On Wednesday, New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke to reporters about his team needing to bring their road mindest to home ice.
On Wednesday, New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke to reporters about his team needing to bring their road mindest to home ice.
After a successful Western Canada road trip where the New Jersey Devils earned two shutouts, the team returned to New Jersey to prepare for their next challenge and come face to face with their very own Mount Everest.
On Thursday, they will host the Montreal Canadiens at Prudential Center, with the goal of winning two points on home ice.
To start the 2024-25 campaign, New Jersey has a home record of 3-2-2, including one "home" victory in the 2024 NHL Global Series in Prague, Czechia.
Devils fans have only seen two wins in Newark through six games this season.
"It is almost like we have to prove something on home ice, but we really just have to go out and be who we are." head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Do the things we have done really well, embrace that, and continue to clean up the smaller things so we can get us close to that 60-minute performance that we are looking for."
On Wednesday, Keefe explained to reporters that his team needs to bring their road mindset to home ice.
"I think for me, when you get out on the road, the only focus is to play a good, hard, sound game," he said. "(You) go into that game expecting that the opposition is going to be at their best because they are going to be on home ice, and the priority is just to execute the gameplan, and that is really it. I find that on home ice in a lot of our games, we have not had the same type of mentality."
When asked, Keefe elaborated on what that road mentality encompasses.
"My approach in coming back from long road trips is usually maintain a bit of that mindset, in terms of how we prepare," he continued. "It was a very short practice today for the same kind of reason. This day here, especially after traveling back yesterday, it really is a bit of an extension of the road trip itself. From a mindset point of view, we are still on the road here, and we are going to have to have that mindset and bring it to home ice."
A record of 2-2-2 at Prudential Center alone is not enough to sound the alarm, but wins at home have haunted the Devils since last season. In 2023-24, the team had the fourth-worst home record in the league, only ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks.
New Jersey currently has the 14th-best home record in the league and fifth-best in the Metropolitan Division. With six home games in November, there is no time like the present to address one of their biggest struggles, even if it is just a change in mindset.
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