Are the Devils the team to beat in the Metropolitan Division?
One of the hottest teams in the NHL (pun intended) is the New Jersey Devils.
Following a 5-1 dismantling of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, the Devils have won five of their last seven games. Their recent stretch has kept them at atop the very top-heavy Metropolitan Division.
They have been receiving contributions across the board. While captain Nico Hischier continues to put the puck in the back of the net, players like Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes have been playing extremely well so far this season. Even Stefan Noesen has 13 goals in 28 games. Not to mention the fact that, when called upon, both Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen are capable of making the big saves.
As of Tuesday, the Devils have a one-point lead on the Washington Capitals for first in the Metro, and the Eastern Conference.
On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Colby Cohen discussed what has been working for the Devils to make them a contender to win their division.
Colby Cohen: I know what everybody’s going to say, “Oh, they play fast.” The reality is they think fast. Sure, they have a lot of straight-line speed, they’ve got a lot of guys that can hurt you. You just watch the way these guys are all connected. You watch the way that they’re all in sync…You look at the balance in their lineup. Hischier, Hughes, [Erik] Haula, [Justin] Dowling. You have [Dawson] Mercer and [Paul] Cotter giving you depth in your third line. Noesen having a bit of a career year…I do think it’s important to talk about Luke Hughes in year two and how effective he is with the puck and his defensive awareness.
There are two people that deserve a lot of the credit here, and that’s the general manager in Tom Fitzgerald and the head coach in Sheldon Keefe…I think Sheldon Keefe is getting the most out of his group. They play a five-man offense, everybody’s so involved and it puts the defensive team back on their heels…I really like the way this team is playing.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…