The New Jersey Devils: A Tale of Two Teams

Coming into this season, the New Jersey Devils were being dismissed as a contender by most of those that follow hockey, and even some of their own fans. The offseason losses of Gionta and Madden, and the release of Shanahan just before the season made some wonder just what the team would look like this season.

Because of those factors, if you told fans of the Devils at the start of this season that the team would be 37-21-3 at the Olympic break, I think most of them would take it.

That is the Devils record right now, yet fans are still concerned. That concern comes from the way that the team has played recently, limping to a 5-11-1 in their last 17 before the break. After the great start to the season, including a 9-0 start on the road, the team has looked flat in their last 30 games.

To compare the drastic change in the Devils season, I've split the first half down the middle...almost. The Devils have played 61 games, so I've compared their first 31 games to their last 30.

Here is what they've done (I've taken their three OT losses and added them to the regular loss column for this comparison):

OVERALL:
Record: 37-24  (77 of a possible 122 points)
Home: 20-10
Road: 17-14
Goals For: 162
Goals Against: 144

FIRST 31:
Record: 22 -9 (45 of a possible 62 points)
Home: 11-6
Road: 11-3
Goals For: 91
Goals Against: 68

LAST 30:
Record: 15-15 (32 of a possible 60 points)
Home: 9-4
Road: 6-11
Goals For: 71
Goals Against: 76

The first number that jumps out at you is the big difference in the road records. The Devils got off to that great 9-0 start on the road, but have been 8-14 since. The other big difference is the GF/GA. For their first 31, the Devils were plus-23. In their last 30: minus-five.

With the addition of Ilya Kovalchuk, those goals for numbers should creep back up over the goals they give up. The Olympic break also gives players like Paul Martin and David Clarkson time to get healthy and make this team even more of a threat down the stretch.

The road record of late is a bit concerning, but the Devils should have a high seed for the playoffs, so a solid home record is a bit more important.

As I've written of late, I feel this team is just fine. Every team goes through a stretch like this. I would rather see this now instead of when the playoffs start.