The New Jersey Devils have gone from searching for answers to stringing together goals in a hurry, and the shift has come with Sheldon Keefe’s line changes playing a central role.
Over their last two games, the Devils have piled up 12 goals. That’s a sharp turnaround after managing just 11 through their first five.
They scored five against the Detroit Red Wings, then followed with a 7-1 rout of the New York Rangers. Keefe said after the win over the Rangers, “A lot of that is just the way the players were moving, skating, working, getting to spots, the urgency.
So, they recognize it was a big game,”
Some of the jump comes from the puck bouncing their way. Some of it comes from the team buying into Keefe’s fast-paced, offense-first approach in the neutral zone and off the rush. But the biggest change has been the reshuffling of the forward groups.
Anthony Mantha and Arseny Gritsyuk swapped spots over the past two games, while Dawson Mercer moved onto the Nico Hischier line. That set of moves has changed the look of the entire attack.
Gritsyuk’s move onto the Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt line has given him a much better fit. The 25-year-old winger had opened the season with just one goal and one assist in six games, an uneven start in a year that was supposed to be a breakthrough after a 31-point rookie season.
With Hughes and Bratt, though, the fit is obvious. Gritsyuk can skate with them, join the rush, and handle the kind of cleanup work that can turn speed into production.
Against the Rangers, that line spent the night on the attack. The Rangers’ defense was chasing it all game, and Gritsyuk ended up scoring on a Hughes shot that bounced right to him for a wide-open net.
The Devils’ social media account summed up the moment with: “Saved them a front-row seat to the show.”
Mantha has benefited from the switch as well. He looked like the kind of winger who should pair naturally with Hughes at first glance - a big, physical forward with net-front finishing ability.
But the chemistry never really showed up. Mantha looked a step slow, often out of the play, and he had not recorded a point through five games.
Put next to Evan Rodrigues, though, Mantha’s game has found a better lane. Both are veterans who are more dangerous once play settles in the offensive zone, and that has given the Devils another scoring layer. Mantha has a goal and an assist in the last two games, while Rodrigues has produced two goals and two assists since the change.
That also gives New Jersey a third line that can do more than just survive. Whether it features Stefan Noesen or Mercer on the wing, the group can score and check.
There is still a wrinkle to sort out when Evgeniia? Actually, Evangelista returns.
He missed the last two games with an illness, and it’s strange to see the offense humming while he’s out, especially since he had been one of the team’s best players. Even without him, the Devils have scored 12 goals in two games.
The issue is that Mercer has looked right at home in Evangelista’s top-six spot beside Hischier and Timo Meier. That raises the next question for Keefe: does Mercer stay there and get moved elsewhere later?
Does Evangelista return to the Rodrigues line? Or does the winger move up with Hughes, especially if Gritsyuk cools off?
That’s the balancing act now. Keefe wanted variety on his lines to start the season, using Mantha as a power-forward change of pace next to Bratt and Hughes. It didn’t work, and it held back both the top line and the third line.
Right now, the Devils have something more valuable: multiple lines that work, and different answers for different game states. If they need speed or a spark, Hughes’ line is ready.
If they need defense, the fourth line can handle it. If the game gets tight and ugly, Hischier’s line can carry more of the load.
And against a team that leans on its top end but lacks depth, Rodrigues and Mantha can tilt the matchup.
That versatility has turned a sluggish offense into one that can threaten the NHL’s best. As Keefe put it after the latest win, “It's not going to always be perfect, but there's a certain there's a certain standard of play and structure that's required to give us a chance to win night in and night out,”
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