After squeaking by Tampa Bay in overtime and Toronto in damn-close-to-overtime, the now-back-in-first-place-in-the-division-AND-conference Devils hit the road for the next week, beginning tomorrow in Montreal. With the standings as tight as they are, need I say this is an important stretch of games? I need not.

While the two games against the lower-end teams of the Eastern Conference did little to re-establish the Devils offensive prowess (Mr. Zach Parise notwithstanding), two hard-fought W’s (plus on pretty easy one earlier in the week) are exactly what this team needed coming off of a stretch of three straight losses. As Joe said before, the Devils finally went an entire week beating the teams they were supposed to beat. This is kind of a big deal.

So now, it’s on to Montreal, Minnesota, and Colorado, before coming back home for a Newark date with the Rangers on the 19th. Les Habs currently sit one point behind the Devils for first in the East (well, for now anyway), while Minnesota and Colorado check in at first and third in the Northwest Division. The rub there is, only a point separates each team and that could well change by the minute. With all three games on this road trip coming against teams that are fighting for playoff positioning, and with all three games coming against teams that are, well, GOOD - there’s just no room to sit back and lolly-gag.

Each game will be rife with subplots as well - the Montreal game will once again be for first place in the conference. Minnesota will see the Devils playing against their former Cup-winning head coach Jacques Lemaire, and Colorado will see the Devils taking on Mr. Peter Forsberg (presuming he’s healthy, which is probably a big assumption) and an Avalanche team that looks strangely closer to the Avalanche of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals than it did a mere three weeks ago.

And then, of course, there’s the big home game against the Rangers. While the Devils may no longer be 0-for-New York, they’re still 0-for-the-Rangers, and that’s just not right. But we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.

It’s a big road swing. Let’s make it a good one, too, eh?