Sheldon Keefe highlights where Devils excelled in win over Oilers

The New Jersey Devils have been playing well as of late, winning four of the last five. On Tuesday night, they faced the Edmonton Oilers without Luke Hughes, who was injured in the previous game. Regardless, the Devils took a 2-1 victory on the road, and after the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe praised his team.

“From a defensive checking standpoint, the first two periods is as good a game as we’ve played in a really long time, maybe all season, quite frankly,” Keefe said about the win, according to Amanada Stein, Devils team reporter.

The defense was stellar in the game, holding the Oilers to 23 shots and just one goal. Further, the defense blocked 12 shots, had four takeaways, and laid multiple big hits in the victory. Jake Allen also made multiple big saves in the game.

“I think there’s a little bit more maturity in our game. We had three or four wins before this trip, and a little bit more poise, a little bit more maturity, keeping the game a little bit more simple but playing sound defensively,” Allen told Gerry Moddejonge of NHL.com

“We’re going to make mistakes, but I think for the most part we did a really good job, and until that third period, we didn’t give them a whole lot. I’m proud of the group.”

While Allen praised his defense and those in front of them, Keefe has plenty to say about his netminder.

“He was outstanding. You knew Edmonton was going to have a surge,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I thought we managed that in the first and second period probably as close to perfect as we could have. We knew they were going to have a push and we needed to get some saves, and he was outstanding. … Credit to him to stay with it and stay focused and be ready when called upon to seal the game in the third.”

It was a nice rebound game for Allen. He was on fire in November, with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Allen declined some in December, and has struggled in January so far, going 1-3-0 wth a 3.08 goals-against average and a .893 save percetnage, after the win over Edmonton.

The team is looking to get back into a playoff spot. The Devils are 26-22-2 on the year, which places them four points outside the last wild card spot. Allen and the Devils will look to keep the solid defense rolling on Friday night as they visit the Vancouver Canucks.

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