John Hynes wants young Devils to embrace chaos of playoff push

NEWARK – Devils’ coach John Hynes described Tuesday’s win over the Carolina Hurricanes as a chaotic one. The Devils came away with two key points and remain firmly in contention for a Wild Card playoff spot and they can do the same on Thursday against an opponent they just beat… In a game that Hynes described as chaotic.

Such is life for a team on the edge. Chaos reigns supreme.

The Devils are vying for their first playoff berth since 2012 and with only a handful of games left and the Florida Panthers hot on their tale, it’s a chaotic time of year. So when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second time in less than a week Thursday, at Prudential Center, Hynes wants them to be able to navigate the chaos, because if you want to play postseason hockey, you had better learn how to deal with it.

“It’s important for our group to go through it because you can’t replicate it in Game 20 or Game 30,” Hynes said Wednesday after an optional practice. “In the situation that we’re in, if you happen to get in (to the playoffs), it’s a big part of the game. The games are so emotional and so intense and you’re always playing teams where everyone is all in and everyone is a strong team.”

Against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night, Hynes saw mental lapses, big defensive lapses and drastic momentum swings. A few players have bemoaned those, saying this is the time of year where it shouldn’t be difficult to lock in, but Hynes doesn’t see these trends as troublesome and he’s not going to ignore them.

Hynes sees these situations as learning experiences for young players who may soon be playing in their first postseason games.

“It’s understanding where you get your momentum from, it’s understanding how you lose it. Then, really the fine line is, how you get it back and when you get it, what are the triggers that have caused us to lose momentum?” Hynes said. “It’s really understanding those situations and how it comes back to this time of year. You need big plays, you need a big save, you need a real important goal. That’s where the hockey sense and your competitiveness comes out in these games, because of the emotions of both teams and the intensity level of the games.”

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It’s a good precursor of what might be ahead of them, but the Devils are still cognizant of the fact that they have to get to the postseason first. With 10 players who have four years or less of service time and three key rookies in Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Will Butcher, the leadership group is trying to make sure they don’t feel any pressure to play to another team’s game. This isn’t the time of year for that.

“I think they’ve just got to go out and play,” captain Andy Greene said. “They can’t sit there and play scared or play worried, hope to win or play not to lose. They know that with each game that passes there’s less room to make up and less time, but they’ve got to go out there and play and be naïve to it.”

Greene has been encouraged by how all three rookies have handled this playoff push, Hischier especially.

“He gets better as the game goes on,” Greene said. “He thrives in this. He’s a battler and a competitor.”

So the lesson for the Devils this week: Learn from the emotional intensity but don’t let it change your game. It will help them get to the playoffs and it will help them in the playoffs.

“That’s one good thing about young guys sometimes,” Green said. “They’re naïve to a situation.”

Notable

Marcus Johansson did not practice with the team Wednesday because of an appointment. It was a planned day off. ... Patrick Maroon will be a game-time decision. ... Hynes knows which goalie will start against Pittsburgh but declined to say since he has yet to inform Keith Kinkaid or Cory Schnieder of his decision.