Devils Fall Flat in Third, Playoff Hopes Hang by a Thread
NEWARK, N.J. - The Devils' playoff push hit another major roadblock Tuesday night, and this one stings. A 3-0 shutout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Prudential Center didn’t just cost them two points - it cast serious doubt on whether this team has the resilience to claw back into the postseason picture.
For two periods, the Devils held their ground. It wasn’t pretty, but they kept things scoreless. Then came the third, and everything unraveled.
Columbus defenseman Dante Fabbro broke the deadlock just over five minutes into the final frame, and New Jersey never responded. Instead, they collapsed. Mathieu Olivier added two more goals to seal it, and Elvis Merzlikins did the rest, stopping all 23 shots he faced for the shutout.
Wilting Under Pressure
Head coach Sheldon Keefe didn’t sugarcoat it afterward.
“We just wilt in the third period. That's just not good enough,” Keefe said.
“We're not mentally tough enough clearly. These are critical moments in our season.”
Keefe pointed to both physical and mental conditioning as glaring issues - a brutal but honest assessment of a team that’s struggled to find consistency when it matters most.
“Mental toughness and conditioning, physical toughness and conditioning - we're wilting in these situations and that's not a good sign,” he added.
It’s hard to argue with him. This was a game the Devils needed.
Not just for the standings, but for morale. Instead, they looked like a team running out of answers - and time.
Urgency at an All-Time High
Despite being nine points back of the New York Islanders for the third playoff spot in the Metro Division, the Devils are still technically in the hunt. But that margin for error? It’s razor thin now.
Forward Connor Brown didn’t dance around the stakes.
“The level of urgency has got to go up, we have to go on a run. It's as simple as that,” Brown said. “It'd be naive to not realize what type of position we are in and how many points back of the playoffs we're in.”
The Devils have one more shot before the Olympic break to breathe some life back into their season - and it’s a big one. They face the Islanders on Thursday in what’s shaping up to be a make-or-break matchup. A regulation loss there, and the gap could become insurmountable.
“Whether the season is slipping away or not, you have to look it in the eye and realize we have a big game before the break,” Brown continued. “We'll have an opportunity to reset after that.”
One Game at a Time
Jesper Bratt echoed the one-game-at-a-time mentality - a necessary focus when every outing feels like a must-win.
“We know what situation we're in but we're not looking more than a day ahead,” Bratt said. “We know the Metro and the East has been a good division and we haven't been able to maintain a lot of wins in a row.”
That inconsistency has been the story of the Devils’ season. They’ve shown flashes of the team many expected them to be, but the inability to string together wins has kept them stuck in neutral.
Now, with the Olympic break looming, Thursday’s game against the Islanders isn’t just important - it’s pivotal. If the Devils want to keep their playoff hopes alive, they’ll need to find a level of urgency and execution that’s been missing far too often.
Because at this point, it's not about potential or promise. It's about survival.