The New Jersey Devils have occupied third place in the Metropolitan Division for more than two months and hold a seven-point edge on the New York Islanders and New York Rangers with 10 games remaining.
While that may seem like plum playoff positioning entering Wednesday’s visit to the slumping Chicago Blackhawks, the Devils (37-28-7) are struggling as well. They’re coming off an 0-3 homestand against fellow postseason contenders and continue their road trip Friday at Western Conference-leading Winnipeg, which puts extra pressure on getting two points in the Windy City.
Nico Hischier remained a bright spot in the team’s latest loss, earning an assist Monday to stretch his point streak to a season-high seven games. Overall inconsistency continues to plague the Devils, however, and is something they must erase.
New Jersey surrendered the tying goal to Vancouver with 36 seconds left in regulation Monday, then the Canucks prevailed 4-3 in a shootout.
“I thought we did a lot of good things, but we talked about being consistent and if you want to win the game, you have to be consistent for 60 minutes,” said Devils forward Timo Meier. “If you’re just consistent for 59:30, you’re going to pay for it. At least we got one point, but it’s frustrating to lose like this.”
Meier tallied New Jersey’s first two goals, giving him 22 goals this season. Hischier is tops on the team with 30 goals but, with Jack Hughes (27) injured for the season, Meier may finish as the Devils’ second-leading goal-scorer.
After stopping a season-worst seven-game losing streak with Sunday’s 7-4 home rout of Philadelphia, Chicago (21-41-9) aims to secure consecutive victories for the first time since March 1-3.
The outburst marked the Blackhawks’ first seven-goal output since March 12, 2024. Ryan Donato keyed the attack with a pair of power-play goals.
That gave Donato a team-leading 25 tallies this season, nine better than his previous career high, as he continues to shine down the stretch of a harrowing season.
“I mean, I always have confidence in myself, right?” Donato said. “But you just kind of pray that good things happen and you just do the hard work. I set goals for myself — I’m not going to share with you guys — but I just share goals for myself. But at the end of the day, it’s obviously super exciting, and I’m very fortunate to do that.”
Connor Bedard, the reigning league rookie of the year and the team’s leading scorer with 56 points, also has picked up his production lately. Bedard has scored in three of the past four games and on Sunday netted his 20th goal of the season.
Bedard joined Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Artemi Panarin and Alex DeBrincat as Blackhawks players who have opened their careers with consecutive 20-goal campaigns in the past 20 seasons.
“At this point now, it’s how can we get better and improve?” Bedard said. “Enjoy the game and enjoy being together and just try to play as well as we can to get better.”
New Jersey is aiming to sweep the season series. The Devils defeated visiting Chicago 4-1 on Dec. 14 on the strength of a four-goal third period.
