One can’t logically blame strokes of bad luck or coming up short on the ice for the New Jersey Devils’ failures. Their 23-win 2017 season pinning them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference makes sense.
Perhaps it even impresses considering their goal differential of -61. Unmistakably, no team can succeed when their conference and division foes scored so lopsidedly.
The Devils earned last season’s lowest goal differential in both the conference and division by far. The closest team to them to them in the conference was the Detroit Red Wings at -37 points. The Carolina Hurricanes earned the Metropolitan Division’s second lowest goal differential at -12.