Last night’s come from behind 4-3 win in Edmonton against a 7-3-0 Oilers team should be a wake-up call to the NHL; the New Jersey Devils 8-3-0 are ready. They’re hungry, they’re primed and after 11 games in the 2022-2023 season sit in first place in the Eastern division. Last night’s win showed a different Devils team than I remember in recent years; falling behind 3-1 after two periods would have signaled an automatic loss in years past.
But not this time. The Devs rifled off three goals in the third (including two in a stunning seven second gap) and walked away a winner at the Rogers Centre 4-3, sending their winning streak to 5 games straight and 8 wins in 9. After starting the season with back to back 5-2 losses it felt more of the same. The team with the third most losses (and only one playoff game win) since 2013 was playing to what we faithful have painfully known them to be.
This team now is surreal and reminds me of an era when reaching the playoffs was a lock every year and the season didn’t actually begin until April. This is a club that with a 12 goal differential in 11 games, 6th best in the NHL. Lead offensively by Jesper Bratt the team leader has 12 assists, good for 3rd best in the league so there’s plenty to be optimistic over for a team historically noted (at times incorrectly) for being defensively focused.
Also helping to lead the way in the New Jersey victory was Ryan Graves and Miles Wood. Wood had an outstanding performance with his two goals.
It’s still early, but 8-3 is 8-3. But this is a club that is long overdue to get it’s credibility back in the league, and perhaps this season is the start of something big. We’ll see.
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