With the National Hockey League regular season entering its final stretch, the New Jersey Devils and Nico were able to preserve their slim playoff chances with only five games left. This thanks to five additional points from the games against the New York Rangers (1-4), the Washington Capitals (7-3), and the two matchups with the Montreal Canadiens (3-4 SO, 3-0).

 

With 83 points through 77 games, the Devils remain in 13th place in the Eastern Conference standings, seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers, who currently hold the eighth seed. Additionally, four other teams currently remain at least four points ahead of New Jersey, which is why the chances of making the playoffs remain slim.

 

Individually, Nico recorded a total of four assists last week and finished the four games a plus-2. He fired a total of seven shots on goal and prevailed in 58.8% of his faceoffs. Per game, he averaged 22:04 minutes of ice time.

 

Heading into the final eight days of regular season hockey, the Devils have the following five games remaining: Tuesday night vs. Philadelphia, Thursday night vs. Pittsburgh, early Saturday night in Detroit (5 PM EST), Sunday night vs. Ottawa, and finally on Tuesday night at Boston. With the exception of the game vs. the Red Wings, all match-ups feature a 7 PM EST starting time.