On the Road Again | 10 TAKEAWAYS

With the season Jack Hughes is having, it often feels like these 10 Takeaways turn into the 10 Jack Hughes Takeaways, but I do try and spread the love. This week individual Jack stats do make it, but so does the work the group has done as a collective team, especially on the road this season. It's been their bread and butter and a big part of why they are where they are in the standings... have you heard? At the time I'm writing this, the Devils (61 pts) are just one point behind the Hurricanes (62 pts) for the top spot in the division.
A few weeks ago Ryan Graves talked about how the team had eaten way too much into their 13-game win streak from earlier this year and he certainly wasn't wrong. Their December was dicey and all of a sudden that lead was gone, but with a five-game win streak the team is currently riding, the longest current win streak in the Eastern Conference, they're back in the competition for the top spot in the Metropolitan.
It's what good teams do, forge a way out of the tougher times and find their stride.
With one more game left on the season-long five-game road trip, here are your 10 Takeaways, presented by Ticketmaster:

2.

Only once in his 30 minutes in the penalty box has a Jack Hughes penalty not been killed off. Hughes was in the box for a trip in his rookie season on Feb 25, 2020 in Detroit. Valtteri Filppula scored on a Detroit power play 34 seconds into Hughes' penalty.

3.

It's been a while since the Devils have had an 18-win (or more) road record in a season. You have to go back to Nico Hischier's rookie season when the 2017-18 Devils ended their 82-game season with 21 road wins, 15 losses, and 5 overtime/shootout losses.
Since then the Devils have had a season of 11 road wins twice, a 12-win road record, and 15.

4.

Can they do it?
Well, there's still a long way to go, but only three teams in NHL history have finished a season with a road: Boston (.795 in 1929-30), Detroit (.793 in 2005-06) and Chicago (.792 in 2012-13).
Right now, the Devils sit at a whopping .875 P% on the road.
(Stat via NHL PR)

5.

Western Canada? Check! Eastern Canada? Check! California? Check!
The Devils have swept all three regions for the first time not only in just franchise history but according to the National Hockey League, it's the first time in league history that a team has had that kind of success in a season.
(Of note, here is the criteria used in determining the record: "road trip": consecutive games played on the road and the team must have played at least two of the teams mentioned sequentially.

6.

Did you know that there are only four players in the league who have more game-winning goals this season than Nico Hischier?
Yes, it's true. Nico has five this season and only Sidney Crosby (6 - PIT), Brayden Point (6 - TBL), Leon Draisaitl (8 - EDM) and Kyle Connor (8 - WPG) have more.

7.

Jack Hughes already has more goals than any Devil did last season.
Jesper Bratt led the team in goals during the 2021-22 season with 26.
Jack has his 29 and is on the verge of his first 30-goal season.

The last time the Devils had a 30-goal scorer on the roster was the 2017-18 season when Taylor Hall had his Hart Trophy season with 39 goals.
It was also the last time the Devils were in the post-season.

8.

One more win (or two points in any fashion) and the Devils will hit 63 points.
That's their grand total from the 2021-22 season.
We just passed the 2022-23 halfway mark.
I say they do it.

9.

It's a rare occasion that Hughes has three or fewer shots in a game. But how about this one: against Anaheim, it was one of those rare occasions where he had just three shots.

Two of them went in.

10.

You bet when I see him later this week my first question to Vitek will be what exactly was going on here... was it just too much excitement over Hughes' game-tying goal with 8.6 seconds left that he fell over the boards? Check the video 19 seconds in. I'll get to the bottom of this and I hope the answer isn't as boring as he just dropped his stick.