New Jersey Devils End Talk Of Streak With Shootout Win

By Nick Villano @nick_villano on October 31, 2014

It has been about 19 months since the last time the New Jersey Devils left the ice with a shootout win. The last time they won, Ilya Kovalchuk and David Clarkson made attempts for the team. The ironic part is the last time the Devils won a shootout, they were taking on the Winnipeg Jets.

The Devils went a whole season without a shootout win. It became a joke to many in the hockey community. The team was great at keeping up their defensive game, but couldn’t get two points via the skills competition.

Now that they finally won a shootout, their confidence in it will be much higher. For the longest time, it seemed like the Devils would never win another shootout. It seemed like they would just have to be happy with one point and try to win the game prior to getting there. Now, there is hope.

The ironic part is who ended up with the shootout-winning goal. Jacob Josefson has been a bust. The former first-round pick has not lived up to what the Devils thought they were getting when they drafted him. He was relegated to healthy-scratch status for the majority of the season. He is only in the lineup thanks to a freak injury to Martin Havlat. Now, he is the sole reason why the Devils don’t have to hear about their shootout losing streak for a while.

The team can finally move on. They don’t have to hear about shootouts every single game. Their practices don’t need to revolve around them. There was no way this season would be close to as bad as last season. While it is a skills competition, there is a certain amount of luck that comes with this. The Devils’ luck is finally back on their side.

Nick Villano is the New Jersey Devils writer for Rant Sports.  He also adds to the site’s NBA, MLB and NFL content.  You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your Google circle.