The New Jersey Devils returned to Newark with six more points as they swept their three-game road trip this past week pushing their record to 15-3-0. For the first time in franchise history, the Devils swept the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Maple Leafs on the same road trip.
Over the three games the Devils scored 13 goals including two power play goals and one shorthanded courtesy of Yegor Sharangovich. All four lines contributed during their road trip too, with 11 different forwards collecting at least a point. Head coach Lindy Ruff’s team has now won 12 straight games, which matches the second-longest winning streak in franchise history.
After Saturday’s game Jesper Boqvist was asked if each win was adding more pressure to the team or if it was taking it off.
“I don’t know to be honest,” he said with a smile. “We need to take one game at a time, one day at a time and I think that’s what’s made us successful so far.”
Don’t Get Too High, Don’t Get Too Low Mantra
Team captain Nico Hischier has been very even-keeled when addressing the media throughout their current winning streak. Multiple times he has said the team can’t get too high after a win or too low after a loss. Back on Nov. 8, Mike Morreale of NHL.com shared his observation that Hischier’s attitude has rubbed off on his teammates, as the locker room continues to be very businesslike even though the team had won seven straight games at that point.
A New Mentality in the Locker Room
Besides Jack Hughes who told the media, “I mean we’re on a 9 game heater, I’d say we’re doing okay” when asked what the Devils needed to do to gain a little bit more consistency throughout a full 60 minutes, other players like Erik Haula and Brendan Smith have talked about still needing to improve despite their impressive record.
There seems to be a sense that they are happy with their current streak, but still not 100 percent satisfied with their 60-minute effort, which is a great mentality to have. Both aforementioned veterans talked about the team needing to improve their first period, and on Saturday afternoon the club played a perfect first 20 minutes in Ottawa. New Jersey had 15 shots on goal, two goals, a perfect penalty kill, and a flawless performance from goaltender Akira Schmid who made nine saves on nine shots.
They controlled the pace for the majority of…
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