STATE OF THE UNION
It is hard to compartmentalize the reports we got yesterday and today, that Jack will be out for approximately 8 weeks due to surgery on his pinky from an off-ice, freak accident injury he suffered on Thursday night. For a team that is already decimated by so many injuries (especially after Glass & MacEwan's injuries in CHI), losing your franchise player could not have come at a worse time, and I feel for Jack. And, as we all know, Jack is a player that you simply don't replace - the next-man-up narrative does not apply to a player of this caliber.
But look, the reality is that the Devils still, through all of this adversity, enter tonight atop the Eastern Conference with a 12-4-1 record. I've been talking about the fact that the Devils have banked themselves an outstanding wealth of currency to use in the event that they find themselves in a tough stretch. Well, we all hope that now this is not one of those times, but it will be an enormous task for the Devils to keep collecting points at this pace until healthy bodies - or more unsung heroes - come to the rescue. (Maybe, Shane LaChance will be one of those guys 😉)
ANOTHER GUTSY, RESILIENT WIN!
The Devils got the result they deserved in CHI, as this was possibly the best 60-minute effort they’ve had all season. They proved again that they are never out of any game this season, regardless of the circumstances, playing with only 10 FWDs for most of this game. The Devils came back not once, not twice, but three times in CHI to win the game, which no Devils team has done on the road since March 3, 2016, in NSH! 
NEMO IS ON ANOTHER PLANET RIGHT NOW!
I’ve been saying over the past several games that the more responsibility & TOI that Nemec gets, the better player he is.
But, I didn’t realize he would turn into the second coming of Bobby Orr in Chicago 😂
LINE CHEMISTRY
Sheldon thought things had become too stale and switched things up with the forward lines to start this game, and boy, did this pay dividends. This was the only game this season in which the Devils had all of their FW lines w/ 3+ min 5v5 TOI together outshoot and outchance each of their respective matchups. And, this game was on the road.
What was also impressive was the fact that the Devils lost two forwards to injuries during this game, resulting in the bottom two lines getting put in the blender quite a bit, and every combination was successful tonight in those two categories.
GRITS - JACK - DAWG LINE 🔥
This line, specifically, was extremely dominant in its debut, and it is absolutely devastating that we won't get to watch them play again tonight in WSH. This was one of, if not the best, performances of the season from any NJD line that played 10+ TOI 5v5, as they controlled 85.3% (29-5) of SATs, outshot their opposition 10-1, outchanced them 13-0 (incl. 6-0 from HD), and outscored CHI 1-0 in their 15:18 TOI together at 5v5.
- VINTAGE MARKY IS NOW NEEDED
- It was a shaky start, but Marky finished strong and made a few huge, timely saves. Devils had his back the whole way through, responding three times, including twice in the third. And, he ended up rewarding them and making an impact with that beautiful, Marty-esque stretch pass in OT.
Now, that being said, we do need vintage Marky to reappear sooner rather than later now that the team is without Jack. Your goalies need to be the backbone when your team feels like the luck and bounces are not going your way. As, if the Devils lose a few games with Marky’s save percentage at .870s… confidence will evaporate real fast for everyone! 
NOT GETTING CALLS?!
The Devils are really struggling to draw penalties on the road lately. They have only drawn 2 penalties in their last 3 road games since Nov. 1, ranking #32 in Drawn Penalties 5v5/60 in this timeframe.
Yet, in the same timeframe, they rank #10 in Total Possession Time on the road 5v5, and #12 in OZ Poss. Time... So, what gives, Sal?!?!
Well, teams see that 5v5/60 on the road, the NJD are only scoring goals at the 14th highest rate, compared to their 7th highest rate on the PP. And, as a result, they are definitely saying, "Stay out of the box and force the Devils to beat us 5v5," which is being executed extremely well.
Furthermore, despite the high rates of overall possession time/60 5v5 on the road #10, the Devils aren’t getting to the inside at high enough rates that will, by necessity, force teams to take penalties when defending. NJD’s rates of slot chances 5v5/60 since November 1 rank #25 on the road - and even when you extend the sample set to their entire 9 road games this season, the Devils still rank in the bottom half of the league at #18. It is a similar story with HDCF, ranking #15 since Nov. 1 and #22 this season on the road.
Bottom line, the Devils need to find ways to get to the interior more often to start forcing teams to take a higher rate of penalties. Relying on their rush game isn’t enough right now, especially without Jack.
5 STRAIGHT OT GAMES INCOMING?!
If tonight's game goes to OT, it would be only the third time in franchise history that the Devils have gone to OT in five consecutive games. (Both of the other two occurrences came less than a month apart in the 1995-1996 season.)
THE GOALTENDER GAUNTLET CONTINUES
Tonight will be the sixth game in the Devils' last 7 GP that they are tasked with facing a top-10 goaltender this season in terms of GSAE. First, it was Darcy Kuemper in LA (W), then it was Lukas Dostal in ANA (L), then Arturs Silovs vs. PIT (SOW), then Ilya Sorokin vs. NYI (OTL), then Spencer Knight in CHI (OTW), and tonight, it will be Logan Thompson in WSH. Can the Devils find a way to steal 9 of a possible 12 PTS against these six elite goalies?!
OVI EFFECT OVER?
We all know about the success WSH had last season, but how much of it was just the “Ovi bump” from his Gr8 Chase?!
That’s the big question mark and narrative surrounding the Caps this season, who started 6-2-0 but are fading. WSH’s 2-6-1 stretch over their last 9 GP — in which they are executing at a league-worst 7.4% (2/27) on the PP 😬 — has them sitting last in the Metro and #15 in the East entering today’s games.
And, still, with all that being said, they are only 8 PTS behind NJD and 3 PTS out of a Wildcard spot. The parity in this league right now is unbelievable.
So, beware, as this team is not struggling to create offense; they are simply failing to finish at the same rate they were last season.
Join Rachel and me on our pregame show tonight as we discuss the terrible Jack injury news, the outstanding win in CHI, and break down Nemo's historic hatty. It all starts at 6:30 p.m. on MSGSN!
-Sal
