This Devils Team Has Made A Hobby Of Averting Crisis, And That's The Most Impressive Part About Them

Let's go back a week. The Devils were coming off an underwhelming 1-2 road trip against mediocre, at best, competition. They had a very winnable home game against the Blue Jackets on deck, followed by a looming home-and-home against one of the best teams the National Hockey League has to offer. It was one of those stretches that say a lot about a team. A stretch that begun with an extremely controversial, disheartening loss. A stretch that wasn't looking too much better after blowing a two goal lead at home and losing in a shootout. A stretch that looked like a goddamn nightmare two and half periods into road game in Montreal.

Somehow, the remainder of that stretch reminded Devils fans why this team is different. Coming back from two down, and notching a beautiful overtime goal to steal a win in a hostile environment, was about so much more than turning a disastrous 0-2-1 run into a relatively impressive 1-1-1 run. It was about proving that this team has no quit. It was about showing that they can absorb the up and down nature of an NHL season. Devils teams of years past would have folded like a cheap suit. They would have let a bad call and a demoralizing loss linger into the next game. They would have let the disappointment of a blown lead be noticeable in the ass end of back-to-back games. This team has made resiliency it's calling card. While they probably aren't the team that's going to run roughshod on the Blackhawks like they did earlier this year, they aren't the team that's going to let the Columbus Blue Jackets start hammering a nail in their proverbial coffin. John Hynes has this team fighting tooth and nail every night, and that's why my belief in them being a playoff team remains unwavered. It's a long season, and sometimes it's success isn't just measured by long winning streaks, but also by an ability to stop the bleeding. This team has shown a proclivity to do just that. Now if they could just get some of that timely goal scoring against the lowly bottom dwellers on their schedule then my optimism wouldn't have to be so subjective.