The New Jersey Devils’ last four games have gone into overtime. With less than two minutes remaining in three of the four games, the Devils were down a point.
The Devils have shown extreme tenacity in January. The Devils are demonstrating they are never out of it in January after a December where it felt like they couldn’t buy a win.
Let’s begin with Tuesday evening. After a particularly challenging stretch of the second period, the Devils were down. Through an impressive first period, the Devils took the lead.
When Vegas did, they held onto the lead for the majority of the remaining time. The third period had a small Golden Knights advantage. Up until the Devils yanked the keeper.
The Devils typically controlled the puck during the 6v5 situation. It didn’t take long for Dougie Hamilton’s shot to find the back of the net after deflecting off a Knights defender.
Dougie Hamilton’s shot caroms off the defender and past Thompson to tie it up for New Jersey with 1:10 left!#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/bA3GRJcW1B
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) January 25, 2023
 Hamilton would score another goal in overtime to win the match. It was Hamilton’s second consecutive OT victory.
Ironically, there weren’t any last-second miracles needed in the previous game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Vitek Vanecek only needed to put out a fantastic performance to keep the score at 1-1.
Heroics were required in the Devils’ final two games of their West Coast road trip in order to win. With only eight seconds left in the game, Jack Hughes took a tremendous show against the San Jose Sharks that went into the goal. View this:
Devils tie it with the net empty as 3 Kraken players watch Nico Hischier bang in a rebound. pic.twitter.com/IVmKyZRQmB
— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) January 20, 2023
During the last few seconds, the Devils stole five points. In their most recent four games, the Devils went 3-0-1 despite suffering three regulation losses.
In the Metropolitan Division, the Devils would be just two points ahead of the New York Rangers for second place and five points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first.
They currently lead the Rangers by seven points and are tied for first with the Canes (although the Devils have an extra game).
The Devils’ current run has been fantastic. This club is as thrilling as any in the National Hockey League thanks to the incredible final-minute performances. Let’s enjoy the ride for the moment, but they need to discover strategies to prevail when the goaltender isn’t withdrawn.
