Devils Mathematically Eliminated From Playoff Contention

(Noah K. Murray/USA Today)

Once the New Jersey Devils losing streak hit five games on Sunday night they were officially eliminated from 2015 NHL playoff contention. It was certainly a weekend to forget for the Devils who lost games Saturday and Sunday to Carolina and Anaheim and were outscored 5-2 during the two games.

The Devils opened and closed the scoring in the two games, scoring the opening goal Saturday in Carolina and the last goal Sunday in New Jersey. In between, they surrendered five goals to the opponents despite strong goaltending from Keith Kinkaid and Cory Schneider. Kinkaid made 29 saves against the Hurricanes and Schneider made 23 against the Ducks.

There isn’t a lot to feel good about immediately following playoff elimination but there are silver linings for the Devils. They have had terrific goaltending this season, Mike Cammalleri has more goals this season than the Devils leading goal scorer of last year (Jaromir Jagr), there have been a lot of positive signs from the younger players, and the team still has a chance to win more games this year than they did last year.

The Devils next play Tuesday night at 7:00 pm on MSG+ against the Columbus Blue Jackets.