The New Jersey Devils are gearing up for an important matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight, aiming to bounce back after suffering their first home loss of the season against the New York Islanders on Monday. The game had begun with the Devils holding an impressive 7-0-0 record on home ice, but they fell short in a tightly contested match that ended in overtime.
Defenseman Simon Nemec emerged as a key player during the game, scoring the equalizer with just 4.7 seconds left in regulation, marking his first goal of the season. Head coach Sheldon Keefe praised Nemec’s ability to rise to the occasion when opportunities present themselves due to injuries within the team. “Nemec has shown that when guys are hurt and an opportunity arises, he can step up and rise to the occasion. For him to shoot one in and get that big point, that’ll be big for him,” Keefe stated.
Reflecting on his dramatic last-second goal, Nemec shared, “I closed my eyes and tried to shoot. There’s not much you can do in the last five seconds.” However, despite the late-game heroics, the Devils were unable to secure the victory, and the loss snapped their near-historic streak of home wins, just short of the franchise record of 8-0-0 achieved during the 1987-88 season.
Goaltender Jake Allen addressed the importance of establishing a strong home-ice presence, expressing, “Every team in the league would say the same thing — you want your home ice to be a place you’re comfortable in and other teams aren’t.” He emphasized the long-term goal of making their arena a challenging venue for visiting teams.
Timo Meier, who also scored for the Devils, noted the team’s struggles to create scoring opportunities against the Islanders, stating, “They did a good job of not giving up much off the rush, and we played into that trap. We turned too many pucks over trying to force things off the rush instead of putting pucks behind them.”
As the Devils put their home streak behind them, they will look to regain their momentum against the Blackhawks in tonight’s match. With recent challenges behind them, fans remain hopeful that the team can harness the strengths they’ve demonstrated early in the season to rebound and secure a victory.