Jesper Bratt: “This Was A Real Character Win”

The New Jersey Devils showed a lot of heart and character in their 4-3 come-from-behind win against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

“This was a character win. We didn’t have our best to start. We came back in the third, Jesper Bratt said postgame. “Feels great winning this way with the team coming back this way.”

The Devils continue to roll as they pass another test on their three-game Western Canada road trip. New Jersey has now won five in a row and eight of their last nine games. The culture and mentality of this young team have really changed in just one year. That starts with captain Nico Hischier leading by example. But it is players like Jack Hughes and Bratt taking their games to the next level and not settling for just good enough now.

That has been infectious since Day 1 of training camp. It has carried over into the season despite a rocky start to the season, the Devils have turned it around because of the room. Guys are not afraid to speak their minds and you can look at Miles Wood‘s quote at the beginning of the season as a rallying point for this team.

“I’m just sick and tired of being on a bad team, that’s the thing that stinks the most,” Wood said after their loss to Philadelphia to begin the season. “Tomorrow is a must-win game for us and it’s my job to get the guys going.”

The must-win game Wood was referring to was the second game of the season against the Detroit Red Wings.  Though the Devils lost, the team has played a lot better since that point. Especially the line of Wood, Michael McLeod, and Nathan Bastian have certainly done their part to help rally this team. Those three were a major contributing factor to why the Devils won in Edmonton.

“It started with Miles and his line and that really got us going,” Jesper Bratt said following the Devils win Thursday night.

The “BMW” Line as it is known started the rally in the third period. Miles Wood potted his second goal of the game to cut the Edmonton lead to 3-2. Trailing 1-0 in the first period, Wood recorded his first of the night tying the game at 1-1. That line has brought a lot of energy and with Miles finally healthy, these three are picking up where they left off in the COVID-shortened season.

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They are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now and they are playing as a team. In years past Thursday night’s game against the Oilers, the Devils probably would have lost. They would have been satisfied just being in the game and losing 3-1. But with a new attitude and wanting to play for each and play meaningful games toward the end of the year and into the playoffs, the Devils were not going to be stopped.

Trailing 3-1 entering the third period, the players knew they had to turn their game around and they could. That is all they talked about during the second intermission.

“We all had that feeling, we can turn this around, we can play a lot better,” Jesper Bratt continued. “And we all said (…) if we want to play playoff hockey & win important games at the end of the year these are the games you’ve got to turn around.”

As Bratt mentioned along with Wood postgame, this was a true character win for the Devils. Each player stepped up for one other in this victory. Especially when Mackenzie Blackwood left the game in the second period with an injury. There is no update on him, but it appeared to be lower-body. Vitek Vanecek had to come into a tough spot on the power play.

Vanecek gave up a goal on the first shot and from there he was lights out. When the Devils needed a timely save there was Vanecek. He robbed Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid multiple times. The effort of Blackwood and Vanecek allowed the Devils to rally. It was good to see the Devils get timely saves from their goaltenders to allow them to use that momentum to win a game that might not have normally.

The Devils are 2-0 to start the road trip through Western Canada. They finish up with the Calgary Flames as they look to make it six in a row.

Wins like the one against the Oilers on Thursday night show the Devils are truly never out of any game. Having to dig deep when the team does not have their A-game shows true character something that was lacking in years past. This win can be used as a rallying point to propel the Devils into the playoffs come April.

Note: Jesper Bratt has set a Devils franchise record with an 11-game point streak to begin the season. Tim Higgins had the previous record of 10 games. Over those 11 games, Bratt has 17 points (five goals and 12 assists).

Bratt also set a franchise record for the quickest span in Devils history between goals. After Ryan Graves tied the game 3-3, Bratt scored SEVEN seconds later to give the Devils the lead. The previous record was eight seconds set by Patrik Elias and Scott Gomez back in 2001.