The knock on the New Jersey Devils all last season was the team’s lack of playoff experience. Despite adding two-time Stanley Cup champion Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula’s 61 games of postseason experience, the constant analysis was this team was too inexperienced to make a run.
Maybe they were correct. The Devils needed a miraculous series comeback to beat the New York Rangers. They went in the tank in Games 1 and 2. It seemed like they were proving everyone who doubted them right. Then, Akira Schmid and his zero playoff games experience came in and turned the series, and the team’s playoff history, around.