Devils 3, Flames 2: Seventh Heaven

Despite a slow start, the Devils were able to grind out yet another victory against a desperate Flames team.

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A few notes from New Jersey’s seventh straight victory:

Rolling with the punches

The Calgary Flames are a good hockey team in a bad spell. They entered play on a five-game losing streak, frustrated and angry with the way things were going. And it showed.

They came out flying against a Devils team that bested them in their own building but a few days prior. They were hitting everything that moved, driving pucks to the net front, and smothering every Devils attack before it could even get started. There was always a Flame on top of thr puck carrier and a player or two watching closely ready to support.

You could tell within a couple of shifts it was going to be a very hard game for the Devils.

When Nazem Kadri scored to give the Flames a lead, the Devils responded with a couple goals of their own. They were quickly taken away by video review.

Given all of the early adversity in the game, and the physical nature, it would’ve been easy to envision a scenario where the Devils – fresh off 500 wins and feeling like world beaters – took the easy way out and fell back on some of the cushion they’ve made for themselves.

You know what I mean; playing a perimeter game, throwing pucks away to avoid being hit, ‘winning’ pucks the Flames allowed them to, and then talking about the need to ‘get back to Devils hockey’ in the post-game.

The Devils didn’t do that; they pushed back. They worked hard down low and caused havoc around the net off broken plays. They finished checks. They fought through contact to get to their spots. Nathan Bastian dropped the mitts. The list goes on.

It was as if, as a team, they took a moment to realize about what was happening, looked at one another, and decided they weren’t just going to take it.

This game was as hard as any the Devils have played all season; and they were up for the challenge once again.

We know the Devils can skate with anybody and win transition battles night after night. But they are showing the ability to win grind-it-out affairs against high quality teams like the Flames and Colorado Avalanche; even when they’re not at their best.

The Nico train keeps chugging