The New Jersey Devils are hoping their strong form on home ice can end a losing streak when the Detroit Red Wings visit Newark, N.J. on Monday.
The Devils (7-0-1) and the Colorado Avalanche (8-0-2) are the only teams that have not lost a regulation home game this season. New Jersey is a more modest 6-7-0 in away games, falling below .500 after losing the last three games of its recent five-game road trip.
Opponents have outscored New Jersey 12-4 during the 0-3-0 slide, which is the Devils’ longest losing streak of the season. Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers saw the Devils concede three goals within a 26-second span as part of a run of five straight Philadelphia goals over the first and second periods.
While the outcome was bad enough, Devils captain Nico Hischier took greater issue with his club’s effort level.
“We were sleeping for a couple shifts and they made us pay… When we got scored on, we stopped competing for a bit and that’s just underneath our standard,” Hischier said. “Competing should be non-negotiable. It’s part of our identity. You don’t need to have skill to compete, and we lost that.”
Jake Allen allowed six goals on 29 shots Saturday, in the roughest outing of an otherwise strong season for the New Jersey goalie. Allen could start again Monday, or the Devils could give the struggling Jacob Markstrom another look in net.
Goal prevention is only part of the problem for a Devils team that hasn’t been efficient on offense. New Jersey is only 3-for-24 on the power play over its last 10 games, though Timo Meier scored with the extra attacker on Saturday.
Jesper Bratt leads the Devils with 21 points (five goals, 16 assists).
As the Devils are looking to get on track, the Red Wings are 4-1-1 in their last six games. Detroit’s only regulation loss in that stretch was a 5-0 shutout against the New York Islanders on Thursday, yet the Wings bounced back with a 4-3 overtime victory Saturday over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Columbus held a 3-1 lead midway through the third period, but Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider scored to force overtime. Alex DeBrincat then buried his sixth goal in his last six games to seal Detroit’s comeback win.
“I think those are games you’ve got to learn to win throughout this season,” DeBrincat said. “It’s not going to be perfect every night… Obviously, you don’t want to come back every game, but we have that in our toolbox. We just keep battling until the last whistle.”
The Red Wings are one of the few teams in the NHL that have a non-losing record (6-6-0) when allowing the game’s first goal.
DeBrincat (10 goals, 14 assists) and Dylan Larkin (12 goals, 12 assists) are tied for the Wings’ team lead with 24 points each.
Cam Talbot made 31 saves against the Blue Jackets, and is now 9-2-0 with a 2.66 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage in 12 games this season. What started as a timeshare in Detroit’s net may now be Talbot’s starting job to lose, as Talbot has outplayed fellow goalie John Gibson (4-6-1, 3.46 GAA, .870 save percentage).
–Field Level Media
