A funny thing happened last night. I was sitting there watching a 1-1 game between the Devils and Hurricanes when all the sudden the non-stop activity of Stefan Noesen caught my eye. But wait, because - seeing as he's a fairly workmanlike player - that's not even the weird part. You see, just seconds later, before I could even had the chance to foreshadow his fortune by way of social media, it was his forecheck that resulted in a fairly harmless shot on net that - by the grace of the hockey gods - was left sitting inches from the goal line as if the person who received it had inserted "Scott Darling's kitchen" as the shipping address on Amazon Prime...
In retrospect, maybe it doesn't seem all that strange that a noticeably energetic shift resulted in a goal against a struggling goaltender, but the Devils' inability to make their own puck luck - despite their best efforts - has played a massive part in their struggles as of late. Now, regardless of prying open and maintaining a three goal lead that allowed their fans to breathe an in-game sigh of relief for the first time in 2018, they didn't even come close to playing as complete a game in victory as they have in some of their recent defeats. However, if yesterday's much needed win over the eternally annoying Hurricanes was even a small sign of serendipity to come and Keith Kinkaid can continue providing the occasional timely stop then the 'New Jersey Devils Vs. Everybody' isn't nearly as much of a handicapped match as it was when the world seemed to be against them. ------- As for Nico Hischier, it's not only his constant improvement that leaves me with a shit-eating grin on my face, but also how expedited that improvement will become when he's carrying ten more pounds of muscle and a full year of experience. Whether it be his innate ability to slip the grasp of opponents, his willingness to go to the tough areas of the ice, or the ease with which he can turn defense to offense (all which he displayed last night), the kid is hockey-wise beyond his years. As dependable as he's been all season, that trait is starting to show itself more and more frequently. It's fairly ridiculous that a teenager who was immediately thrown into the fire of first line duties has maintained a flame retardant confidence that's apparently harder to shake than the defense of Justin Faulk. With someone having finally convinced him that selfishness isn't always a bad thing, there's no telling what new tricks he might learn down the stretch. What is for certain is that the Devils are going to need see every one of them from a rookie whose skillset is somehow highlighted by a veteran-like savvy.
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