Prior to the holiday break the New Jersey Devils were playing some of the best hockey we’ve seen in years and were considered Stanley Cup contenders. Now, almost a month after the holiday break, the Devils have struggled massively and the Metropolitan teams have begun to close the gap in points while the Devils have more games played compared almost to everyone.
Since returning from the holidays, the Devils have lost nine games and only won three. The Devils also have gone to overtime in four straight games, only winning one of those games. New Jersey’s record post holidays currently sits at 3-6-3.
So what has gone wrong during the past month for the Devils? The easier question might be what has gone right, because it hasn’t been much.
The Devils offense seems nonexistent as they have struggled to get scoring from their top offensive players, including Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, Dougie Hamilton and Stefan Noesen. All of these players have scored just one goal during this tough stretch. The bottom six has also not added to the offense, leaving most of the heavy lifting to players like Jack Hughes and captain Nico Hischier.
In most of their games during this stretch, they have struggled to score more than two goals. They even got shut out against the LA Kings earlier this month. In each of their wins they have scored three or more goals.
The lack of effort, silly mistakes and not connecting as a team has shown as the Devils have struggled to get momentum in any game they have played.
Unfortunately for the Devils, it seems that there is an illness going around the Devils locker room, which might be the cause of their lackadaisical play. Whether it is the main reason or not, it certainly does not help having your players not at 100%.
Luckily, goaltender Jacob Markstrom has been lights out for the Devils, giving them a chance to compete in every game. The Devils have to get back to the style of play they were playing previously if they would like to start to pick up wins.
New Jersey currently is 26-17-6 with 58 points, sitting in third place with a seven-point gap between the fourth-place team and a three-point gap between the second-place team.
The Devils are currently on a four-game losing streak and have a chance to end it tonight against the Boston Bruins on home ice at 7 p.m. ET.
