Eight days ago, the New Jersey Devils were looking for consistency. They looked like world-beaters on some nights and couldn’t get out of their own way on others. Then, a funny thing happened. Tuesday night, October 20th, the Devils hosted the Colorado Avalanche at Prudential Center and stunned the crowd by taking the Avs out of the game for the first 56 minutes. The final score, a 4-3 Devils win, was much closer than the game actually was.  

Fast forward to Wednesday night, October 28th, the Devils entered their road rematch against the Avs riding a four-game win streak and on a back-to-back after downing Dallas on Tuesday night the 27th. Even more impressive has been their shot suppression. 

Starting with the first game against Colorado, New Jersey had allowed 34, 16, 13 and 18 shots on goal to the Avs, Ducks, Kings and Stars. However, in their rematch against Colorado, the Devils allowed 44 shots on goal while watching their win streak get snapped in a 5-2 loss.

Jake Allen started in net for New Jersey and stopped 39 of the 44 shots he faced while being the primary reason the score wasn’t any uglier. He was opposed by Mackenzie Blackwood, who stopped 20 of the 22 shots his former team sent his way. 

“It feels a little different; it’s just the way this group has come together,” Devils Head Coach Sheldon Keefe said before the game. “The way they are talking to one another, the energy of the group, that feels different and that’s really what I feel is driving us right now.”

He’s not the only one feeling that way. Devils captain Nico Hischier has made it a point recently to deliver a similar message as Keefe. 

“This is what we’ve aspired to do,” Keefe said. “It’s what we thought we were capable of and this is the level. As we’ve said, consistency is the key to it all.”

New Jersey’s core players have been through a lot as a group and some of that has worn on them over time. However, this season, the cross is no longer only theirs to bear. 

As Keefe said before the game, “Cody Glass comes to mind as a guy that’s, he’s played a little bit less overall, but I think he feels important and valued here. I think he’s taken a step in that regard. Connor Brown is in for his second year now and then look at Evan Rodrigues, who’s come in. I think those guys really drive a lot of things.”

The line of Amadeus Lombardi, Cody Glass and Connor Brown was easily New Jersey’s best on an otherwise forgettable Wednesday night.

“No coincidence that we found our game since Connor Brown’s come in,” Keefe said. “Because it just gives us another voice. And then I think it becomes contagious. I don’t know if there’s any one particular guy or two guys that have changed or stepped up in that regard. It’s just an overall energy where everyone from player one down to 20, regardless of experience.”

Say his name and he scores. At 12:21 of the first period, with the Devils on a penalty-kill thanks to a Brett Pesce hooking call at 11:00 of the period, Connor Brown led a short-handed odd-man rush up the ice. His shot deflected off Cale Makar’s skate and trickled past Blackwood to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead. 

Brown’s first goal of the year was a tangible reward for the hard work he’s been putting in. It’s also an example of how New Jersey no longer needs to solely rely upon the likes of Hischier, Jack Hughes, Bratt and Meier. They are the core of the team. But the team is now deep enough to have plenty of options, both on and off the ice.

“You’re trying to build the hockey team and you need more voices; you need guys that do different things,” Keefe said. “Just like you need different guys to play different roles on the ice, special teams, matchups, whatever it might be. You need guys who take on different roles and enhance the leadership, the character and the personality of the team. So the more guys you have that can do that, it’s great.”

The Devils didn’t have that during the second period as their structure collapsed. They allowed the Avalanche to fire 21 shots on goal during the frame (while only registering six of their own). 

“They have a hell of a hockey team over there,” Allen said after the game. “Once they get momentum in this building, it’s really, it’s like no other team in the league. So it’s really hard to stop and they just buzz and they wear you down and obviously, we stuck with it as best we could. It opened up in the third, but I mean, the boys battled. That was a big thing. We just didn’t cave. They were battling, they were grinding and it’s one of those games.”

A Nico Hischier hooking call at 9:01 of the second period put the Devils on the penalty-kill for the second time in the game. However, this time, instead of scoring a short-handed goal, they allowed Colorado’s captain, Gabriel Landeskog, to score a backdoor, power-play goal to tie the game 1-1. 

Before the game, Keefe said, “Second period is an area we’ve been really focusing on and trying to get right and improve our play. I think it’s set up the second period to be a really big driver of our game. We want to get that right.”

New Jersey did have a chance toward the end of the middle period to regain momentum as Logan O’Connor was called for cross-checking Jack Hughes and 1:27 later, Brent Burns was sent to the box for tripping Luke Evangelista. However, the weary Devils did not score before the period ended or when the power-play resumed at the start of the third.

Then, at 2:45 of the third period, Nazem Kadri scored off a feed from Nicolas Roy to put the Devils in a 2-1 hole. 1:02 later, Parker Kelly scored from the right face-off circle and the Devils were down 3-1. 

“I think we knew they were gonna have a push,” Glass said. “Obviously their home building and they’ve been sitting around for a while, just waiting for this game. So, for us, we wanted to obviously be prepared for it. It was tough. They get power-plays, they get shooting around, they start feeling themselves a little bit and that’s where their mojo comes out. So yeah, it was tough. They played fast and like I said, just can be a learning experience for us.”

Whatever semblance of fight the Devils had left was almost entirely extinguished when Nathan MacKinnon and Jaden Schwartz scored 30 seconds apart – at 12:00 and 12:30 of the third period – to increase New Jersey’s deficit to 5-1. 

“They were a top team in the league last year, number one, right?” Brown said. “So, obviously it’s a great team with some amazing, world-class players over there and they came to play tonight and we could have played better. I thought Jake was great for us. He gave us a chance going into that third and the game opened up a bit. 

“But overall, it’s not discouraging. The effort was there. We gave ourselves a chance to win going into that third period. I would’ve liked to clean up a few things, especially early in that third…But, you know, learn from it, grow and keep building.”

Brown added his second goal of the game with 4:25 left in the third period to bring the Devils within 5-2, but that was their last gasp as their four-game winning streak came crashing to an end. 

“It’s such a pleasure to have him in the locker room,” Glass said about Brown. “We missed him when he wasn’t around for the first couple games and he’s very communicative…So, to have him in the locker room as another voice helps a lot, especially on the PK. He’s one of those guys who is constantly working hard, no matter if he’s on the first line or the fourth line. He can play any role you wanna throw at him.”

Again, Glass and Brown, as well as Lombardi, were a bright spot on an otherwise bad night for the Devils. 

“I mean, you’re trying to squeeze positives out and this is a good one,” Keefe said after the game. “Brownie has played well and he had a great season offensively for us last year too. So, for him to get rewarded here now just lets him leave with a good feeling, which is well deserved. So that’s positive. I thought that line was quite good most of the night. That’s all really good for us. And like I said, we’ll just kinda keep building.”

The next test will be to see how the Devils respond when they play the Golden Knights on Friday afternoon in Las Vegas. A strong response against one of last season’s Cup Finalists will be key to proving that things truly do feel different.