The 2023-24 season will be a season to forget, with the New Jersey Devils playing for honor and a minimally exciting closure. When a winning streak should have happened, a loss has become the main character of the story. At least the team is showing motivation and fighting hard, literally, but things simply aren't going their way.
Even if they didn't get a record number of wins this season, the last game against the Rangers (5 games, 166 penalty minutes, and head coach Travis Green, also in trouble). What can we expect from this? With only a few games remaining, check out his predictions for his next three games for the Devils: Ottawa Senators, Nashville Predators, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ottawa Senators on April 6th
By the Senators' calculations, a wild-card berth in the playoffs is still possible. But realistically speaking, Ottawa said goodbye to this season a long time ago. If this incident is significant for the Devils, imagine a team that is far behind. Ottawa plays at home Saturday with a record of 20-17-2. In the last 10 games, half have been wins and half have been losses. The team is missing key players like Josh Norris and Thomas Chabot, and has very reliable players in Joonas Korpisalo (3.33 GAA, .889 SV%) and Anton Forsberg (3.28 GAA, .888 SV%). No goalie duo.
The Devils, on the other hand, are inferior defensively, but their offensive power exceeds their opponents. It probably won't be a very exciting match, as both teams seem to accept that there isn't much left to do this season. Even worse for New Jersey, where expectations were high, it has now fallen into a stage of disappointment and romantic fantasy. Still, they keep losing so much that sooner or later the Newark team will end up winning.
- Prediction: Devils win, by a total of 6 or more goals.
Nashville Predators on April 7th
If there's one team that's betting all its chips on the wild card, it's the Nashville Predators, who hold first place in the Western Conference with 92 points. From the beginning to the middle of the season, the team went through a roller coaster of wins and losses. However, recent games have shown that Nashville wants to earn a playoff spot.
Related: Nashville Predators first half roller coaster ride
In March, they won 9 games in 13 games. In April, they defeated one of their main rivals, the St. Louis Blues, who trailed the Predators by eight points in the wild-card race. They deserve credit for winning the wild-card race in the same division as the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Winnipeg Jets. The Predators, led by Ryan O'Reilly, head to New Jersey excited and excited to score more points.
Regardless of the Devils' outcome against the Senators, it's unlikely that Newark's team will have the momentum to keep up with Tennessee's team, and Tennessee's team will likely fight hard in back-to-back games to pick up two more points. .
- Prediction: Predators win, Forsberg has two assists.
Toronto Maple Leafs on April 9th
The Toronto Maple Leafs recently qualified for the playoffs. They occupy third place in the Atlantic Division (95 points) and are unlikely to catch up with fellow qualifiers the Florida Panthers (101 points) and Boston Bruins (105 points). With the potential return of Mitchell Marner, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury since March 9, the team will need to bring all its main weapons to play against an already defeated and lackluster New Jersey team. be.
Toronto is a traditional team that always plays in the regular season, but they only remember winning the Stanley Cup in 1967. Long droughts are a specter that still haunts Toronto's air. They are the favorites to win this matchup against the Devils. However, the Devils could gain some advantage if the team decides to rest some players or test tactical options for the playoffs.
- Prediction: Maple Leafs win by at least 2 goals.
Here are our predictions for the Devils' next three games. It remains to be seen how each game will play out, but the situation in New Jersey appears to have reached a conclusion. Mathematically, the team still has a spot in the playoffs, but everything points to New Jersey's break coming sooner than expected. The team is in 7th place in the Metropolitan Division and in the Wild Card spot with 36 wins, 36 losses, and 4 losses, and 76 points.
