Putting the Devils' Recent Struggles in Perspective

I think we've all been rightfully nervous of late given what seems to be distressingly bad play on the part of our beloved Devils since we turned the calendar to 2010, and not without cause - the Devils are a combined 8-9-1 in the 18 games they've played in 2010 and have lost 7 of their last 10 (with one loss coming in a shootout to the Sabres). As the losses have begun to mount, the comments here on ILWT have gotten considerably more dire. I have to say watching the way the last handful of games have gone down has certainly put me in a dire mood, and reminding myself that ALL teams will slump from time to time hasn't been much consolation, so I thought I'd take a look at the Devils' three Stanley Cup teams and see if their worst 18-game stretch could compare. 

Here's what I found: 

In 1994-5, the Devils' worst 18-game stretch ran from February 18 to March 29, where they went 8-8-3 (ties, not OTL) with a a .527 points percentage and were outscored in the losses 19-36. Not so awful given .500 hockey was about where the Devils were at in the early part of that lockout-shortened season. They were never shut out during the stretch and most of the losses were relatively close.

in 1999-2000 the Devils suffered their worst 18-game stretch of any of the Cup-winning teams, going 4-12-1-1 with an abysmal P% of .277 from February 19 to March 28. They were shut out twice during that span and put up an AWFUL -34 goal differential in those 12 losses and being blown out (-3 goals or more) 4 times, more than any of the other teams on this list. Put flatly, it was a putrid stretch of games for a team that would win the Cup a few months later.

Most recently, the 2002-03 Devils had TWO poor 18-game stretches, going 7-9-1-1 from November 16 to December 27 with a  -15 goal differential and .444 P% and 7-9-2 from February 7 to March 17 with a -14 differential and identical P% (ties and OTL both earned 1 point). They were shut out only twice - both in the November-December stretch - and mostly kept the games close.

So how does the Devils' recent stretch stack up? Well, as I said above, they are currently 8-9-1 with a .472 P% and -21 differential since January 2 - similar to the two rough stretches in 2002-3. What's distressing this time around is the Devils' complete inability to score, being shut out 3 times and scoring the fewest goals of any of the above stretches of poor play.

That said, I'd take the current rough patch - mid-season, before the trade deadline, with a 2-week break coming up to rest old tired legs - any day of the week over the 1999-2000 stretch, which ran the majority of the Devils' last 20 games before the playoffs and saw them lose the division title (and home-ice advantage) to the Flyers in the final week. So, yes, I'm unhappy with how the Devils are playing. Yes, I think the Devils are still a decent center and top-6 defenseman away from really contending for the Cup this year.

But if history can give us any perspective, it tells us not to worry so much about this recent stretch of bad games. Let's just hope the Devils can return to their winning ways after the Olympic break.

(actually, if they could return to their winning ways on Friday against Nashville - when my girlfriend is taking me to the Rock for my birthday - that would be even better.)