New Jersey Devils Seriously Lack Secondary Scoring
When it comes to scoring for New Jersey you can pinpoint two or three guys that will get the job done on a night to night basis. After that scoring falls off a ledge.
Taylor Hall comes to mind when you think of scoring. He has been everything the Devils hoped for when they made the big trade in the summer. Hall is New Jersey’s leading scorer with 40 points, four ahead of the next best.
Following Hall in points is Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac, Adam Henrique, and Mike Cammalleri. Those are the only five players on the team with at least 30 points. Night in and night out those four guys are most likely going to be the ones to pencil onto the score sheet.
The point to be made here is New Jersey is lacking the secondary scoring that teams need to win consistently. Other guys need to find ways to score more consistently to help this team win games they’re not supposed to.
New Jersey is lacking secondary scoring in the worst way.
P.A. Parenteau and Damon Severson both have 26 points. After that the Devils don’t have anyone else with 20 points. The next closest player is rookie Pavel Zacha with 16 points.
The gap between the scoring leaders is too much to stay consistent. This is why the Devils find themselves in the position they are in. To win games at the NHL level you need players that are not supposed to score every night step up and get you a big goal every so often.
On Saturday, Devante Smith-Pelly scored a huge goal against the New York Islanders that helped the Devils get a lead and they never looked back. Goals from the bottom of a lineup goes a long way, and for New Jersey they just don’t get it enough.
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Another form of secondary scoring is getting points from your defense. Severson’s game this year has been a nice bright spot for the Devils. He is producing points and playing solid defense, stepping into his top role very nicely.
After Severson, the defensive scoring dips way down. John Moore has thirteen points. That is second on the team in scoring from the blue line. Having your defense chip in with the scoring is another way to win games consistently at the NHL level, something New Jersey is not getting.
Just look at what the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets are able to do this season. Two teams that have been having very nice seasons thanks to their secondary scoring. Columbus this year has nine players with more than thirty poins and Minnesota has eight. The Devils should find a way to emulate what they’ve done so they can mimic it in the future.
Thanks for reading and remember Lets Go Devils!