Last night, the New Jersey Devils fell 2-0 to the Vancouver Canucks in what was the most uninspired 60 minutes of hockey they’ve ever played. It was truly the worst “effort” I’ve ever seen the Devils bring to the arena for an entire game. The Devils surely have played worse hockey games from a talent standpoint, but last night was more about not caring and not trying. New Jersey seemed disinterested from the puck drop and spent the first ten minutes in their own end of the ice. The Devils should be ashamed for the kind of effort they displayed in Vancouver and have some soul searching to do over this holiday break.
Lone Bright Spot
Cory Schneider was the only member of the New Jersey Devils who actually showed up to play hockey. Schneider, making his second return to the city that he used to call home, was the best player on the ice for either team. He’s the only reason the score wasn’t a blowout and why the Devils had a chance to win the game. Schneider was able to make 34 saves on 36 shots (the Devils only had 20), and the two he let by he had no chance on. The Devils played horribly all night and yet Cory was there to bail them out again and again and again. Proof of the Devils not caring last night was when Alexandre Burrows ran over Schneider and the players on the ice did absolutely nothing. They didn’t get angry, they didn’t pull Burrows off of Cory, they didn’t do a thing. Aside from Schneider, the Devils just didn’t care last night.
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Yikes Marek
Marek Zidlicky easily had the worst game of his career as he was the reason both Vancouver goals were scored. Zidlicky is known for his poor defense, but last night he was on another level. On the first goal scored by Burrows, Zidlicky let him get the inside position to the right of Schneider and did nothing to stop the pass from reaching him. Then in the third, Zidlicky turned the puck over at the blue line twice within the span of five minutes. The first turnover led to a 2-on-1 which resulted in a post, the second turnover led to a Shawn Matthias breakaway where he was able to “score.” I put score in quotation marks because it was actually Zidlicky who kicked the puck into the net after Schneider made the original save. Zidlicky is a disaster, yet somehow Eric Gelinas always gets benched instead of him.
Postgame Presser
After the defeat, MSG+ showed Peter DeBoer’s postgame commentary as they always do. I was curious to see if he would get angry for once and actually show like he cares. As usual, DeBoer was an emotionless zombie answering questions. Not only did he seem like he didn’t care, he actually thought the team played well. He said that he thought it was a pretty even game after the first ten minutes. What game was he watching?! The Devils were awful all night. Cory Schneider was the only reason they didn’t get wiped off the ice. Then he mentioned that they “survived.” Survived what? You lost 2-0 to end a 1-2-1 road trip and are currently 9-10-3. What exactly did you survive? Not getting fired?
When DeBoer was asked about Zidlicky, he said he wasn’t going to throw him under the bus and that Zidlicky was just trying to make a play. Now, I’m fine with a coach not openly trashing his player because that’s not right, but to play it off like it was nothing was ridiculous. Zidlicky made three atrocious plays that Adam Larsson or Eric Gelinas would have been sent to Orlando of the ECHL for and the coach doesn’t say a thing. DeBoer’s lackluster approach and inability to motivate this team should not be accepted anymore. Enough is enough and DeBoer needs to go. There’s nothing to be said to defend him anymore; it’s time to cut ties and move on.