Overview
After a two-week hiatus, the New Jersey Devils (28-27-2, 7th Metropolitan) will face the Buffalo Sabres (32-19-6, 4th Atlantic) at the Prudential Center Wednesday night.
The Devils need a hot start over these next few games to salvage their season. With their season already in jeopardy, they lost five of six games before the Olympic break, sending them to the basement of the Metropolitan Division. New Jersey hopes that the break means the team will be rested and ready to take on the home stretch of the regular season. They’ll need key pieces like Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Arseny Gritsyuk, and Luke Hughes to stay healthy through the home stretch.
While the Devils are looking to get hot, the Sabres were on a heater of their own before the break. Buffalo has won 18 of 25 games since firing former general manager Kevyn Adams, punctuating this stretch with a five-game winning streak just before the break. It seems that the Sabres have finally managed to make their talent, including the likes of Olympians Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, gel. They’ll hope to keep the good times rolling in New Jersey.
Lines and Pairings
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Keys to the Game
How Will Keefe Adjust?
The Devils could feel their season slipping away before the Olympics, and it just seemed like the team was slogging through to make it to the break. Now, with an extended two-week break, the Devils need to be proactive and adjust to survive.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe, who is certainly on the hot seat, knows as much. He said he spent the Olympics “diving into what’s gone well, what hasn’t, and obviously, there’s been too many things that haven’t gone well. I spent a great deal of time diagnosing that, working at it, just trying to make some adjustments,” per Amanda Stein.
The Devils definitely have the talent to compete in the Eastern Conference, but the question remains whether they can do so under Keefe’s system. With the trade deadline looming and general manager Tom Fitzgerald under his own pressure, Keefe has to reinvigorate his team to avoid getting the axe.
Olympians Prove Devils Have What It Takes
If you watched the Olympics but hadn’t watched Devils hockey all season, you would have assumed the Devils were doing just fine based on the performance of the players that competed for their countries.
Of course, there’s Jack Hughes, who scored four goals and seven points in six games at the tournament, sealing it with his iconic golden goal against Canada. Then there’s Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Jonas Siegenthaler, who all performed well for Team Switzerland. Jesper Bratt had a quiet tournament for Sweden, but that’s only because head coach Sam Hallam stuck him on the bench. When Bratt finally found the ice late in the quarterfinals against the United States, he was one of Sweden’s best skaters. Finally, there’s Jacob Markstrom, who earned Sweden’s starting job. He notched a .933 save percentage throughout the tournament and almost stole the game against the United States.
All this proves is that the Devils have the raw talent to succeed in the NHL, but they need the right system to extract it. Jack Hughes looked revitalized in the Olympics and was arguably Team USA’s best player. Imagine if the Devils got the Olympic versions of their best players. It’s on Sheldon Keefe to make that a reality.
Where to Watch
Wednesday’s game can be seen on MSGSN at 7:00 pm ET.