Regional Sports

Work now begins for Devils

The calendar says NHL season starts in October. In reality, the season really starts when the Super Bowl is over when your average fan starts paying attention to their favorite hockey team.

This is where the games become paramount as teams are jockeying for a playoff spot. When head coaches talk about getting two points, it does not become a cliche anymore. It becomes a necessity.

After a 3-0 loss over the Nashville Predators Thursday night at the Prudential Center, the Devils enter the All-Star break with a 24-16-8 record (56 points), which is good enough for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. This means if the season ended today, they would make the playoffs for the first time in five years.

Alas, the season has not ended. In fact, it is the beginning. As great as it is to get points earlier in the season, getting points in February, March and April count as twice as it is in getting it in earlier in the season. The games after the All-Star break become faster and tougher. This is where the Devils are going to have to make adjustments in winning these types of games, especially when elite teams stop being cavalier about the regular season and start earning those wins by going after it.

If they think this recent stretch that features a three-game losing streak is tough, they have not see anything yet. To a man, they will admit that much. It’s going to get much harder in the next 34 games.

The Devils are finding out scoring is not as easy it was earlier in the year, which their offensive output helped them get off to a good start. In their last four games, they have only scored three goals. In Thursday’s game, they generated one shot in their two power play opportunities.

Teams have already made adjustments on how to play the Devils up-tempo style by suffocating them at every move defensively that would wear them down. The opponents do a good job checking the Devils players and forcing them to turn the puck over. They also clear the puck well, which limits the Devils from having second-chance scoring.

The Devils can count on teams to keep frustrating them offensively in the final months of the season. They need to figure a way to put the puck in the net instead of turning the puck over or hitting it in the goal post. What they experienced against the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and Predators this week is what they will keep experiencing in the final months of the season.

Will Butcher, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Taylor Hall (he has been out the last three games with a hand injury) are going to have to figure out how to counteract with teams using the bruising style to stop them. The three rookies never experienced that type of hockey, and Hall is still figuring out how to handle the grind of a playoff race.

As good as Brian Boyle has been, he can only do so much. He is a nice role player at best. That’s why the Devils’ young stars have to set the tone the next few months. It’s a tough position for them to be, but this is the big leagues, so they need to grow up.

The young stars have to learn how to grind it out. They have the ability to do so, but learning how to grind it out when things don’t go well can be hard. It can take the life of them, and that’s the last thing the Devils need right now. They haven’t had the experience of playing a long season, so this is all new to them. We sometimes forget growing pains take place in a long season.

The defensive corps need to do work, too. That means they have to get the puck out of the zone. They need to avoid odd-man rushes, and they can’t afford to have defensive lapses. This is feasible since the defense has come a long way from last season.

For the Devils, it comes down to scoring. They have to find a way to score an ugly goal or find a way to score by the crease. They need a guy who can be the guy like P.K. Subban did in giving the Predators a 1-0 lead in the second period. The goals they scored earlier in the year won’t be coming easy, and the book may be out on how to slow the Devils as the Red Wings, Bruins and Predators demonstrated this week.

No one said it was going to be easy. Nothing’s easy. This is a team that only has few players that has enough postseason experience. For most of this roster, this is going to be a brand new experience.

The Devils will have a chance to reflect and relax for a few days as the All-Star break convenes Friday, but Tuesday will come before they know it. Then, there are only 34 games to play, which means many divisional games and a West Coast trip

Yes, it will be a grind. What they are experiencing right now is nothing when they reflect and relax during the weekend

What they will know is the work is just getting started.

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