Devils Red Hot Down Stretch New Jersey’s Defense Keys Team’s Drive To Playoffs

They don’t have a headline scorer like a Lindros, a Jagr, a Gretzky or even a Teemu Selanne.

That’s fitting for the New Jersey Devils, though. Their game starts on the other end of the ice with guys like Scott Stevens playing defense and Martin Brodeur in goal. It’s a team built on the concept of defense first, and nobody has been doing it better since late January.

With less than a month left in the regular season, New Jersey is headed for its second straight Atlantic Division title and is battling Dallas for the NHL’s best overall record.

“We have good talent, good goaltending and good defensemen,” coach Jacques Lemaire said. “We play solid defensively and we can score our share of goals. When we put it together, we’re a good team.”

That’s certainly been the case over the last seven weeks. The Devils went into the Olympic break hot and came out the same way, one of the few teams to do that.

In the past 15 games, the Devils have lost once (10-1-4). Only four opponents have scored more than two goals in a game in that span and Brodeur has recorded four shutouts. Over the past 29 games, the team has given up more than three goals in a game just three times. Their 131 goals-against are a league low.

It’s a performance that clearly makes the Devils one of the favorites to win a second Stanley Cup in four years.

“We have that type of player that, when the chips are on the line, they show up,” Lemaire said. “They play great against the top teams, and we’ve done that the last five years. You get into the playoffs and you have that, who knows?”

Ask anybody about the Devils and people start discussing the neutral-zone trap, a center-ice system intended to slow down opposing offenses. Many teams play it, although few do it as well as New Jersey.

But the Devils see the system as just one reason for their success. Talent, discipline, depth and commitment are other qualities they talk about a lot.

Defenseman Doug Bodger has played in a lot of systems in 14 years in the NHL, but coming to the Devils in December has been an eye-opening experience.

While he can’t exactly describe it, Bodger said the difference is simple.

“The key to the Devils’ system is everyone is in the right position in our own end,” Bodger said. “Jacques is real smart. He points out to you: ‘You should be here and not here.’ He says don’t worry about the corner and don’t worry about making the hit. Just get in the right position.”