More Devils Magic Extends Winning Streak To Eight
Fourteen games into an NHL season is way too soon to start labelling any club a “team of destiny”, but the way the Devils keep piling up the wins can make one wonder when the appropriate line of demarcation can be ascertained.
New Jersey registered its eighth consecutive victory by beating Ottawa in a 4-3 overtime thriller on Thursday night at Prudential Center. The streak is the team’s longest since 2011 and has the Devils sitting atop the Metropolitan Division with an 11-3 record. A tidbit from the MSG broadcast noted that teams that have gone off to this fast a start qualified for the playoffs over 90% of the time, something the Devils haven’t achieved in five years.
Will this, then, be the season where the Devils finally put their neverending rebuild in the rearview mirror and join the league’s upper echelon? Again, it’s too soon to tell, especially since their early schedule hasn’t been all that daunting. However, they certainly have the talent, they’ve added several valuable veterans to help show the younger players what it takes to win consistently, and they’re getting enough puck luck to squeeze out victories even when they haven’t had their “A” game.
Even those times when it appeared that the Devils’ good fortune had reversed course, such as when hot goalie Vitek Vanecek was removed from Thursday’s contest in the middle of the third period with what is believed to be a head injury initially sustained a period earlier after being run over by Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot, this team has been able to fight through it. With Mackenzie Blackwood needing 3-6 weeks to recover from an MCL strain and Jonathan Bernier still on the shelf following last year’s hip surgery, Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff was forced to turn to minor leaguer Akira Schmid in an up-and-down 3-3 game, a pretty shaky proposition.
Schmid, who went 0-4 as a starter during his brief call-up last season, mostly relied on his teammates in front of him to get to overtime. But when New Jersey defenseman John Marino was whistled for a slash to give Ottawa a 4-on-3 power play in the extra session, everyone knew Schmid was going to be on his own if this was meant to be his first career NHL win.
Of course, Schmid was more than up to the task, absolutely stoning the Senators on several golden looks from high danger scoring areas. Then, to complete the karma package, Chabot was sent to the sin bin for a borderline hold of Devils center Jack Hughes with 52 seconds remaining. Off the ensuing faceoff, Hughes set up defenseman Dougie Hamilton for a one-time blast that ricocheted off center Nico Hischier’s body and past Ottawa netminder Anton Forsberg for the game-winner.
It was Hischier’s second goal of the night, with the first a near replica of Tuesday’s shot that beat Calgary goalie Jacob Markstrom midway through the third period to give New Jersey a 3-2 victory. Hischier normally doesn’t beat goalies from that distance, but the captain has been on a tear lately, with five goals and four assists in his last six games.
You don’t think Ruff believes something magical is going on? He hasn’t touched the lineup since the streak began, thereby condemning young players Alexander Holtz and Kevin Bahl to a life of collecting dust in press boxes as healthy scratches. Obviously, it’s not like all 18 skaters have it going—defenseman Brendan Smith hasn’t played over 14 minutes since October 30 and committed two penalties on Thursday night while forward Jesper Boqvist has produced one point all season—so it shouldn’t have been all that disruptive to swap them out for a game here and there. Ruff did mention after Thursday’s game that sending Holtz down to AHL Utica so he could play games has been discussed, but the fact that this wasn’t done like a week ago seems to indicate a fear of tempting superstition.
Hey, I’m as nutty about superstitions as anyone, even though deep down I know I’m not responsible for the team’s outcomes. Then again, if I were, I’d probably be doing the same things as Ruff. To paraphrase a “Bull Durham” quote, you never mess with a winning streak. Or a destiny.