The start to the season did not bode well this time either: the New Jersey Devils lost first to Philadelphia and then to Detroit. After two matches, the win column showed a dull balance of 0–2, and the opponent didn’t really have much substance in the conference.
By the way, the Devils won their previous playoff series in the spring of 2012.
However, New Jersey got their machine started after a couple of games and since then the going has been amazing. The team has lost only one of its 17 previous matches. In fact, since the loss at Washington in late October, the Devils have gone 29 days without a loss – thirteen wins!
The atmosphere in the groves also changed quickly. At the start of the season, Devils fans roared “Fire Lindy” into the rink to express their displeasure with the head coach to Lindy Ruff. Just a few weeks later, as the team was coming off its ninth straight win, “Sorry Lindy” shouts echoed from the home crowd (you will be transferred to another service).
– I accept the apology. Maybe one day we can sit down, have a beer and laugh about it all, Ruff joked after the match.
Sports expert Ismo Lehkonen reveals the three factors behind the surprise success of the New Jersey Devils.
1. How to play
The New Jersey Devils have been the best team in the NHL at 5-for-5 so far. It plays fast tempo skill hockey, where the game speed often rises to a really high level. When this is still implemented in terms of defensive readiness within a disciplined frame of reference, it has become really difficult for the team to win.
In New Jersey’s playing, there are many indications of the fast hockey with which the reigning champion Colorado charmed last season. The team defends greedily and actively forward. When the Devils get the puck, it starts to take the game really fast. When a high-class individual skill is combined with a fast way of playing, the result is achieved.
The Devils are the league’s brightest elite in, for example, the Corsi statistic that measures puck control, the ratio of expected goals, and the goal-scoring statistics.
– They have stolen a lot of games from Colorado and that is allowed, Lehkonen laughs.
– The Devils play the kind of speed hockey that Colorado has been playing for a long time. Their quick starts produce the most scoring chances in the series, at ten per game. Their skating power, speed and durability are top of the line. Those guys are like 800 meter runners, Lehkonen continues.
Lehkonen also praises the team for playing without the puck
– They destroy the opponent’s fast attacks with fast skating. They don’t cheat there when the game turns in their favor and they anticipate the game excellently anyway. They torpedoed the opponent’s superior attacks very well.
New Jersey has the front row by Jack Hughes mixed by Nico Hischier similar to the individual skill of the younger generation, but at the same time, in other parts of the lineup, speed, power and the desire to grind in tight spaces. This can be seen as constant pressure in the opponent’s area, strong end and corner plays and the goal posts and goals created as a result.
– It seems that they have even taken a little accuracy away from the shots, that they get the shots between the posts. The goal is to get to the playoffs this season. New Jersey scores a lot of goals from loose pucks and from close range, Lehkonen points out.
In addition to the defenders, Lehkonen singles out, among others, the 23-year-old Swiss center Nico Hischieri. The center forward was booked into the NHL in the summer of 2017 with the greatest expectations as the first player of the entire event, but the final breakthrough is only coming now.
– He hasn’t gone to that rally where his own points are sought at the expense of the team. With Swiss elegance, he takes care of things in two directions. That thing is starting to look really good now and it might be that the Devils were right with this guy. It features a stylish and durable athlete manacled and marinated.
Lehkonen does not believe in the Devils freezing.
– Their game is damn nice to watch. In the main series, there will be no weaknesses in that concept.
2. Defense
Behind the Devils’ amazing fall season, there is a fantastic defense that has become even too good. In the first couple, the lutes Dougie Hamilton and Swiss Jonas Siegenthaler form the best pair of defenders of the fall. The duo moves both the foot and the game equipment in an admirable way and there are no remarks in the number of games or in supporting the attacks either.
When the opportunity opens up, the defenders bravely push forward and don’t hesitate to go out and decide the situations as well.
When talking about goal waiting, for example, the duo is currently the best in the NHL.
They reach the top five in the same statistic Damon Severson and Brendan Smith, who form the team’s third pair. If there wasn’t enough here, you can find it in another pair by Ryan Graves and John Marino like high-quality defenders who move the puck well. This six sets the stage for the Devils’ highly entertaining pace.
– The defenders’ confidence on the puck in their own is a tough class. They have three pack pairs among the twenty best pairs in the league, morjes!, Lehkonen laughs.
– And when we talk about their fast attacking game and how they turn the game around, it requires a hell of a lot of footwork from the whole five. There is a bit of a tip for Finland as well, that the defenders are allowed to participate in the game, even if both of them, Lehkonen grins.
3. Erik Haula
The only Finn on the team has drifted into some sort of vagrant in the NHL Erik Haula, 31, who seems to fit the redshirt style of play brilliantly as an excellent skater. Haula (1+6) is still looking for his powers, but has otherwise played quality two-way hockey in a young team.
Versatility has become Haula’s calling card in the NHL, and there has been an example of this in New Jersey as well. Haula plays almost two minutes of superiority in the match and almost two and a half minutes of inferiority. With five against five, this has already played star center Jack Hughes and the Swedish winger for the longest time by Jesper Bratt alongside.
– Gameplay and Haula met again and it works. When we talk about playing two directions, it’s on a tough level. He also senses that winning is what matters now, not whether he scores 50 or 80 power points. Having seen Boston’s tough culture, he is also able to help young people there, Lehkonen sees.
According to Lehkonen, there were clear reasons why Haula was moved to the first chain.
– It has been seen that Hughes doesn’t have enough defensive play in the defensive zone as a center. Now they put a guy next to it who has the tools for it and is still a good starter. Hughes is also a smart guy, as is Haulak, for whom it is natural to drive from the middle lane to the goal so that the hernia twitches.
Really, even from those beginnings. Before Tuesday’s games, Haula’s starting percentage (58.2) was the 9th highest in the entire NHL, including those who made 200 starts. The reading in the offensive zone is more than 66 and is the fourth best in the entire series.
– We have seen a lot of so-called custom goals from the Devils. There are direct attacks and goals created through end plays and then there are those created directly from kick-offs. It is also a clear strength for them. Haula always grabs important starts, Lehkonen praises.