The New Jersey Devils are all but out of the playoff race

The New Jersey Devils have somehow hung onto hope for a lot of this season despite everything going wrong for them throughout the year. They had one final chance to help themselves on Sunday night at home against the Nashville Predators.

They took the lead early in the game when Jack Hughes scored his 27th of the season. For being out of the lineup as much as he has this year, flirting with 30 goals is impressive. 

Jesper Bratt added to his team-leading total in points as he now has 79 after assisting on Jack’s goal. Brother Luke Hughes also assisted on it which gives him 45 points. He is now the all-time leader in points scored by a rookie defenseman in franchise history. 

Later in the game, Predators captain Roman Josi scored a goal to tie the game. It bounced off of goalie Kaapo Kahkonen in an odd way and he didn’t return to the game. He was healthy enough to watch it from the bench the rest of the way with Jake Allen taking over. 

The New Jersey Devils had a chance to get a big win and they blew it

In the third period, Chris Tierney scored the go-ahead goal thanks to a great play by Tomas Nosek. The Devils had to be feeling good about themselves following this game. 

Unfortunately, Simon Nemec took a bad luck delay of game penalty for the puck going over the glass. Luke Evangelista scored the game-tying goal on the power play that followed. 

Nothing came of overtime and Nashville won in the shootout. New Jersey earned a point but they are now only at 79 which is five points behind the Detroit Red Wings who hold the final Wild Card spot. 

The Devils aren’t mathematically eliminated yet but they likely won't get it. It would have been really hard with a win against the Predators but now it’s even harder. 

With Detroit along with the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, and Washington Capitals all fighting for the same spot, the Devils are in big trouble. 

Their next game is going to come on Tuesday. They are beginning a home and home with the Toronto Maple Leafs who are a very good fighting for a good postseason seed. Although it is highly unlikely that this team will make the playoffs, they need to finish strong to prepare for next year.