The crazy streak of the Devils

Very clever whoever can explain the present streak of success of the New Jersey Devils.

Guillaume Lefrancois
The Press

The Devils arrive in Montreal as the NHL’s team of the hour. They have won their last nine games and could score a rare feat by beating the Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

According to the NHL’s statistics service, they could indeed become the fourth team in history to sign 10 straight wins, using three goaltenders. The three previous teams: the 1985-86 Flyers (Bob Froese, Darren Jensen and Pelle Lindbergh), those same Flyers but in 1982-83 (Froese, Lindbergh and Rick St. Croix) and the 1972-73 Bruins (Eddie Johnston, Jacques Plante and Ross Brooks).

Such a rotation of goalies is not ideal, but these teams have dealt with these force majeure events, particularly the 1985 Flyers, affected by the tragic death of Lindbergh.

At the Devils, the circumstances were already special since they were already starting their season without Jonathan Bernier. Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek therefore had to share the work, but when Blackwood fell in battle, followed by Vanecek, the team had to turn to Akira Schmid.

The latter, a 22-year-old goalkeeper drafted in 136^e rank in 2018, relieved Vanecek last Thursday against Ottawa, and won Saturday’s duel against Arizona.

“Our goaltenders were excellent,” defender Dougie Hamilton said after Tuesday’s morning practice. We lost two goaltenders, and the third arrives in the third period, in a tight game, and he is playing very well. It takes everyone’s contribution to win and we got that. »

On Tuesday, Vanecek will return to the game after a short absence. He will be assisted by Schmid.

new depth

The Devils were therefore not spoiled in goal in terms of health, but they finally benefit from a little luck in the infirmary.

The three best attackers of the team, namely Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier, are a hit at the start of the season. In fact, all three hatched long before, but injuries meant they were rarely seen in the lineup at the same time. The Athletic colleague Corey Masisak wrote last week that the Devils have just played 12 games in a row with Hughes, Bratt and Hischier in the lineup for the very first time.

“I didn’t know that stat and it’s crazy,” admitted forward Miles Wood. Having these three guys on a daily basis changes everything. They are our three best players. »

Hughes arrived in the NHL in the fall of 2019. Here is the absence report of the three forwards since:

• Hughes: eight missed games in 2019-20, none in 2020-21, 33 last year;
• Hischier: 11 missed games in 2019-2020, 35 in 2020-2021, 12 last year;
• Bratt: nine missed games in 2019-20, 10 in 2020-2021, six last year.

The three youngsters total 51 points in 15 games since the start of the season.

For her part, Lindy Ruff believes, however, that the depth of her team explains more of the successes.

“We still have Blackwood and [Ondrej] Palat who are absent. But we have guys who were very good in Utica last year and who were able to help us keep a good pace. Last year, we didn’t have that depth,” noted the Devils head coach.