One of the NHL’s best home teams will try to take that success on the road when the New Jersey Devils visit the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
The Devils’ rise to the top of the Eastern Conference has been powered by their 9-0-1 record on home ice. In away games, the Devils are a modest 6-7-0, losing their last three road dates.
A two-game homestand allowed New Jersey to get back in the win column, as the Devils earned victories over both the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues. Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Blues saw New Jersey twice erase one-goal deficits, and Simon Nemec then completed the comeback with the overtime winner.
Beyond the bounce-back goals, the key sequence of the game came when the Devils killed off a four-minute Blues power play in the third period.