Postpone The Fat Lady

This fucking team. I swore they were dead. I checked the pulse. I was about to close the casket. I had the eulogy all planned out. All signs said that their playoff hopes already resting in pieces. The inevitable loss to the Blue Jackets. The obligatory late season no show against the Lightning. The demoralizing stinker against the Hurricanes. If that wasn't enough to convince that this team was dead in the water then giving up a goal on their worst blown coverage of the season to put the Predators up 3-1 certainly was. Down two on the road with their backup goalie in net against a defensively sound team with one of the better net minders in the league? I don't want to say all seemed lost, but whatever was left seemed misplaced. That was supposed to signal the end...

I honestly don't even know how they did it, but the Devils team not only managed to storm back and tie the game, but they survived a backbreaking goal with two minutes left that should have sealed their fate. Par for the course I guess. Just when this team looks like they can't upstage the worst the league has to offer they always turn it around against a team they really have no business beating. Now, I am not exactly getting a refund on the funeral services. I rescheduled the fat lady for tonight just in case. However, this Devils team gave us at least one more night of being able to enjoy the unlikely success they have achieved this season. Even after trading their then leading scorer while their best offensive player remains on the shelf with what appears to be a missing hand this Devils team gave us at least one more look at the resilient attitude that has brought them to this point. 

Devante Smith-Pelly only needed the puck to touch his stick for a fraction of a second to provide more for this team than Stefan Matteau ever did. If just for a split second Travis Zajac remembered that he actually has a good shot. Adam Henrique regained the scoring touch that was so key to keeping the Devils in the hunt until early March. Even Keith Kinkaid was able to overcome a questionable defensive performance to make enough saves to give them the opportunity to win in overtime. I won't say this was a big win - because they are going to need to tack on a few more in a row for it to matter - but it was a gutty win. A gutty win that exemplifies the direction this franchise is headed in. I don't think anyone expected to be talking about the Devils playoffs chances in March. At this point in the year they were supposed to be roadkill in the rearview, and while they might be one untimely loss from flatlining, I am not sure their is anything that could kill this team's spirit...