Thursday night’s win had a pleasant throwback attached to it for the New Jersey Devils fans. A game that was locked up at zero as the first period was winding down became a blowout. It started with Evan Rodrigues' goal to wrap up the first, followed by a four-goal second, and two more in the third to provide an exclamation-point 7-1 victory over the New York Rangers. 

For the fans, it was a throwback to the 4-0 Game 7 win in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The rival Rangers were run out of town not only with a loss but also with a dominant performance by the Devils.

It was arguably the first game all season where the Devils controlled the play from the start. Yes, they had a decisive 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 10, but the Devils set the tone early and never looked back. In the second period in particular, it seemed like they scored on every possession. 

The key for the Devils is sustaining that strong play on the offensive end all season. They won’t score seven every night and might not for the rest of the season. That said, they’ve been hot lately, with 12 goals in the last two games. 

The question is whether they can keep it up throughout the season. Can they sustain this high-level offense to make a difference at the end of the day? The 7-1 win over the Rangers was a promising sign. 

The Devils go as their captain goes. Sure, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt are the highlight players, the ceiling for the team and the scoring, specifically, but Hischier is the backbone and raises their floor. When he struggled in the first few games, so did the Devils. 

Now Hischier’s starting to heat up. He scored twice in the win over the Canucks, then stepped up in all three zones in the 5-4 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings. The team has followed his lead, with three wins in the last four games to move to 4-3 in seven games. 

Hischier once again found the back of the net by getting to the net and powering a loose puck home. “It’s a hard league to score goals, and a lot of goals are scored around the net-front area,” Hischier noted after the recent win. On a team of skilled forwards, he’s the one who gets to the dirty areas for his goals, and it’s why he has a team-leading four on the season. “You hear a lot of coaches preaching from a young age that when you get to the net, good things happen,” Hischier added, and good things are happening, to say the least. 

The game against the Rangers showcased what the offense can do. Dylan Garand was playing well as the Rangers' backup, entering the game with a .951 save percentage (SV%) and a 1.15 goals-against average (GAA) on 81 shots. The Devils chased him from the game with four goals in the first 25 minutes of action. 

It was the puck movement and speed that left the Rangers scrambling. The Devils would drive to the net and create open looks to pile on the goals. Arseny Gritsyuk had a wide-open net when the puck bounced to him on a sharp-angle shot by Hughes. 

The quick passing and skating spilled over from the previous game. Against the Red Wings, the Devils created chaos and had the opposing goaltender scrambling. It’s the formula for the Devils' success and something they can and should lean on. 

The Devils needed a spark from the point, not just against the Rangers but in all seven games they’ve played thus far. They found it in the opening-night win with goals from Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton. They struggled to find it since then. 

Hughes rediscovered his scoring touch with his play at the point. He’s been a playmaker throughout his NHL career but took on a shoot-first mentality for the Devils' second goal of the night. He followed it up with a great play where he skated through the Rangers' defense and scored near the net to make the game 5-0 and put it out of reach. 

The big thing for Hughes is to become a scoring defenseman. The recent games showed his improvements and how he changes the Devils' offense. “We’ve been getting better every game,” Hughes noted after the win. 

The line changes made all the difference. The Bratt and Hughes line is fast again, thanks largely to Gritsyuk playing on the wing with the duo. Anthony Mantha moved to the Evan Rodrigues line, pairing two veterans with scoring instincts together, and it’s worked, with both forwards finding a rhythm offensively. Better yet, the Devils are turning the offense around without Luke Evangelista, who missed the past two games but has been one of their best forwards so far. 

More importantly, the Devils have found scoring depth. Rodrigues is heating up, as are Jesper Boqvist and Cody Glass. It’s given the Devils an offense that comes at teams in waves and is tough to stop. 

The Devils can lean on what they’ve done in the past two games. While they won’t score at this pace, they’ll have enough offense to take over games and string together big wins against their divisional opponents. The Rangers were just the start.