Devils 5, Hurricanes 3: Winning ugly

The Devils didn't play their best game – far from it – but that didn't stop them from grinding out a big two points against the Metro Division leaders.

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A few observations from another come-from-behind victory against Carolina:

Take it and run

The Devils did not play bring their A-game or B-game to Carolina. Heck, they didn’t even have their C-game.

Forget creating chances or controlling the run of play; getting out of the defensive zone safely was an extremely difficult task for much of the night.

The Hurricanes pressed and pressed and pressed from start to finish. There were always ‘Canes players – often multiple – pressuring the puck carrier on the breakout. They did such a good job of forcing New Jersey’s blueliners to get rid of the puck before they wanted to and, generally speaking, the closest and easiest option was also taken away. Thus, there were a lot of turnovers and wasted possessions.

Although some Devils slipped through the cracks and found themselves wide open further down the ice, the insane pressure took away any ability for the defensemen to actually survey the ice and step into a pass to find the open target.

Given how well the Hurricanes suffocated the Devils on the breakout, and thus destroyed their transition game, it was no surprise to see the Devils posted their worst offensive numbers at 5v5 all season.

On a per minute basis, the Devils’ attempt and chance outputs were the lowest we have seen.

Considering the Devils couldn’t generate much of anything at 5v5, and their power play gave up a pair of shorties, one would assume the Devils were blown out of the rink – yet they won the game anyway. That’s the sign of a good team.

Don’t get me wrong, this is absolutely not a winning recipe over the long haul and you don’t want to be in such a situation very often. But good teams find a way to grind out some wins even when nowhere close to their best.

The Devils did that – and erased a multi-goal deficit – on the road against a Stanley Cup contender. As a result, they are right back within striking distance of the No. 1 seed in the division.

That was a huge win. Take the two points and run.

Mercer magic