N.J. Devils: Let The Madness Begin

From the desk of:  THE BRICK CITY STYX

STAND or FALL

TUESDAY

Devils       3

Penguins  2

Look what Newark did to the Penguins ... again!

Sidney Crosby opened Tuesday night's scoring 8:17 into the first period with his 21st goal of the season.  Four minutes later, Kyle Palmieri answered right back.  Taylor Hall and Pittsburgh's Matt Hunwick traded goals in the second period.  Stefan Noesen then gave New Jersey a 3-2 lead at the 5:01 mark of the third.  That's the way things would stay - barely - thanks to some traffic management in the crease by Andy Greene, and a pair of huge saves by Keith Kincaid with under twenty seconds left in regulation.

It was Newark's second victory over the Penguins this season in as many games.


New Jersey Devils: Ray Shero Ringing Hell's Bells.

On Feb. 19 of last season, all hell broke loose in Newark.

The Devils had beaten the Islanders the previous night, improving their record to 25-23-10 with 24 games left in the season.  But the Islanders struck back with a victory the very next night at Barclays Center.

That Devils loss was the first of what turned into a ten game losing streak.  By the Ides of March they had fallen to 25-31-12, after which, they closed out the season with another 11 losses over their final 14 games.

One year later, the Devils are 33-22-8 (74 points), and presently occupy seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings.

General manager Ray Shero thought enough of this team to warrant the acquisitions of forwards Michael Grabner from the Rangers, and Patrick Maroon from Edmonton.  Grabner adds scoring and good two-way play, while Maroon (6'3" 225 lbs.) brings much needed grit and toughness.  Both will be unrestricted free agents come summer, but are nonetheless great rentals that will no doubt impact the Devils final push.

That being said, it's March.  Less than 20 games now remain in the regular season.  A spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs is theirs to lose. 

Let the madness begin!

To date, the Devils are 13-14-2 overall against the other 15 playoff contenders.  Twelve of the their final 19 games are against this group.  They otherwise have games remaining against Florida, Carolina, Montreal, the Islanders, and Rangers.

They are 9-9-2 against the other seven Eastern Conference contenders, with games remaining against Tampa, Toronto, Washington, and two against Pittsburgh.

They're 4-5-0 against Western Conference playoff contenders, with games remaining against Nashville, Winnipeg, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and two against Las Vegas.

From March 10 through the 23rd, the Devils will attempt to cross their Rubicon - six straight road games against Nashville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, and Pittsburgh.