Crucial West Coast Trip for the Devils

      The Devils will begin a potentially crucial three game road trip against the California teams tonight. New Jersey is coming off a strong team victory against Pittsburgh on Saturday, but despite a recent surge in play remains with a losing record at 7-8-5. The 5 overtime losses, all of them in the shootout, combined with a surprisingly weak start for the Metropolitan division as a whole has kept the Devils in competitive standing through the first fourth of the season, however they need to start stringing together 3+ game winning streaks if they wish to stay in the mix. Escaping California with a 3-0 or even 2-1 record would be a good start, however the Devils will have their work cut out for them. The first match against the Anaheim Ducks draws a team that has yet to be defeated at home this season. After that, the Devils will face the LA Kings in Los Angeles for the first time since losing game 6 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals. The Kings have already defeated the Devils this season and only trail the Ducks by 1 point in the standings for the Pacific division lead. Finally, New Jersey will be taking on the San Jose Sharks, who have only lost in regulation 3 times this season, before returning to host the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.