s0A3JfbeZ0

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) April 11, 2025​

New York Islanders

Per Andrew Gross, the Islanders started the following lines against the Flyers on Saturday. Expect a similar lineup on Sunday. Ilya Sorokin missed Saturday with a lower-body injury, and Marcus Hogberg could start against the Devils. Anthony Duclair is also out following the criticism from Patrick Roy.

#Isles in warmups
Lee-Horvat-Palmieri
Tsyplakov-Pageau-Holmstrom
Engvall-Cizikas-Fasching
Martin-MacLean-Gatcomb
Romanov-DeAngelo
Pelech-Pulock
Dobson-Mayfield
Hogberg
Lennox

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) April 12, 2025​

What to Watch For

Better Special Teams Play but Don’t Hit the Panic Button

I get it. The Devils clinched a playoff spot and have not played great lately. At the same time, nobody wants to see anyone get injured from this point on. Sheldon Keefe discussed this in his postgame interview following the Penguins game. Keefe mentioned Bratt being able to potentially block a shot that Pittsburgh would eventually score on but did not want to see Bratt get injured in the process. He’s exactly right. That being said, it would be nice to see the special teams bounce back in the final games of the regular season to build momentum heading into the playoff series against Carolina. As of the writing of this post on Saturday afternoon, per NHL.com, New Jersey has a top-five power play and penalty kill. The Islanders are a bottom-five team in both categories. Special teams are certainly a point of emphasis in playoff games (not to mention series), so it would be great to see the special team units playing confidently to finish the regular season.

Islanders Season Stat Leaders

The Isles have three games remaining, but let’s look at the season that was for their players. Anders Lee leads the team in goals with 29, his highest goal total since the 2017-2018 season when he tucked 40. Bo Horvat leads the team in points with 56 and is tied for the lead in assists with 29. Horvat is 12 points shy of his career-high recorded 2023-2024 season when he tallied 33 goals and 35 assists. Defenseman Scott Mayfield leads the team with a +/- record of +17 through his 63 games played. Not surprisingly, Casey Cizikas leads the Islanders with 47 penalty minutes. Ilya Sorokin has recorded a save percentage of .904 per Natural Stat Trick, allowing an average of 2.77 goals per game. Sorokin has saved 8.46 goals above expected.

Dougie Close to Returning

At this point in the season, there isn’t much to say with playoff scenarios for both teams set, so let’s take a brief look forward. Dougie Hamilton fully participated in the final practice to end the regular season. Per Amanda Stein with Devils Now, Sheldon Keefe stated he would like to see Dougie play in a regular season game, but it would all depend on how he was feeling after the practice. He is not playing against the Islanders, but it would be great to see him play against either Boston or Detroit to shake off as much rust as possible. Returning to game speed after an injury is always hard. That speed would be elevated an extra notch, returning to a playoff series. It’s good to see Dougie back with the team. He will be very needed in the playoffs.

Your Thoughts

What will you be watching for in this matchup? Are you looking for the Devils to tighten up anything before entering the first round against Carolina? Thoughts on Dougie returning soon? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!!!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/4/13/24407212/new-york-islanders-at-new-jersey-devils

 

[New Jersey Devils]

New Jersey Devils Go Through The Motions In 1-0 Loss To New York Islanders

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

It was a sleepy Sunday afternoon game for the Devils, and the 1-0 final score was fitting for the effort

The New Jersey Devils secured a playoff spot this past week. In fact, not only was their postseason spot clinched, but their entire first round fate is sealed as well, with the Devils locked into a first round matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes. And even beyond that, New Jersey cannot catch the Hurricanes in the standings to steal home ice in the first round. So in other words, with three games left in the regular season, New Jersey has absolutely nothing tangible to play for. And boy did it show in a sleepy 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon.

During the game, which was a national broadcast on TNT, head coach Sheldon Keefe was interviewed. And while I generally hate these in-game spots because they’re usually cringe and offer nothing of note, I have to admit that this one was different. The question of what Keefe wants to see entering the postseason was asked, and Keefe said something to the effect of “Well I’d be lying if I said our number one concern is anything other than getting to the playoffs healthy”. It was a bit of unexpected candor from a head coach in that spot.

And those words informed a great deal my viewing experience today. I’m not going to go as far as to say the Devils quit on today’s contest. But I do think whenever there was a choice between taking a risk to make a play and making a business decision, the business decision always won out in the end. I really wonder if Keefe told his team before the game to take it easy and to protect against injury above all else. This would make the compete level I saw out of the Devils today make a lot more sense.

And if this was truly the case, then honestly, so be it. I want New Jersey to win games, and I’m sure you do as well. But as we outlined above, this team has absolutely nothing to play for aside from pride and perhaps a few guys reaching some statistical milestones. Which isn’t nothing, but the goal of getting to the dance in one piece is the primary concern. The fact that I’ve spent this entire article up to this point taking about the big picture and not the game itself should be an indicator of that as well. Yes it’s possible that some bad habits seep in as a result of playing out the stretch like this, but I would take that risk over more injuries befalling New Jersey.

As for the game itself, like I said there’s not a whole lot to say. The one exception to that, of course, is Paul Cotter getting ejected for a hit to the head of Adam Pelech. Here’s the hit, as well as an extended breakdown of it from the TNT intermission crew:

.@BizNasty2point0 breaks down the Cotter hit that led to a match penalty and how it was hard to avoid in real-time pic.twitter.com/oqRouMLHES

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) April 13, 2025​

My two cents? Yeah, I’m of the opinion that it was a bang-bang play that wasn’t as avoidable as color commentator Darren Pang made it seem. Did Cotter deserve to get a five minute major and ejected? I can’t argue that he didn’t. At the end of the day it was still a hit to the head, even though I thought there was no intent from Cotter. Even Keefe said in that same in-game interview I mentioned above that Cotter isn’t that type of player, but it was the right call. So while I think Cotter was in a tough spot, I can’t sit here and act like it was a complete miscarriage of justice that he got the boot and the Devils were sent to a five-minute penalty kill.

I guess what helped was the fact that the Devils killed off the entire major without allowing a goal. Which I believe is the second time they’ve done that this season (the other being November 25th vs. Nashville), but it’s possible I’m forgetting one. I’ll be honest though, I don’t so much credit the Devils’ penalty kill as much as I fault the Isles’ power play. My goodness that is a bad, bad unit. New York has been the worst special teams squad in the NHL this season, and it showed in a big way during the major penalty.

In any case, the Devils killed that off, but couldn’t generate any offense or momentum at all as a result. In fact it served as a fitting comparison to that November game against the Predators. That major against Nashville came very late in the game with the Preds down two goals. New Jersey killed off the penalty, and then IMMEDIATELY scored into the empty net to put the game on ice. This kill of a major led to absolutely nothing of note. A perfect microcosm of where the team was in November versus where the team is now. The offensive chances were few and far between this afternoon, and even on the rare occasion when New Jersey did threaten to score, Ilya Sorokin was there to answer the call every time.

The lone goal of the game was an immensely frustrating one: A Bo Horvat snipe that came in the final minute of the second period, made possible by a hideous turnover by Timo Meier.

A steal and score from Bo Horvat to get the Islanders on the board. pic.twitter.com/KEMhT1dDy7

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 13, 2025​

It appeared for a second that Keefe was intending to challenge for offsides on the play, as it did look like Kyle Palmieri might have entered the zone just ahead of the puck off the stretch pass. But either way, that is about as bad a play as you can make if you’re Meier. It was also the third time in three games that New Jersey has given up a goal in the final minute of the period, after doing it TWICE against Boston on Tuesday. And as it turned out, that Horvat goal was all the Isles needed today.

In all, this loss means absolutely nothing to the Devils. It doesn’t change their playoff fate one bit, and while it’s frustrating to once again get shut out (their ninth shutout loss of the season), everyone got out of the game healthy. According to Keefe, that’s what matters.

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 the NHL’s website

Cotter’s Fate​

I guess the biggest question out of this game is, will Paul Cotter face a suspension for his hit to the head of Adam Pelech? I have long since stopped trying to predict what the Department of Player Safety will do, as they seemingly make decisions at random. They’ll let Jacob Trouba two-hand swing his stick at someone’s face and bash his elbow into other people’s skulls with little to no punishment, but then they’ll turn right around and suspend a player for something about 10 times less egregious.

So in the end, I don’t know. Obviously if Cotter is suspended for one or two games, it’s not the end of the world. But if he has to miss a postseason game or two, that could be a problem. It’s not like Cotter is a game breaker and without him the Devils are toast. He’s a bottom-six grinder with some skill, a player that I think provides value to the lineup, but one New Jersey can live without for a game or two. I think the Devils would be worse without him, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that thanks to the good ol’ DoPS.

It Begins​

In case you needed yet another piece of evidence that Keefe is putting his team in bubble wrap before the postseason, we got our first healthy scratch due to rest of the home stretch:

Looks like Ondrej Palat will move up to plat with Hischier and Bratt without Stefan Noesen (rest) this afternoon for #NJDevils

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) April 13, 2025​

It makes sense. Stefan Noesen is a veteran, one of the older players on the team. I would expect to see him in the lineup in at least one of the final two games of the regular season, but I would also expect players like Ondrej Palat, Cody Glass, Brenden Dillon, Brett Pesce, and other vets get one of the final two games off as well. Maybe not all at once, the Devils still need to ice a full team after all. But don’t be surprised to see less than full capacity lineups coming soon.

Is He Back?​

The best thing to happen today other than everyone getting out of the game intact? Jacob Markstrom’s performance. It was another strong one from Markstrom, and it appears he’s rounding back into form after returning from his leg injury.

In his first eight games after being activated from Injured Reserve (March 2-26) Markstrom only won two of those games while posting an abysmal .846 Save%. But in his five games since, Markstrom has won three of them with a save% of .904, including stopping 21 of 22 shots today. His only clunker was a couple games ago against the Bruins, when he allowed a whopping seven goals on 16 shots. If you throw away that outlier, Markstrom has been stellar since the 26th of March.

We all know that it will be a challenge for New Jersey to defeat the Hurricanes in round one. It would’ve been a tough matchup even if the Devils were fully healthy, but with no Jack Hughes or Jonas Siegenthaler and at BEST a compromised Dougie Hamilton, the mountain gets that much taller. The most realistic way the Devils can pull off the upset will be if Markstrom steals the series. He’s certainly capable of it, and if his recent form is any indication, he might just do it.

Next Time Out​

The Devils are back at it on Tuesday in their penultimate game of the season and their last road game of the campaign. They’ll be in Boston to take on the Bruins at 7:00pm.

Your Take​

What did you make of today’s game? Where do you fall on the rest vs. rust debate? What do you expect next time out against the Bruins? As always, thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...s-to-new-york-islanders-hischier-meier-cotter

 

[New Jersey Devils]

DitD & Open Post - 4/14/25: A Return Edition

New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton (7) celebrates with the Devils bench after scoring in the shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 4/14/25

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

Ilya Sorokin returned from injury to backstop the Islanders to a 1-0 win over the Devils on Sunday. The postseason can’t come soon enough! [Devils NHL]

*large sigh*

Paul Cotter was given a match penalty for this hit on Adam Pelech

Pelech got up and was FURIOUS at Cotter pic.twitter.com/OESobMUf28

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 13, 2025​

New Jersey’s Paul Cotter will have a hearing tomorrow for an illegal check to the head against NY Islanders’ Adam Pelech.

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 13, 2025​

The Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the Penguins on Friday night but couldn’t hold on. Pittsburgh scored four unanswered and took a 4-2 win. [Devils NHL]

Dougie Hamilton is getting closer to a return:

NJ coach Sheldon Keefe said Dougie Hamilton will take warmups today but not play vs NYI

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 13, 2025​

Dougie Hamilton sighting#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/tmy7drusDF

— Daniel Amoia (@daniel_amoia) April 13, 2025​

“The good news is that Hamilton should help kickstart the Devils’ five-on-five offense. Though the Devils give some back defensively with Hamilton on the ice, they still averaged 2.87 expected goals per 60 in his five-on-five minutes this season. That ties Jesper Bratt for fourth-best on the team.” [Devils on the Rush ($)]

Prospect news:

Related, I’m told there’s been positive progress toward a one-year ELC with Arseni Gritsyuk and the #NJDevils

Now likely to sign before June as previously mentioned, still sounds like a deal for 2025-26. https://t.co/7ujY5dNLIs

— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNHL) April 13, 2025​

Per his agent, #NJDevils prospect Arseni Gritsyuk will sign his ELC in the upcoming days and spend next season in the NHL.

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) April 11, 2025​

Hockey Links​

Jets have won the Presidents’ Trophy:

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FRANCHISE HISTORY, THE JETS WIN THE PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY pic.twitter.com/JmAM3hgMQr

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 14, 2025​

History!

For the first time in NHL HISTORY, the Rangers, Penguins, and Bruins, have all failed to qualify for the playoffs pic.twitter.com/mV4JXChAjW

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 12, 2025​

A look around the league at each team’s most disappointing player this season: [The Athletic ($)] Then, on the opposite side of the spectrum, who has been each team’s MVP? [The Athletic ($)]

Gabriel Landeskog:

GABRIEL LANDESKOG GOAL ALERT

His tally in @TheAHL is his first goal in 1,027 days!

( : @ColoradoEagles) pic.twitter.com/3ynFdFqmUd

— NHL (@NHL) April 13, 2025​

Here’s a new one:

That's a new one?!

Dmitri Voronkov received a game misconduct earlier in the period but continued to play, and the officials just noticed and gave Columbus a minor penalty for having an illegal player pic.twitter.com/I9dudHCohb

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 12, 2025​

“The Western Michigan Broncos would not be denied. It didn’t matter that Boston University had all the experience with 25 NCAA Frozen Four appearances and 12 championship games. The Broncos were making their first-ever trip to the Frozen Four and were not intimidated in the least. Sophomore Owen Michaels scored twice, and Wyatt Schingoethe and Iiro Hakkarainen each had a goal and an assist, and the Broncos won their first-ever championship, defeating the Terriers 6-2 in the 2025 Frozen Four championship game at Enterprise Center on Saturday.” [NHL.com]

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

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/4/14/24407680/devils-in-the-details-4-14-25-a-return-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Paul Cotter Suspended For Remainder of Regular Season — Devils Announce Roster Moves

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

After a lengthy wait, the NHL announced that Paul Cotter was suspended two games for an illegal check to the head on Adam Pelech. The Devils also announced two roster moves.

Paul, oh Paul.

I was disappointed when Paul Cotter took the five-minute major penalty for illegal check to the head in yesterday’s game against the New York Islanders. This is not because the hit was particularly horrific — such a hit would have had him out for playoff games — but because the game was completely meaningless. The Islanders were eliminated. The Devils are going to be third place in the Metropolitan Division. Nothing was changing in yesterday’s game except for the Islanders’ draft position and the players’ individual statistics.

.@BizNasty2point0 breaks down the Cotter hit that led to a match penalty and how it was hard to avoid in real-time pic.twitter.com/oqRouMLHES

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) April 13, 2025​

Am I surprised that the hit was looked at by the league and deemed suspension-worthy? After looking at the replay a few times, I am not sure I can buy the TNT intermission group’s excuses for the hit, which you can watch above. It was generous of the crew to mitigate the image of intent, but I do not think they captured the kind of player that Paul Cotter is. Yes, he does not have a reputation for head-hunting, and he didn’t exactly “chicken-wing” Pelech with his elbow — but Paul Cotter averages 251 hits per 82 games played. He broke the New Jersey Devils record for recorded hits since it became an official stat in the 2007-08 season. Someone who throws so many hits and manages to avoid penalty minutes much better than most guys with hit totals like that (he only had 47 PIMs in 78 games prior to yesterday) should always be aware of the potential for contact.

Had Cotter skated more towards the boards after missing the puck (you can see this angle at 0:55), he could have avoided the contact with Pelech. To me, it looks like he starts skating at the puck, and then turns up at Pelech when he doesn’t get the puck. If that’s just because Paul thinks he can take the puck up the ice for a breakaway, maybe that turn is excusable. But since this is a guy who throws a lot of hits, I think you can also argue that Cotter should see he is not going to make a play on this puck. Instead of turning to cut the pass off, and then turning up at Pelech, Cotter could have taken a straight line the whole way at Pelech, hitting through Pelech’s shoulder if he cannot get there on time to poke the puck away.

The point is simple: Cotter saw this play develop, and he had a lane to deliver a thunderous and clean hit, instead choosing the higher-risk lane that put Pelech at risk in exchange for the possibility of stripping the puck for a breakaway. Meanwhile, he never even goes into a glide prior to the contact. So, there are a few levels of danger to the hit, and the NHL needs to enforce this kind of hit more consistently around the league if they want to protect players. The NHL’s official explanation for the suspension can be seen here.

In Other News​

The New Jersey Devils also had two roster transactions to announce. The first was the recall of Marc McLaughlin from the Utica Comets to the NHL. McLaughlin, 25, has six goals and zero assists in 26 NHL games — all with Boston — while compiling 26 goals and 37 assists in 183 games in the AHL. Even at lower levels, he has not been much of a producer, while building a reputation for strong defensive zone play. Frankly, I am not sure the Devils need more of that kind of play, but perhaps he will prove that he can score more greasy goals with the Devils. McLaughlin was acquired in the trade deadline move that sent Daniil Misyul to Boston, which was not a trade I was particularly fond of at the time, even though Misyul had not taken much of a a step in his second AHL season. Cotter’s suspension has given McLaughlin a chance to show what he’s got just in time for the playoffs, so let us hope that he proves to be someone that can help the team.

#NEWS: We've recalled F Marc McLaughlin from Utica (AHL).

He will travel with the team to Boston and has been assigned #21.https://t.co/BUN9HNrJ6O

— x – New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 14, 2025​

Additionally, the Devils also announced that the Utica Comets will be gaining Cam Squires, the 122nd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft. With the Cape Breton Eagles, Squires posted a career-high 75 points in 58 games with a +26 rating this season, marking four straight years in juniors where he improved both marks. Squires might not have turned into a huge scorer, but the apparent growth in his two-way play should give the Devils reason to believe he will adapt well to the AHL. Squires should bring a faster, balanced game from the wing, perhaps injecting more energy into their bottom six play down the line, after he bulks up in the AHL. Back when he was drafted, I was very happy with how he presented himself as a person and thought it was a pretty good selection by the Devils given the round. As long as he brings his attitude to professional hockey, he will be an NHLer.

Lastly, Frank Seravalli reported that the Devils are signing Boston University forward Shane LaChance to an entry-level contract, though the team has not revealed the details as of now. The only detail I can think of to be discussed would be whether he is signing immediately, to report to Utica or New Jersey, or if the ELC will begin as of the 2025-26 season. I would certainly like to see LaChance, who was acquired in the Trent Frederic trade, report this season, as I was a big fan of his game in the Frozen Four title game. Alas, we will have to wait for more details from the team.

Your Thoughts​

What did you think of the Cotter hit on Pelech? How do you think McLaughlin will integrate himself into the team’s structure? How do you think Squires will adjust to AHL hockey? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...nounce-roster-playoffs-mclaughlin-squires-cam

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2024-25 Gamethread #81: New Jersey Devils at Boston Bruins

Mercer! Swayman? Goals! Tonight! | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Boston is the place for the final road game of the 2024-25 regular season for the New Jersey Devils. This is a rematch from last week too. Support the Devils in this post, a Gamethread.

The 2024-25 regular season ends as it began for the New Jersey Devils: with a back-to-back set. This time it is in America and the road game is truly on the road. It is against the Boston Bruins, whom the Devils played last Tuesday. Welcome to the penultimate game of the 82-game season.

The Time: 7:00 PM ET

The Broadcast: TV: MSGSN, NESN; Audio: Devils Hockey Radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils at the Boston Bruins

The Song of the Evening: Since I referenced the great metalcore of Phineas in last Tuesday’s gamethread against the Bruins, allow me to pick another. From their most recent album, The Fire Itself, Phineas managed to craft a quintessential metalcore song. Is it the best one ever? No. Does it have all of the elements of a metalcore song? Yes. Melodys, growls, riffs, a solo, b Is it great? Absolutely. This is “Eternally Apart” and if you do not like any part of this, then this genre may not be for you.

The Rules: The rules remain the same as the Devils are playing their final road game of the regular season. There will be more road games soon with the playoffs. Please keep your language clean (this means no swearing, don’t mask it, it’s not enough, no swearing), respect your fellow Devils fan with no personal attacks (play nice or you will not play here), no illegal streams (this means no asking, no hints, no nothing about it), and please keep your comments relevant to this game. Go Devils!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...er-hughes-bratt-pastrnak-swayman-guys-rematch

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Moore-On or Moron: Pre-Playoff Edition

Dawson Mercer. Still Not a Center. Probably. | Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

The playoffs are almost upon us, which means its time for some takes.

By now, you know the drill. It’s time for Moore-On or Moron.

Are these takes something where yours truly, a person with good takes, is ahead of the curve hence Moore-On? Or are they they ramblings of a moron?

You can decide in the comments.

The Devils Are Making a Mistake Not Burning the Gritsyuk ELC Now For a Playoff Run​

Generally speaking, I hate speaking in definitives when it comes to Arseni Gritsyuk, as I feel there’s probably something going on behind the scenes we don’t know about and there’s probably a reason why he hasn’t officially signed his ELC yet (aside from the whole ‘his contract doesn’t expire until the end of May’ aspect). Maybe it’s visa-related, maybe its some other logistical reason, and maybe its as simple as both parties involved don’t want to burn the year yet. We don’t know.

I will say that I don’t think the situation is as simple as watching other KHL players/NHL prospects like Ivan Demidov and Alexander Nikishin sign with their respective teams though and looking at Tom Fitzgerald as being asleep at the wheel when it comes to why he hasn’t signed his KHL prospect. And I say this as someone who has been very critical of Fitz for being asleep at the wheel and doing a whole lot of nothing.

Could Gritsyuk help the Devils in a playoff run now? Potentially. We don’t know exactly what he’s going to be as an NHL player and we’re at the point of the season where there’s really not a whole lot of runway to give him a test run at this point to see what he is and how he fits into an NHL lineup.

But I do know the Devils have the salary cap to consider moving forward. I do know that once Luke Hughes signs his next contract, they’re not going to have a ton of cap space at their disposal to improve the team unless they get rid of some of the dead weight on the roster. Something that I wrote about a few weeks back.

I have my reservations that Gritsyuk will be the savior that some people seem ready to anoint him. But I do think he has a chance to be good, and I do know he’ll be valuable on that $925,000 salary next season. Likely far more valuable than he would be for a handful of playoff games now.

I don’t know what Gritsyuk’s second NHL contract will look like. We haven’t even gotten him to put pen to paper yet on his first NHL contract yet. But if his camp and Fitzgerald are ultimately ok with waiting until the fall for Gritsyuk to make his Devils debut, I can live with that. I don’t think that’s a mistake on anyone’s part. And had they decided the opposite, to burn the ELC now and worry about the second contract over the summer, so be it. I don’t view these as ‘mistakes’ worth getting hung up over.

We’ve already waited this long for Gritsyuk to come over. What’s another couple months at this point?

Verdict: Moron

The Devils Should Reconsider Whether or Not Dawson Mercer is a Center​

One of the more under-discussed topics of conversation in regards to this Devils team recently has been Dawson Mercer taking over as the team’s 2C in the aftermath of the Jack Hughes season ending injury.

Mercer lined up as the team’s 2C in the Dallas game back on March 4th, and putting aside any in-game line blendering by Sheldon Keefe, he has basically played there since.

So how has he done?

The results are a mixed bag at best.

In the 18 games since that Vegas game, he has 4 goals and 3 assists with a -7 rating, with most of that production coming on the power play (3 PPG, 1 PPA). His CF% in that timeframe is 48.85%, his xGF% is 48.19%, and if you’re the type who gets hung up on how important faceoff percentage is, Mercer is at 39.8% in the dot over that span.

If you look at those numbers and your takeaway is, that seems mediocre at best, I would agree with that assessment. But I would also agree that that is what Dawson Mercer has been for the better part of two years now. Mediocre at best.

For a player who recently turned 23 years old and is finishing up his fourth full NHL season, its not great.

That said, the question isn’t about Mercer so much as it is about him being a center, and that’s where things get a little complicated.

Mercer is at 2C right now out of necessity, between the combination of the Jack Hughes injury, Erik Haula’s ineffectiveness, and the team doing little at the deadline to bring in another center.

If we are clearing the comically low bar of “he’s better than Erik Haula right now”, ok? Although for what its worth, Haula has more points in that same span and is at least north of 50% of his draws, so are we sure Mercer is better than Haula at this point?

Either way, it’s still not good. And it’s still not a justification for perhaps leaving Mercer at center permanently going forward.

The bigger issue with Mercer isn’t whether he’s a center or a winger. It’s whether or not he’s a good hockey player or if he’s mid at best. Unfortunately, the answer to that second question appears to be the latter.

Now, it wouldn’t be fair to blame Mercer for being unable to replace Jack Hughes’s offensive production. We knew once Jack went down that that was going to be an issue. But that doesn’t mean Mercer has taken the ball and ran with it either since he got an opportunity to move back to center either. It’s been the opposite.

The Devils are probably better off with him at wing, and if Mercer doesn’t show signs of improvement as he enters his prime years, the Devils might be better off with him playing somewhere else entirely.

Verdict: Moron

These Last Few Games Of The Regular Season Are Cause For Concern Going Into the Playoffs​

They, and by they I mean Gerald but people in general, say that you want to be building momentum going into the playoffs.

So how are the Devils doing in that respect? Not great, Bob.

The Devils had a chance to clinch a playoff berth on Tuesday night. Instead, they got destroyed at home against the Boston Bruins. That wound up not mattering as the Devils wound up backdooring their way in with the Rangers loss the following day. But then the Devils followed that stinker up by allowing 4 unanswered goals in a 4-2 loss to the Penguins and getting shut out 1-0 against the Islanders. All at home.

Three games. Three losses on home ice to teams that will be playing golf this weekend. Not good.

Is it a cause for concern though? Not really.

I’m not excusing the Devils losing to the NHL’s also-rans down the stretch. But I also don’t think there’s anything that happened in the last week or so that has seriously changed my outlook on this team and their chances against the Carolina Hurricanes. And I would think the same is true with you.

If you thought the Devils had a chance to beat the Hurricanes before, did anything really happen in the last week happen to change your opinion? The answer is probably not. Conversely, if you thought the Devils were one-and-done bound before, I really doubt anything from this past week changed that opinion either.

81 games into this season, the Devils are what they are at this point. They’re a team that can certainly play well against anyone. They’re also a team that plays down to their opponent and routinely gives away points left and right. It’s part of the reason why I wrote recently why this team is exhausting and how they manage success poorly.

That can all be true, but so can this. Once the playoffs start, none of that matters.

The Devils are 0-0 again starting this weekend. They’re playing a really good hockey team in the Carolina Hurricanes that will also be 0-0. The Devils are going to be underdogs going into the series (+200 according to DraftKings as of this writing) against the favored Hurricanes (-245), and I think those prices are fair all things considered. Carolina has generally been more consistent between the two teams, they have more playoff experience as a group, and they have home ice.

But if the Devils somehow win the series, is anyone going to care how they’ve played this last week? Or how they have generally played since Christmas? The answer to that question is no, because none of that matters anymore. Fans are going to care about whether or not the Devils can somehow keep it going and how far they can take this thing....if they can get past Carolina. If the Devils are still playing in the middle of May, nobody will care how they fared in January.

And if the team loses, weren’t they a flawed team playing without several key players that was supposed to lose anyways?

So at least for me, no, this past week hasn’t really changed my outlook on this Devils team one way or the other going into the playoffs. I don’t think I’ll be picking the Devils against Carolina, as I’m nowhere near as confident as I was with the Rangers series two years ago, but losing to the dregs of the Eastern Conference isn’t going to be the reason why.

Verdict: Moron

The Devils Have No Chance Against Carolina If Their Power Play Isn’t Converting​

If there is something from the last few games that would be a cause for concern, it would be the Devils going 0-5 on the PP in those three losses and 2-13 in their last 7 games.

Small sample size aside, the concern is twofold....it’s concerning that the Devils are only generating roughly two power play opportunities a game over that stretch. It’s also concerning that they’re not cashing in on those chances, as the one thing they have been able to rely on all year is an elite level power play.

Carolina has the #1 penalty kill in the league this season, converting at nearly 84%, while the Devils have maintained a strong power play even without Jack Hughes, checking in at 3rd in the league at 27.5%.

If the Devils are going to have any chance of winning a series against the Canes, they have to be on the winning side of that strength-on-strength matchup.

The good news for the Devils is that Carolina has lost in the playoffs before losing that matchup. They did so one year ago against the Rangers. Carolina’s PK was #1 last year too at 86.4% while the Rangers were third in the league at 26.4%.

What turned out to be the difference in that series? Special teams.

The Rangers scored 4 power play goals in the first two games of that series. Both of those games were Rangers wins and put Carolina in an 0-2 hole. Carolina might’ve outplayed the Rangers at 5v5, but when your power play converts that frequently early, it puts the other team in a bind and forces them to play catchup. The margin of error shrinks. All of a sudden, you drop a must win Game 3 at home in overtime like Carolina did and it doesn’t really matter how well the charts say you did at 5v5. The series is effectively over.

If the Devils want any chance of beating the Canes, they need to take a play out of the Rangers playbook and win the special teams battle. Why? They’re probably not winning the 5v5 battle, as Carolina was #1 in xGF% at 5v5 this year and the Devils have struggled to generate offense at 5v5 outside of their top guys.

Verdict: Moore-On

It Doesn’t Matter That The Devils Made The Playoffs, They Will Be One-and-Done Anyways​

The Devils very well might be a one-and-done playoff team. The body of work they’ve put together over the last few months would suggest this team isn’t a serious contender to go deep, and its not like the GM did them any favors when he left millions of dollars of LTIR unspent at the deadline several months ago.

That said, I can’t get on board with the notion that it doesn’t matter whether or not the Devils made the playoffs in the first place only to lose in relatively quick fashion. It does matter.

It matters to Tom Fitzgerald, as making the playoffs may very well be the reason why he still has his job as general manager of this team. Because we could certainly argue with another year of no playoffs that the Devils would be justified had they decided to move on.

It matters to Sheldon Keefe, who is ultimately judged on wins and losses and is back in the playoffs yet again.

It matters to ownership, who certainly would prefer to have revenue from home playoff dates than not have them. They are running a business, after all. And while I’m not in the business of watching a billionaire’s pockets, I’m old enough to know that rich people are not happy when money is being taken out of said pockets.

And it matters to the players. The team didn’t make the investments that they made in their top players to not play playoff games. They didn’t sign Dougie Hamilton or Ondrej Palat or Brett Pesce or Brenden Dillon or Stefan Noesen as free agents under the premise that this team was going to be done after 82 games. They didn’t trade for Jacob Markstrom or Jake Allen because they were content to plan their offseason golf routine in the middle of April. They didn’t do all of that to support the core guys already in place because they thought good enough was good enough.

Like I said, its very well possible the Devils aren’t good enough to get past Carolina, never mind the rest of the Eastern Conference. And while its also not my place to tell people how to be fans, if you want to approach this as “only winning the Cup matters” and anything else isn’t good enough, I can respect that. Even though that's a very cynical way of being a sports fan in general and you’re going to be a miserable person watching your teams having that be the measuring stick for success each and every year. If that’s how you want to root for the team, you do you.

I fail to see how playing playoff games is a bad thing though. The Devils need to experience first hand what it takes to get to where they want to go, and the only way to do that is to play in this type of environment. They got a taste of that two years ago when Carolina beat them in five games. It probably needs to be reinforced that winning is hard and you need to work harder than the other guy in order to be successful. The Devils have approached the last two seasons like this is easy and they can just flip a switch at any point for the “big games”. Maybe they can. I have my doubts. Regardless, that remains to be seen. But getting beat by the team that ended their season two years ago yet again might also be the wakeup call this team needs moving forward.

Verdict: Moron

(Note: This article was written prior to the 4/15/25 game @ Boston)

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/4/16/24407775/moore-on-or-moron-pre-playoff-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils Fall to Red Wings, 5-2, in Hamilton’s Return on Starter Rest Night

The loss isn’t that important. Dougie is, though. | Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

Dougie Hamilton returned to the Devils while most starters sat in the press box, with Sheldon Keefe looking for his playoff bottom sixers. Read on to see who did well, and who did not.

Dougie Hamilton made his return to the New Jersey Devils lineup, starting the game with his partner in Brenden Dillon. The Devils were resting most of their starters in preparation for their playoff matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes. Thus, tonight was a test for the team's depth as they fought for remaining lineup spots. You can see the lineup below:

Now let’s get in formation. pic.twitter.com/r8lO4T0LLt

— x – New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 16, 2025​

First Period​

The Devils allowed the first big scoring chance of the game when Simon Nemec was left trying to defend a three-on-two, allowing Detroit too much space as he tried to take the far pass away. Nico Daws, however, made the stop. Dougie Hamilton later looked solid on a blueline denial, stripping the puck by the wall and moving it ahead. His breakout later, after the Devils turned it over, was a crisp long pass, through the air, right to Nate Bastian at the far blueline. The fact that it was a quick pass with a forechecker bearing down on him made it all the better, even if the Devils did not create anything out of it.

Simon Nemec took a high stick past the five-minute mark, but play continued on. Nemec picked his stick back up and continued to play defense. After the Devils exited the defensive zone, Dawson Mercer went hopping through some end-boards traffic to cycle the puck, creating a tip shot off of Mike Hardman’s stick that was stopped and frozen by Alex Lyon.

Brenden Dillon went to the box for tripping Patrick Kane on a Detroit zone entry. The penalty kill did well for the first minute, but Vladimir Tarasenko sniped the puck off the top corner of the far-side iron. Dawson Mercer could not get out to him in time, and the Red Wings took a 1-0 lead. However, the Devils challenged the goal for goaltender interference, and it was almost a terrible challenge until a zoom-in showed that J.T. Compher sticked Daws’s glove away from the shot. The goal was waved off.

Dawson Mercer cleared the puck after the following faceoff. Nico Daws made a low save to finish the penalty kill, and the game remained tied. At five-on-five, Daniel Sprong banged a shot off of Lyon, and the puck came right to Cody Glass, but Lyon made the second save as well. Glass could have placed it a bit better, but it was still a save.

After Alex Lyon made a couple of saves on Daniel Sprong, the Devils’ top line allowed a quick transition after losing the offensive zone following Sprong’s change for Hardman. Jonatan Berggen took a pass off Edvinsson’s skate and beat Nico Daws high, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead. Dennis Cholowski and Seamus Casey were not having a great time paired up together, looking rather ineffective in defending the rush, with Casey leaving his side to Erik Haula, leaving Berggren alone when Haula goes to deliver a hit on Simon Edvinsson. 1-0, Detroit.

Second Period​

The teams played rather slowly for the first few minutes of the middle frame. Nico Daws made a nice save on Albert Johansson five minutes into the period on a one-timer through Nolan Foote and Brian Dumoulin. However, J.T. Compher would score soon after play resumed, rushing back into the offensive zone and banking a puck off of Daws’s shoulder and into the net. The Red Wings took a 2-0 lead.

The Devils got some relief in the form of a delayed penalty call. Daniel Sprong created a netfront scramble with a low shot, but Lyon kept it out of the net, and the Red Wings touched up at center ice. Dylan Larkin went to the box for tripping Simon Nemec. It took nearly a minute for the Devils to get a shot, with Tomas Tatar delaying for a low shot through a screen into Lyon’s glove. Dougie Hamilton and the “first unit” stayed out, but had to collect the puck by Daws for another rush up the ice after Detroit cleared. The Devils failed to get another shot on the power play, though, and remained goalless.

Dougie Hamilton took a tripping penalty on Moritz Seider with 3:30 to play in the period. This penalty kill, like the first, was rather effective against Detroit, keeping them at bay with great stick positioning in the defensive zone. After Simon Edvinsson broke his stick ona slap shot, he two-handed Cody Glass to the ice on a one-on-one, drawing a chant from the crowd. Then, they called the Devils for a too many men on the ice penalty. Seamus Casey made a bad change. On the continued penalty kill, the Devils continued to shut down passing lanes, and a late shot from DeBrincat was blocked, sending the game to the second intermission with 1:04 remaining on the kill.

Third Period​

Simon Edvinsson drove Brian Dumoulin into Nico Daws and the net while driving the puck to the crease, nearly injuring Dumoulin on the iron and getting penalized for interference. The TNT crew did not like it, but I would argue that the league frowns upon driving defensemen into the goalie. The teams skated at four-on-four for seconds before Nemec took a tripping call to send the game to four-on-three for 14 seconds. Sprong then returned from the bench minor penalty to make the game four-on-four again. Play remained largely nondescript, even through the short Detroit power play. Back at five-on-five nearly three minutes into the period, though, Dylan Larkin scored while Nemec returned from the box. Detroit took a 3-0 lead.

Ben Chiarot took Marc McLaughlin down with a trip as Marc went around him in a one-on-one play. Taking out Lyon in the process, Detroit first looked to go after McLaughlin, and but hesitated and ultimately relented with the penalty already on them. The Devils went to the power play with under 10 minutes to play. Dougie Hamilton took a couple of attempts off the draw, but one was blocked, and the other went wide. The Devils retained possession for just a bit longer before Detroit took the puck and sent it the length of the ice. The Devils reset, and Dawson Mercer’s pass to Haula was disrupted and then taken away. Dougie Hamilton had trouble getting back to cover Compher, sliding into Daws in the process. The Deivls came back down the ice, though, after Daws made the save on Compher, and Daniel Sprong shot from high, banking the puck off Erik Haula into the net! The Devils made it 3-1.

The Devils did not stop fighting for offense, despite the situation. The first line went fighting around the netm and Mike Hardman was checked into the goal while knocking the puck around the net to Erik Haula. Haula slid it to his right, to Dawson Mercer, who made it a one-goal game! The score was 3-2 with over five minutes to play.

While the Devils were trying to tie the game, J.T. Compher and Cody Glass got tied up, with Compher losing his helmet and holding Glass’s stick. Both went to the box for two minutes, while 3:45 was on the clock. The home crowd was not happy. At four-on-four, the Devils tried to keep possession, and they were doing well until Dawson Mercer made a terrible pass to Dougie Hamilton on the rush, turning the puck over, leading to a rush goal for Alex DeBrincat off the entry to extend Detroit’s lead to 4-2.

Nico Daws went to the bench for the final 90 seconds of the game, and the Devils took some more shots at Alex Lyon. Marco Kasper made it 5-2 after the Devils failed to score, sealing the regular season with a home loss to Detroit.

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

Hamilton’s Return and Starter Practice​

All six of the Devils’ usual starters who were on the ice today — Hamilton, Dumoulin, Dillon, Mercer, Glass, and Haula — had positive possession and expected goal numbers. Only Dawson Mercer and Erik Haula were on the ice for a five-on-five goal against. A lot of the positivity seems to tie back to Hamilton. The Devils had 30 of their 52 five-on-five attempts in the 17:03 he played in those situations, with only 22 in the 27:57 that Dougie was off the ice.

The Haula-Mercer-Hardman line took time to gel together, but they were winning most of their shifts by the end of the game. They finished with a 72.71 xGF% on eight shot attempts, and only looked poor during the backcheck on the Berggren goal. Brenden Dillon looked far more comfortable next to Hamilton than he has next to Casey, Nemec, and Cholowski over the last several weeks — and I think the time away from Dougie may prove to reinvigorate his game now that the pairing is back together.

The Bottom Six Competition​

Sheldon Keefe had the pleasure of watching the entirety of his roster depth, including his upcoming Black Aces, in the lineup tonight, giving him a clear picture of who to call on and when in the playoffs. While I was hoping the competition would be a bit more...competitive, it only really served to solidify what I already saw from the team over the previous 81 games. This is how I read their games.

The Good​

Daniel Sprong — Daniel had, by far, the most proactive and efficient game of any of the forwards on the ice. He had five shots in 12:45 of five-on-five ice time, putting up seven total on just 10 attempts for 0.66 generated expected goals off of shots. He created two rebounds, shot two rebounded pucks, created a few dangerous scoring chances, and gave the Devils a reason to fight with his laser of a shot right to Haula for Erik’s deflection goal. If this team is a meritocracy, Daniel Sprong will be on the third line when the Devils take the Hurricanes on for Game One.

Justin Dowling — Playing against second line competition, Justin Dowling rose to the occasion again today. Dowling was matched against the DeBrincat-Kasper-Kane line, but Dowling’s line had a nearly two-to-one expected goals ratio. His line might not be an offensive threat, but Dowling showed again today that he has the speed, energy, and defensive instincts to lead a fourth line in the playoffs. If Tatar and Bastian were to be his wingers in the playoffs, you could definitely count on them to limit scoring. They might just have the kind of chippy play that can frustrate Carolina's scorers. The wingers at least put themselves in a position to play some games, even if they're not in the lineup each night. Dowling, however, may have solidified that center job.

Mike Hardman — Mike Hardman was a call-up a bit out of left-field, but I liked what he did on the top line today. He is a guy who lives up to his name, looking rather solid for a guy listed at 204 pounds. For his play, he comes out of the year with an assist in the NHL, but I would even consider him at wing if someone gets hurt in the playoffs.

Nolan Foote — The long-time Devil prospect failed to score a goal for the first time in his five-season NHL career, but I felt like he played his best game tonight. He was fifth on the team in five-on-five individual expected goals, throwing three hits as he looked to get more physically involved. Perhaps someone has gotten in his ear about making more of an impression in that regard.

The Bad​

Curtis Lazar — Playing the second-least even strength minutes on the team at just 9:04 at five-on-five alongside 0:42 of penalty killing time, Curtis Lazar had another rough night tonight. The Devils were outscored 2-0 with him on the ice, while outshot 5-3 and out-attempted 12-5. I wish Curtis was playing like he had been either of the first two years he was a Devil, because his play has left me not believing he deserves a starting spot in Game One of the playoffs. He is simply not as fast and energized as he used to be.

Marc McLaughlin — I had hoped that the Devils had a good reason for trading a tough, young defender in Daniil Misyul, but I am pretty disappointed with the returns so far. I do not think he has made enough of an impression to push into the playoff mix.

Kurtis MacDermid — I know Kurtis is a pure enforcer, but this is a guy who has played real NHL hockey before. He shouldn’t be skating around in circles, doing whatever, playing the least minutes in a game where the team was calling guys up from the AHL to ensure they had enough skaters to keep their starters out of the lineup. I was actually a bit annoyed at one point when it looked like he was passing on the task of covering for Seamus Casey so the young defenseman could work up front (it’s not like MacDermid was getting up to play offense), instead chasing the puck on Cholowski’s side in the neutral zone.

The Cholowski-Casey pairing — In 6:45 together, the Cholowski-Casey pairing sported an 18.75 CF% and 11.55 xGF%, getting outscored 2-0. Both played better in the few minutes they played with other defensive partners, but Simon Nemec was far more consistent. Had Casey shown his usual offensive instincts, there might have been a question, but I do not think either will be the first guys in on the defensive side during the playoffs in the case of injury. They did, however, seem to improve as the game went on.

Thank You, Readers​

Well, everyone, we wrap up another Devils regular season tonight. Of my eight years of game coverage here at All About the Jersey, this has stood out as a rather unique one. The Devils did not fail to meet expectations, but they did not blow past them. They made the playoffs (and that wasn't really ever in question all too much), but they didn't exactly compete for the President's Trophy. This was a season that really teetered between hopeful and frustrating, with a particularly high point in December. It's been complicated.

But we are not done yet, and for that we can all be thankful. Dougie Hamilton is back, and he looks good. Everyone has a chance to get plenty of rest before the first game of the playoffs on Sunday or Monday. This might not be a representative game, but I think the Devils are well-positioned to show fans that they deserve more hope than doubt.

Your Thoughts​

What did you think of tonight’s game? What did you think of the players competing for a playoff role? What did you think of Nico Daws? What now? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...-dougie-hamilton-return-on-starter-rest-night