Devils Team Scope
Not much can be said about the New Jersey Devils other than the fact that they've been the class of the NHL for over a month now.
The Devils are riding high with an incredible 12-game win streak after downing the Ottawa Senators 5-1 on Saturday to push themselves to 15-3-0 and further into the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.
"When you get on a run like this, a lot of good things that can happen," Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff said. "I thought tonight was a total team game. We got the production, we got a key shorthanded goal from Sharangovich, but all four lines were in on it. I thought our defense played well, and our goaltender made some big saves at key times."
Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian, Jesper Boqvist, Sharangovich and Michael McLeod scored for the Devils, who are now one win away from tying their franchise record of 13 set during the 2000-01 season with the opportunity to match it against Edmonton on Monday night.
Centre Jack Hughes is the cream of the crop for the Devils in a forward group that's beginning to show signs of a true breakout, including Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier and up-and-comers like Fabian Zetterlund. Bratt leads the Devils in scoring with 21 points (7G, 15), followed by Hughes (7G, 12A) and Hischier (9G, 10A) with 19 points apiece.
New Jersey looks renewed under Ruff's watch behind the bench, employing a fast and effective 200-foot game while receiving sharp goaltending from Vitek Vanecek -- an off-season signing who's taken the bulk of the workload with MacKenzie Blackwood on the shelf due to injury.