The New Jersey Devils concluded their final four-game road trip of the year, going 3-1-0.
They opened the trip with wins over the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks, before ultimately falling to the Seattle Kraken on Sunday.
After the loss to the Kraken capped the road trip, head coach Sheldon Keefe shared his thoughts on the team's overall performance over the past four games with NJD.tv.
"We played a fine game again here today, but we have lost the luxury or the ability to be content with anything that’s happened in the past; we’ve got to stay in the present and not leave any points on the table," Keefe said. "That’s what we did here today, so that’s disappointing. As much as we had good results and feel good about the trip, we’ve got to go back home, and we’ve got to play better. We’ve got to build on our game and get to another level. We need to get a more consistent offense.”
The team then headed back to Newark, to take on the Winnipeg Jets.
Although the Devils came up just one win short of sweeping their Western Conference road trip, the team found positives to carry forward from the experience.
Brenden Dillon shared his perspective on the final four-game road stretch of the season with NJD.tv.
"Great start (to the road trip)," Brenden Dillon said. "Absolutely, beyond frustrating way to finish, because we just beat ourselves. The game is right there; we talked about it in the second. Be content playing a 1-1 hockey game, and two plays completely is our undoing."
Keefe explained that while the team won three of the four games, there were still areas that needed improvement.
"We don’t score enough, or generate enough 5-on-5 to be able to absorb some of the way we defended on the first two goals," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "The third one, was a little bit unlucky. Their first two, just can’t defend like that to allow pucks to get at our net and people to get at our net. That’s on us.”
Despite the loss, the Devils improved to 27-23-2 in 52 games so far this season, currently sixth in the Metropolitan Division following the road trip.
"I can see the confidence growing with the group,” Keefe said. “Obviously, we’ve been in different stages with it. We’ve gone from sticking with it, to then getting a little frustrated with it and splitting it up and then holding people accountable and playing the second unit first and moving all sorts of things around."
The team lost their first game back in Newark, 4-3 to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.
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