It’s taken me a while to write, in part because I need to find my motivation back for blogging November game or week recaps, and in part because I just haven’t watched much lately for one reason or another – after attending our get-well 6-2 win against the Ducks which ended a four game losing streak almost two weeks ago, I actually missed most of the Hughes showdown last Wednesday being compelled to watch the end of the World Series, even though it wasn’t my team involved and I clicked the channel immediately after the final out. By that time, the Devils were up 5-0 and the rout was already on anyway.

I could have watched Friday and did see the latter part of the game – but I figured the letdown was coming since we haven’t handled prosperity well in recent years. Sure enough, a flat performance could only be masked by a strong game by Jacob Markstrom so long before the dam finally broke late in the third with three Flames goals, spoiling what could have been an increasingly rare 0-0 regulation tie. Of course, the Devils were outshot and dominated for much of the game so the result was pretty deserved.

Still, the Canada Coast trip proved to be a successful one as the Devils shutdown a McDavid-less Oilers 3-0 on Monday. I just didn’t want to attempt to stay up late for that game so I saw none of it, given it was already going to be a lot of trouble for me to sleep this week as it was battling the effects of a sore throat/cold since Saturday night. Two shutouts by two different goalies on the trip (Jake Allen played this game while Markstrom played the 6-0 party night in Vancouver) with strong goaltending performances in all at least put the 22 goals allowed in the previous four games before the Duck win firmly in the rear view mirror – for the moment.

Things have been going so well defensively that second-year pro Simon Nemec hasn’t been able to get back into the lineup and was inevitably sent back down to Utica once the team returned from the Canada Coast. Seems like he’s never really recovered from that shoulder injury he received playing for his country before camp. At least he’ll get to play bigger minutes and in all situations there…although things are currently a mess in Utica where the team’s lost its first nine games and AHL coach Kevin Dineen just got sacked.

One of my main pet peeves of the latter Lou years was how he let Albany/Lowell become neglected with the farm team Devils constantly among the bottom feeders in the AHL and that seems to be happening again now. Not that winning in the AHL is important per se – but being somewhat competitive helps develop the prospects you do have down there. Tom Fitzgerald can pick all the goalies he wants every draft, but if Nico Daws and Isaac Poulter keep getting pumped full of goals and red lights night after night, how does that help their development exactly? <end rant>

Thankfully there isn’t nearly as much to rant about with the big club after wins in four of their last five, culminating in a 5-3 home win against the Canadiens last night – which was probably a bit sloppier behind the blue line than it was during the trip, but at least the offense fully came to life again led by the newly formed trio of Peanut Butter and Jelly, which I guess is code for Palat, Bratt and Jack (Hughes) – a trio that’s finally gotten Bratt and Hughes fully unlocked this season while the vet has found new life with the younger stars.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned with Ondrej Palat’s lost in the woods start to the season after a disappointing first two seasons in red and white, though I did think the whole scratch him rhetoric was a bit over the top. That wasn’t going to happen ten games into the season with almost three years left on his contract, especially when your in-house alternative is usually one of Kurtis MacDermid (who granted has been something of a good luck charm since he started playing more regularly) or Nathan Bastian. I can’t really claim that two goals and an assist in his last five games is great, but it’s certainly leaps and bounds over the one assist and -7 his first ten games of the season which engendered the panic.

More importantly than Palat’s own production has been the complement he is to the skill and flair of Bratt and Hughes, doing the lunchpail work on the line that hasn’t gone unsung by his teammates:

I was also concerned about Hughes’ early start following a disappointing last few months of 2023-24 but he’s certainly turned it up a notch himself in recent games with a more Hughes-like four goals and ten points in his last eight games, including a three-point outburst in last night’s up and down game against the Habs. The PB & J line led the way in the Devils’ dominant first period with Bratt and Palat each scoring (even before Hughes also scored his own goal in the third period), but the rest of the night was full with a lot of catch-up suspense as the Habs pulled to within one three times before Bratt’s second of the night into an empty net finally sealed the two points late in the third period.

Although sixteen games into the season, the Devils scoring leaders look more normal than they did after 8-10 games (even if Nico Hischier leading the team by a bit with ten goals is a mild surprise), you can still see the contributions from the role players with Stefan Noesen still off to a strong start with six goals and thirteen points, along with Paul Cotter having six goals and ten points and Erik Haula’s four goals and nine points all chipping in from mostly the back six.

Defensively, Jonas Siegenthaler and Jonathan Kovacevic have become the most unlikely first pairing on a seemingly good team since…maybe Mike Mottau and Colin White? Siegs’ place in the lineup was thought to be on thin ice after a disappointing 2023-24, while Kovacevic was supposed to be the odd man out of the rotation before Brett Pesce came to camp still rehabbing and Luke Hughes got hurt in the offseason. Their absence until the last few weeks has proven to be Kovacevic’s gain (and for the moment, Nemec’s loss since ultimately when Pesce and Hughes returned, it was Nemec’s spot that Kovacevic wound up winning).

When it comes to Pesce and Hughes themselves, it isn’t really a coincidence the D’s played a lot better since their return. After all, the previous two games before they came back into the lineup the Devils allowed fourteen goals in two games. Since then, they’ve allowed fifteen non empty-net goals in the seven games they’ve played and that includes a couple of meh performances by Markstrom (last night and a 5-3 loss in Detroit a couple weeks ago). Granted, there were also games where the goaltending picked up the D on an off night since they were outshot both games in Alberta by a significant margin, but it’s nice to at least have a chance to stop a potential onslaught.

Next task ahead for the Devils? Actually cement a three-game winning streak on the Island tomorrow night, the long winning streak has been a bit elusive for us the last couple seasons so sustaining a good run would be nice, especially with the big teams in our division (maybe even including a resurgent Caps!) all off to strong starts themselves. Don’t really want to have a playoff spot come down to the wild card chase but with the Canes and Rangers already cemented contenders and the aforementioned Caps looking like a threat, it won’t be easy to avoid the muck. At least for now the level of play is getting better with a reasonably healthy roster, and that’s all you can ask for this point in the season.