Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

New Jersey moves into 10th place in East with 4-2 win over Atlanta; Reality check awaits?

gyi0063951289

It’s not always how it’s drawn up, but for the Devils on their incredible streak in the second half a win is a win. Tonight, the Devils got down 2-0 early to Atlanta thanks to goals from Tim Stapleton and Chris Thorburn. That would be all Atlanta would see the rest of the night though as the Devils went on to storm back and win 4-2.

Travis Zajac scored late in the first to cut the lead to 2-1 and the momentum gained from that goal carried into the second where Patrik Elias would tie the game up. With the score 2-2 going into the third, rookie Jacob Josefson would give the Devils the lead at 4:14 of the period while Ilya Kovalchuk would add an empty net goal late to seal the deal. Atlanta thought they tied the game with under 40 seconds to go as Evander Kane swatted a puck out of the air and past Martin Brodeur but it was waved off for being hit with a high stick.

The win draws New Jersey even with Atlanta and Toronto in points with 70, but the Devils have the tie-breakers against both teams and sit in 10th in the East. At one point this season, the Devils were by far the worst team in the NHL and now they’re within points of the eighth spot. While the Devils have played gutsy and tough hockey and winning lots of close games, things are about to get a lot harder for them down the stretch.

In the Devils final 13 games, they’ll be on the road for seven of them and dealing with some of the East’s best teams. Here’s how things shake out.

3/17: @Ottawa
3/18: Washington
3/20: @Columbus
3/22: @Boston
3/25: @Pittsburgh
3/26: @Buffalo
3/30: NY Islanders
4/1: Philadelphia
4/2: Montreal
4/5: @Pittsburgh
4/6: Toronto
4/9: @NY Rangers
4/10: Boston

Certainly with the way the Devils have been playing and executing anything is possible and it’s tough to bet against them, but with nine of the next 13 games coming against teams that are ahead of them in the standings and not much room for error for the Devils the rest of the way, it’s going to be tough. Adding in that they’ve still got five sets of back-to-back games things are going to get stressful over the next few weeks for the Devils.

They’ve persevered over John MacLean’s poor coaching, Jamie Langenbrunner’s questionable presence, and one of the worst starts to a season in recent memory but they’re still in it and they’re hotter than anyone in the league. Bet against them at your own risk.