The NHL released the 2015-16 season schedule on Thursday morning. Below is the full schedule for the New Jersey Devils, as per the team’s website.
The Devils start their season with three of their first four games at home, and also end the season with their last three games on home ice. The Devils also have a home game scheduled for March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day), so presumably they will be wearing their red and green retro jerseys that night. New Jersey has five afternoon games scheduled this season (10/18 @ NYR, 10/31 vs Islanders, 2/6 vs Capitals, 2/13 @ Flyers, 2/14 vs Kings).
It seems like the Devils are going to have some tough first few games, facing the Capitals, Predators, Sharks, and Rangers before finally catching some slack against the Coyotes, Senators, Sabres, Blue Jackets, and Flyers in October. It seems like a pretty balanced month, and if New Jersey can find ways to weather the storm in the first 6 games of the season and get points in maybe half of those games, they have an opportunity to climb the standings and have a strong foothold at the end of the first month of action.
November sees the Devils with a lot of tough competition, facing largely Western Conference teams and some strong teams in the East as well, including the Islanders, Penguins and Canadiens. This will be a tough month for New Jersey, which is why getting off to a strong start in October is critical for this season’s success.
December returns New Jersey to a fairly balanced schedule, facing some relatively light competition in the first five games including the Avalanche, Hurricanes, Flyers, Panthers, and Maple Leafs. The only tough competition that I foresee as of now in December are the Ducks, Islanders, Red Wings, and Bruins. New Jersey has another good opportunity here to end 2015 on a high note, much like October, it is critical that they take advantage if they want to keep their playoff hopes high.
The New Year will prove to be difficult for New Jersey, as the Devils face largely West Coast teams in January. There are only a select few games in the first month of the year that I would say the odds favor New Jersey in, but I would love to be proven wrong. If the Devils can hang on and earn some points against some very good Western teams, their playoff chances may look good. If they falter and lose a lot of ground, well… you know how it goes.
February is the same story as January, a lot of tough teams in both the East and the West that the Devils are going to need to be on their A-game for. Racking up the points in this month will be tough, no doubt.
The last full month of the regular season shows the Devils some mercy, as they play light competition in the East for about half of the games in March. However, the Devils go back on the road and play on the West Coast for a good chunk of this month, which will be tough. They will need to put together a strong thread of games out west if they want to improve their playoff chances.
The season ends in April with the Devils facing the Lightning twice, and also the Sabres and Maple Leafs. At least three of those games should be victories, depending where the Devils are at in the standings and how much motivation they have. Three games I consider to be winnable this month out of the four, which could be helpful if the Devils are on the edge of the playoff bubble.
As you can tell, the first three months are the best chance for the Devils to gain some points this season. They MUST take advantage of as many games as they can early in the season if they want to have a shot at the playoffs. The later it gets in the season, the more difficult the games will get, especially when New Jersey is playing tough teams in the West. If John Hynes can get his troops prepared early in the season and get them in a good rhythm, I think based on this schedule there is a better chance than the last few seasons of the Devils making the playoffs.
Cheers to a great season, folks. Below is the full schedule.
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October 2015
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| Date | Visitor | Home | Time (ET) | ||||
| Fri Oct 9, 2015 | Jets | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Oct 10, 2015 | Devils | Capitals | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Oct 13, 2015 | Predators | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Oct 16, 2015 | Sharks | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Oct 18, 2015 | Devils | Rangers | 1:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Oct 20, 2015 | Coyotes | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Oct 22, 2015 | Devils | Senators | 7:30 PM | ||||
| Sat Oct 24, 2015 | Devils | Sabres | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Oct 27, 2015 | Blue Jackets | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Oct 29, 2015 | Devils | Flyers | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Oct 31, 2015 | Islanders | Devils | 1:00 PM | ||||
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November 2015
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| Date | Visitor | Home | Time (ET) | ||||
| Tue Nov 3, 2015 | Devils | Islanders | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Nov 6, 2015 | Blackhawks | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Nov 8, 2015 | Canucks | Devils | 5:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Nov 10, 2015 | Blues | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Nov 12, 2015 | Devils | Blackhawks | 8:30 PM | ||||
| Sat Nov 14, 2015 | Penguins | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Nov 17, 2015 | Devils | Flames | 9:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Nov 20, 2015 | Devils | Oilers | 9:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Nov 22, 2015 | Devils | Canucks | 10:00 PM | ||||
| Wed Nov 25, 2015 | Blue Jackets | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Nov 27, 2015 | Canadiens | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Nov 28, 2015 | Devils | Canadiens | 7:00 PM | ||||
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December 2015
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| Date | Visitor | Home | Time (ET) | ||||
| Tue Dec 1, 2015 | Avalanche | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Dec 3, 2015 | Devils | Hurricanes | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Dec 4, 2015 | Flyers | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Dec 6, 2015 | Panthers | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Dec 8, 2015 | Devils | Maple Leafs | 7:30 PM | ||||
| Fri Dec 11, 2015 | Red Wings | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Dec 13, 2015 | Devils | Islanders | 5:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Dec 15, 2015 | Devils | Sabres | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Dec 17, 2015 | Panthers | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Dec 19, 2015 | Ducks | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Dec 20, 2015 | Devils | Bruins | 5:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Dec 22, 2015 | Devils | Red Wings | 7:30 PM | ||||
| Sat Dec 26, 2015 | Devils | Hurricanes | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Dec 29, 2015 | Hurricanes | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Wed Dec 30, 2015 | Devils | Senators | 7:30 PM | ||||
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January 2016
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| Date | Visitor | Home | Time (ET) | ||||
| Sat Jan 2, 2016 | Stars | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Mon Jan 4, 2016 | Red Wings | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Wed Jan 6, 2016 | Devils | Canadiens | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Jan 8, 2016 | Bruins | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Jan 10, 2016 | Devils | Wild | 8:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Jan 12, 2016 | Devils | Blues | 8:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Jan 14, 2016 | Devils | Avalanche | 9:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Jan 16, 2016 | Devils | Coyotes | 9:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Jan 19, 2016 | Flames | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Jan 21, 2016 | Senators | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Jan 23, 2016 | Devils | Jets | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Jan 26, 2016 | Devils | Penguins | 7:00 PM | ||||
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February 2016
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| Date | Visitor | Home | Time (ET) | ||||
| Tue Feb 2, 2016 | Rangers | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Feb 4, 2016 | Devils | Maple Leafs | 7:30 PM | ||||
| Sat Feb 6, 2016 | Capitals | Devils | 1:00 PM | ||||
| Mon Feb 8, 2016 | Devils | Rangers | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Feb 9, 2016 | Oilers | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Feb 13, 2016 | Devils | Flyers | 1:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Feb 14, 2016 | Kings | Devils | 12:30 PM | ||||
| Tue Feb 16, 2016 | Flyers | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Feb 19, 2016 | Islanders | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Feb 20, 2016 | Devils | Capitals | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Feb 23, 2016 | Rangers | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Feb 25, 2016 | Devils | Blue Jackets | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Feb 26, 2016 | Lightning | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
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March 2016
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| Date | Visitor | Home | Time (ET) | ||||
| Tue Mar 1, 2016 | Hurricanes | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Mar 3, 2016 | Devils | Predators | 8:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Mar 4, 2016 | Devils | Stars | 8:30 PM | ||||
| Sun Mar 6, 2016 | Penguins | Devils | 5:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Mar 10, 2016 | Devils | Sharks | 10:30 PM | ||||
| Sat Mar 12, 2016 | Devils | Kings | 10:30 PM | ||||
| Mon Mar 14, 2016 | Devils | Ducks | 10:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Mar 17, 2016 | Wild | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Mar 19, 2016 | Devils | Blue Jackets | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Mar 20, 2016 | Blue Jackets | Devils | 5:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Mar 24, 2016 | Devils | Penguins | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Fri Mar 25, 2016 | Capitals | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sun Mar 27, 2016 | Devils | Hurricanes | 5:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Mar 29, 2016 | Bruins | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Mar 31, 2016 | Devils | Panthers | 7:30 PM | ||||
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April 2016
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| Date | Visitor | Home | Time (ET) | ||||
| Sat Apr 2, 2016 | Devils | Lightning | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Tue Apr 5, 2016 | Sabres | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Thu Apr 7, 2016 | Lightning | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||
| Sat Apr 9, 2016 | Maple Leafs | Devils | 7:00 PM | ||||