On Saturday January 8, the Devils capped off a four game losing streak by losing back to back games to the Flyers. That night the Devils went to bed with 22 points (10-29-2) and 27 points out of a playoff spot. Exactly half way through the season and the Devils had 22 points, and everyone (including me) dismissed them for the year. Well, the Devils decided to turn their game around starting with game 42.
Since the two losses to the Flyers, the Devils have picked up 26 additional points in 15 games, going 12-1-2. They picked up more points in the last 15 games than they did in the first half of the season. That is one hell of a turn around. If the Devils continue at this pace, they will pick up 71 points in the second half of the season. Combine that with their first half output, and that gives them 93 points, which would have been good enough for sixth in the East last season and seventh in our projected points standings.
It won't be easy for the Devils to keep up this pace, 18 of their last 26 games are against teams that are currently in a playoff spot or fighting for one. Although, nine of their last 15 games have been against similar opponents and it hasn't stopped them from winning. So you can't say that the schedule is going to slow them down. It doesn't seem possible for the Devils to keep up this pace. They played so poorly the first half of the year I just expect them to slip back into it at some point.
I really don't expect the Devils to make the playoffs, but it is not a foregone conclusion like it was a month ago. Flyers fans enjoyed the Devils' misfortunes for the first half of the season, lets hope we can enjoy them missing out on the playoffs and a high draft pick.
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