On Tuesday evening, the New Jersey Devils continued their road trip against the Leon Draisaitl-less Edmonton Oilers. On the heels of a spectacular showing from Jake Allen, they won 2-1 — their fourth victory in five games.
Related: NHL 2025-26 Power Rankings: Week 15
“Fourth” Line Brings Legitimate Depth Scoring
The Devils’ “fourth” line of Arseny Gritsyuk, Cody Glass and Lenni Hameenaho once again were incredible, factoring in on both Devils goals. They did not look like the average crash and bang fourth line; in fact, they were utilized about the same as the “third” line of Evgenii Dadonov, Paul Cotter and Connor Brown.
It’s been known that Glass and Gritsyuk are two of the Devils’ better defensive forwards, but adding Hameenaho — who has certainly looked the part of an NHLer — and his two-way prowess has really lengthened the lineup. This allows Brown, their normal linemate, to bring his legitimate scoring touch to a different line…and also lets him move around when necessary, just as he did to factor in on the Devils’ second goal while Hameenaho notched some time on the top line.
Cody Glass snatches the lead right back for the @NJDevils! 🙌
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) January 21, 2026
NHL action continues NOW on TNT, truTV & HBO Max 🏒 pic.twitter.com/dFK303vOdH
This new-look “fourth” line did not allow a single shot attempt (!!) tonight — let alone shot on goal or scoring chance — in their 7:43 of 5v5 time with either Brown or Hameenaho on it. For reference, in the other 44:46 at 5v5, the Oilers had 42 shot attempts. That is video game-type dominance. (via Natural Stat Trick)
In Hameenaho’s two-game NHL career, the Devils have a 13-1 scoring chance advantage with him on the ice (21:10 TOI). While general manager Tom Fitzgerald coined him as a “dip his toe in the pool” player, meaning it will likely take him some time to acclimate, he’s already done a lot of the little things that make him look like a vet instead of a rookie.
Jake Allen Remarkable
In the Devils’ previous four contests, Jacob Markstrom was given the start. While it worked well — Markstrom went 3-1-0 with a .907 save percentage (SV%) — Allen’s performance proved that he shouldn’t fly under the radar.
When all was said and done, Allen stopped 22 of 23 (.957%) — +1.97 goals saved above expected, per Moneypuck. While the Oilers had nine high danger chances in the third period (the tired Devils had just one), Allen continued to make highlight-reel saves to keep them ahead.
In all actuality, the Devils have lost many of games that played out exactly like tonight. They certainly haven’t gotten the timely saves as often as they would have liked this season, but tonight’s outing showed what opportune finishing and above average goaltending can do for the Devils.
Crunch Time…
With the Devils’ win, they currently have 54 standings points. A team should always target 95 points to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as that’s typically a number that’s “safe”, regardless of what other teams are doing.
To reach 95 points, the Devils now need 41 points in their final 32 contests. In theory, they could earn points in 21 of those 32 (19-11-2) and it still may not be enough. While four wins in five games is a great start, they could really benefit from a 10-ish game stretch where they’re red hot (ex. 8-2-0 or 9-1-0 after tonight).
Do they have the skill and talent to do that? You could argue it’s essentially the same team that won eight in a row early on, so absolutely. But on the other hand, they have often seemed to take one step forward, two steps backwards in 2025-26. They’ll need to prove they can change that…but this mini stretch has been an excellent start.
Honorable Mention: B2B
Prior to the Devils’ recent contest in Minnesota, they were a dreadful 8-24-3 in the second game of back-to-backs since 2023-24 (.271 PTS%). They’ve now won the last two of those, possibly showing the Devils are over the hump that multiple Devils head coaches (Lindy Ruff, Travis Green and Sheldon Keefe) have coined as a mental challenge.
Moving Forward
The Devils — now 26-22-2 — will look to make it five of six as they face the Vancouver Canucks on Friday (10:00 PM EST).
