What Can the Devils Accomplish?

Saturday’s victory over Minnesota provided a glimpse of hope for Devils fans. Can they build off that momentum?

It’s always nice when the New Jersey Devils win the second half of a back-to-back. From my disappointed review of the shutout on Friday to my glowing recap of the 5-2 win on Saturday, the Devils have shown their fans the still-wide range in ability they can bring on a nightly basis. And yes, the Winnipeg game had its own problems. With Dennis Cholowski in Luke Hughes’s lineup spot, the Devils were even more hobbled than usual. In April and May hockey, though, the team has no room for excuses. The game on Saturday against Minnesota gave me a lot of confidence that, even in tough times, the team can pull together and win convincingly. Let’s dive deeper into why I am more hopeful than before.

Four Solid Lines

As I mentioned in the recap yesterday, I really enjoyed watching the Devils play with the ability to send four respectable lines onto the ice. Jesper Bratt had a great day with Nico Hischier and Stefan Noesen (though Timo Meier took a goal away from Jesper), Justin Dowling centered Palat and Tatar well, and the Haula-Mercer-Meier line broke even on shot attempts and expected goals, turning around the recent trend of struggling lines centered by Mercer or Haula.

And while Sheldon Keefe has not been able to quite figure out where to use Nolan Foote or Daniel Sprong, they did contribute to the goal scored by Paul Cotter in the first period on Saturday. Foote, according to Amanda Stein, will not be in the lineup tonight, though I am hoping to see more of him as he provides the possibility of an offensive push from the bottom six. Instead of Foote, Curtis Lazar will return to center the fourth line, allowing Paul Cotter to play wing. Hopefully, the game off gives Lazar a bit of a boost, as this has been a very difficult season for him.

The Returns of Cody Glass and Dougie Hamilton

The looming factor in the Devils’ forwards situation is Cody Glass’s availability. While his original absence of the lineup was associated with personal rumors, Amanda Stein confirmed that he has been out with a lower-body injury. He has resumed skating. But it’s not just Cody! To my surprise, Dougie Hamilton has also resumed on-ice activities, indicating that he may actually be an option for the Devils in the playoffs.

This is huge! Huge! This runs completely counter to a post I saw from JP Gambatese the other day, which filled me with a decent amount of dread. But, this just goes to show — always be hopeful when the reports are just rumors. Now, will Dougie be ready for round one, game one of the playoffs? Perhaps not, but the fact that he started skating less than a month after his knee injury indicates to me that he is not dealing with a super-serious issue and that he could even be back by the third or fourth week of April.

Just by re-inserting Cody Glass to the lineup, the Devils can take the attitude they played with on Saturday and distribute it through the four lines in full. Glass has shown chemistry with Haula, Bratt, and Sprong, and Sheldon Keefe should have an easier time working his middle six once Glass is able to play again. I am particularly excited for when Keefe will be able to rotate Justin Dowling and Curtis Lazar in the 4C position. Dowling and Lazar are capable of providing value to the team — Dowling did it on Saturday when his position on the forecheck created a turnover leading to Tomas Tatar’s goal. But keeping them rested and able to give a 110% effort every time they’re in the lineup will only improve what they bring to the table.

And Dougie — oh, how we missed Dougie for most of March. While Simon Nemec played one of his better games of the season on Saturday, redistributing the ice time so the defense is less dependent on Luke Hughes to be making plays would be great for the team. Dougie is a top-five offensive defenseman in the National Hockey League, even at age 31, one year removed from pectoral surgery. The Devils’ offense is far, far better when Dougie is on the ice than not, and Dougie still plays defense well enough that his even strength goals against per 60 minutes is lower than Brenden Dillon and Brian Dumoulin. Aside from Dougie, only Kovacevic and Siegenthaler have had positive goal differentials at even strength. That’s how dependent on special teams the Devils have been, and that’s how much of an impact Dougie still brings to the team.

Matching Up

While detractors of the win over Minnesota may point to the unavailability of Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, the Devils were dealing with more injuries, and nobody gets to make excuses at this time of year, anyway. When the Devils are heading to Raleigh next month, they will still be dealing with the lack of either Martin Necas or Mikko Rantanen. Every team that wants to make a run in the playoffs has to be ready to win without all the contributors they expected to have going into the season.

Getting Glass and Hamilton back on the ice means that the forecheck becomes much less dangerous to the New Jersey Devils. Cody Glass is one of the most proficient defensive centers in the league — and he has found an offensive game in New Jersey. He will not make silly mistakes during the breakout, and he will be defensively responsible if turnovers do happen. Hamilton, as mentioned, is an offensive dynamo, and his passing ability will keep other teams more honest than they have been in recent weeks.

Most importantly, the Devils may have their starter back in Jacob Markstrom. With Markstrom looking more in control of the crease, other teams will have to actually sustain offense to work goals against the Devils. Markstrom is hungry for a Cup run, and he’s not getting any younger. If he continues to show that he is ready to play, the Devils owe it to him to go as far as they can.

Well, How Far?

With Carolina on a 11-2-0 run, they look tough to beat right now. But out of that 11, they have only beat two sure playoff teams in the Winnipeg Jets and the Tampa Bay Lightning. They lost to the other playoff team they faced, as the Kings blew them out by a 7-2 score. Otherwise, who were they beating? Middling teams like Calgary, Detroit, Boston, Montreal, and the Islanders found themselves recently victim to Carolina, alongside bottom-feeders such as the Sharks, Flyers, and Ducks. In the eight games they played prior to the 11-2 run, Carolina lost six. Five of those losses were to playoff teams (Winnipeg, Minnesota, Toronto, Los Angeles, Edmonton), while they only beat Buffalo and Utah. So, over their last 21 games, the Carolina Hurricanes are 2-6-0 against playoff teams.

The Hurricanes are still going to generate offense, and Frederik Andersen may be tough to beat in the games he plays. But with Andersen getting up in age and not playing a starter’s workload, it’s anyone’s guess regarding their situation come playoff-time. But this team is weakened. The lack of Necas or Rantanen for Carolina probably offsets the lack of Jack Hughes for the Devils, and the Devils still stand to re-gain Dougie Hamilton. If the Devils focus on quick breakouts over the end of the regular season, I don’t think Carolina has actually shown anything over the last 21 games to indicate they’re the better team. New Jersey has just as many victories over true playoff teams in that span, and Carolina is not getting any help to fill that top six hole.

I do not believe making the playoffs is a win for the team in itself. Every year of the championship window is important, and the Devils need to win games without Jack Hughes. That’s it — no excuses. If Jacob Markstrom can hustle his rehab to get back into form for the playoffs, and if Dougie Hamilton can return from his injury to help the team, the rest of the Devils can play their rear-ends off and take at least a series against another flawed Metropolitan team.

From there, who knows?

Your Thoughts

What do you think of the news that the Devils may be getting Dougie Hamilton back soon? Do you think the Devils will finish the season strong? Can they beat Carolina in April? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.