Devils Getting Ready for the Road | BLOG

The Devils break down the season into five-game increments with the goal of gaining at least six points in those stretches. In such a scenario, a team would earn at least 96 points and be in a playoff position.
New Jersey completed its first five-game series with a season-opening five-game homestand, and the club netted the necessary six points. But now, the challenge will be repeating that outcome again but in unfriendly confines.
The Devils will play four of their next five games on road, including the first away game of year in Pittsburgh Saturday night and a three-game California trip to Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose next week.
"It's like getting back to normal," captain Nico Hischier said of the travel. "We obviously traveled to Pittsburgh last year, but California and all these teams we haven't played for a while. It should be fun to go out there and play these teams."

Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said his team aspires to win 70-75 percent of its home games while splitting on the road. The Devils took care of the road part last season after going 12-12-4.
"We have to prove ourselves on the road," Ruff said. "A lot of times you can come together by getting big road wins. It's hard to win on the road. Everyone has pride in playing well at home. You have to play good hockey."
The first test will be the Penguins, who have a 3-1-2 record on the season despite playing stretches without star players Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. However, Guentzel and Crosby will likely be in the lineup.
"I think they're really good at playing their game (despite the injuries)," Ruff said. "We know what Pitt can bring. We had our hands full with them last year. We had a couple wild games with them.
"They're a team that drives the puck north. They play with a lot of speed. They're a tough team to play against. They're on the puck a lot. We know that we're going to have to equal that or be better in the hockey game."
For Hischier, he's looking forward to playing in a road atmosphere in front of a full house for the time in nearly two years in the pre-COVID NHL.
"It's a great atmosphere there. It's always tough to play there, but I kind of like it," Hischier said. "My first couple years we always had good games against Pittsburgh. I like playing against them. I'm looking forward to our first road game, it should be fun."