The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (28-29-2) @ St. Louis Blues (21-28-9)
Last Devils Game
On Thursday night, the Devils played their 2nd game in 2 nights and did what they do best, losing 4-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I came to the realization that the Devils actually do excel at something. They lose so often and are so good at it, that you would not be blamed for thinking that they might actually be actively trying to be this bad. Maybe they want to get Sheldon Keefe or Tom Fitzgerald fired. Maybe they just want to play golf. Maybe like all of us (or most of us), they just want this season (and winter) to finally come to an end and put us out of our collective misery.
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The Devils offensive struggles continued against the Penguins. Surprise, Surprise. Paul Cotter scored his 6th goal of the season in the 2nd period, his first goal since 12/13….his first goal in 24 games. Yay…so exciting. The Penguins scored 4 goals, including 1 empty net goal, but let’s be realistic here. The only thing they needed to do, was score 1 or 2 goals at most, and the game was over. During their current 5 game losing streak, the Devils have scored 4 goals….in 5 games. Fantastic! Jack Hughes continues to rack up assists, but it would be nice if he could score goals, well you know, for the team that actually pays him to score goals. 2 goals in his last 21 games, like so many things with this team, and this franchise, just doesn’t cut it. The golden goal was great. I’m happy everyone loves him now. But for the love of god, score some (insert expletive of your choice here) goals for your NHL team. Be a leader here. Enh, who am I kidding? There are no leaders on this team, just paycheck collectors, followers, and quitters.
Last Blues Game
Also on Thursday night the Blues defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-1. To make you all feel even better, the Blues, a team with an even worse record than the Devils, scored more goals, in 1 game, than the Devils have scored in their last 5 games combined. Fitz knows it’s not acceptable though and it’s on him, so no worries everyone! In the words of Bobby McFerrin, don’t worry, be happy!
The two teams traded goals in the first period to start the 2nd period tied at 1-1. However, St. Louis would go on to score 4 straight unanswered goals, including an ENG, to win the game 5-1. I didn’t realize one team was allowed to score that many goals in a row, or in one game. Go figure. Heck, Dylan Holloway had a had trick in this game. He might be able to score more goals on his own than the entire Devils roster tonight!
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Joel Hofer started in net for St. Louis on Thursday, so I would expect to see Jordan “Silver” Binnington get the start tonight.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
Does this section really even matter anymore? The Devils will roll out the same bums players and expect different results and then act surprised when it plays out exactly like anyone with a brain (apparently not Fitz or the coaches) expected. “We did the same things with the same players and lost again!? Inconceivable!”
The Devils “played” back to back games on Wednesday and Thursday, so I would assume they will have the day off on Friday and not have practice, but let’s be real here folks. They’ve been off now for months. Since Jacob Markstrom was the latest victim of the Devils “offense” I would expect Jake Allen to be the sacrifical lamb for tonight.
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Grimace’s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker
I asked Grimace this morning if he wanted to make a prediction for the game tonight. After 5 minutes of non stop laughter, he asked “You’re serious?” When I told him that I was, he said “dude…come on…they’re going to lose, obviously.” Whatever happens tonight, at least Grimace is over .500 for the time being.
Grimace’s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 12-12-0.
Your Take
I posted this information in the recap comments from the Pittsburgh game, however, I feel this belongs here too, for anyone that missed it. The Devils recorded their 20th win of the season back on December 19th. Since then they have played 24 games. They have won 8 of those 24. Eight wins…..in their last 24 games. Do with that information what you will. I know what I will do with it, and it sure won’t be watching this dumpster fire. Actually scratch that, at least a dumpster fire is fun to watch. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!
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In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris – thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my brand new podcast on here, if any of you are interested in listening. We have a light hearted, fun discussion about any movies, music or video games mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. Please feel free to listen to us on any of the formats below and any feedback is welcome (positive and negative). Also, please follow us and subscribe, even if you think we stink. 🙂