Star forward Jack Hughes, as always, took the opportunity to give the critics of the New Jersey Devils a small arrow.
The 21-year-old smiled Monday night, just after the 4-0 win that gave the Devils a seven-game playoff series against the New York Rangers in the first round.
“People like to say we’re a young team and talk about our lack of experience, but sometimes it pays to be a bit naïve,” said Hughes, whose comments were reported by the National League website.
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“We just play and do our best. We came out strong tonight [lundi]And that’s what we did.”
Forward Michael McLeod believes the Devils have sent a message.
“It was a huge series against an opposing team. We just showed what a good team we are and how well prepared we are,” said the Devils’ first scorer in the last game of the first round.
Place at the “Canes”
The Devils now face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. The Raleigh team finished first in the Metropolitan Division and defeated the New York Islanders in six games to earn their ticket to the next stage of the playoffs.
According to head coach Lindy Ruff, the experience gained against the Rangers will be an advantage for the future with the Devils.
“The guys worked so hard,” he said. This is the first step. You now know what series are. The fact of winning game number 7 will be very beneficial for the players in our group who haven’t experienced anything quite as intense.
“I think it’s about never forgetting,” said captain Nico Hischier. But that’s just the first round. We want more. We believe in ourselves. We have to celebrate today and get back to work tomorrow. We’ll be ready for Carolina.”
Let the players of the “canes” take it for granted.
No news from Meier
The Devils also had no news about the health of their striker Timo Meier.
The latter was knocked out. by a hard-hitting check from defenseman Jacob Trouba as he attempted to break into Rangers’ zone during a power play in the third half. The Swiss didn’t play again after that, but stood on the ice after the final whistle and shook hands with his rivals.
“I don’t know anything about Timo yet,” Ruff said simply after the game. He came back to our bench but we didn’t play him. I’ll know more about him tomorrow [mardi].”
The Devils head coach also responded cautiously to the question about Trouba’s shot.
“I had a feeling there was contact at the level of his head, but I need to check the sequence.”
Meier hasn’t scored a single point since the start of the playoffs. He was acquired from the San Jose Sharks in a monster trade with two first-round draft picks last February.