Red-hot Devils: 'We can be relentless at times'
It has been a long and painful road, but the Devils have a team that is perfectly built for the modern day NHL - crazy skilled up front and big and mobile on the blueline
For those of us of a certain vintage, seeing the New Jersey Devils at or near the top of every defensive category in the NHL is a sign that all is right in the world. But to see them just as dominant on the offensive side of things, well, that might take an adjustment. When you watch what guys such as Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt can do with the puck, you come to the very quick realization that these are not your father’s New Jersey Devils.
The Devils came into their game Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs riding a 10-game heater. And everything from their performance on the ice to their underlying numbers indicates that this team is actually for real. It has been a long and painful process to the Devils becoming an elite team, and now that they have achieved that, they are a sight to behold. In many ways, the Devils are a perfect team for today’s NHL. Up front, they have fast and talented forwards who play at a dizzying tempo. While big, their defence corps is not terribly physical, but they all have long and effective sticks and, most importantly, their defencemen are mobile, both in terms of moving their feet and the puck.
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