With The Devils And The Inevitable Playoff Clinching, The How Will Be Forgotten
Like Blanche Dubois, the Devils have been dependent on the kindness of strangers this season.
Thanks to down years by some of the Metropolitan Division’s presumed contenders for playoff seeds, The Devils are almost certainly headed to the postseason for the second time in three years. Their Magic Number is one, which means New Jersey would have to lose all four of their remaining games in regulation while the Rangers would simultaneously need five consecutive regulation wins to kick the Devils out of third place and the automatic berth.
It’s just too bad the Devils played Tuesday’s affair against Boston as if they had already clinched it.
Instead of treating the contest with the urgency to finish the job in front of the Prudential Center faithful, the Devils slacked off in virtually every facet from preparation to execution in a dreadful 7-2 defeat. Most of Boston’s goals originated from plays that started with the puck on a Devil’s stick. Goalie Jacob Markstrom’s goals saved above average, per NaturalStatTrick.com, was a ghastly minus-4.63 before he was mercifully pulled with about nine minutes to go.
In a sense, Tuesday’s poor effort both came out of nowhere—New Jersey entered the contest versus the Eastern Conference’s last-place club well-rested and confident after winning three games in a row and four of their previous five games—and also was entirely foreseeable, for the only consistent aspect of this Devils season has been their inconsistency.
The Devils have never had a winning streak longer than three games or a losing streak that lasted longer than four games this season. The season-ending shoulder injury to All-Star center Jack Hughes sustained during a March 2 tilt at Vegas has only marginally affected results—their points percentage with Hughes in the lineup was .581 before playing at a .567 clip over the last 15 games going into Tuesday. Neither rate, by the way, will get it done to pose as a serious threat for the Stanley Cup.
But they’ll have a chance at it anyway simply by taking a point against Pittsburgh on Friday, or even if they have to back in with a Rangers misstep against the Flyers or Islanders beforehand.
Without such missteps, things could have gone off the rails. On March 24, the Devils were two games over real .500 following an overtime loss to Vancouver. They were reeling as they embarked on a three-game road trip. Meanwhile, the Rangers, Islanders, and Blue Jackets were all within seven or eight points of third place while holding either one or two games in hand. That’s far from an insurmountable cushion. I’ve seen relentless playoff pushes from such positions in the last two decades, including a couple from the Devils and Islanders.
Only this time the three teams needing to play desperation hockey have collectively gone 7-11-2 since to fall out of the race or be put on life support. As for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, neither ever gained any traction despite some preseason optimism they could sneak into playoff contention.
The Devils, though, were built to be here. Last summer, they invested a first-round pick to bolster their goaltending with the trade for Markstrom and added bulk to the back line with the acquisitions of Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, and Johnathan Kovacevic.
And perhaps just as important: Sheldon Keefe brought his successful regular season resume from running Toronto’s bench for the previous five seasons to be the team’s new Head Coach. His Job No. 1 was to minimize the variance in efforts and outcomes that has plagued this franchise since its halcyon days that ended with the 2012 run to the Cup Final. Discipline and accountability was expected to be restored.
In that regard, it’s been a trying season. The team has not dealt with adversity or prosperity all that well. Injuries exposed their problematic depth, which is an excuse for losers. Keefe, to his credit, has not gone in that direction, but he hasn’t been able to figure out sustainable solutions, nonetheless. All the line juggling and musical chairs with his sixth defenseman hasn’t spurred the desired consistency.
But all that anyone will remember is that the Devils made it to the postseason, not how they got there. For all their warts, they were better than all but two of their Metro Division competitors, and that’s good enough. The Devils can repay their rivals’ unintended generosity by putting on a good show against Carolina in the first round.