Injuries Caught Up To New Jersey Devils In Loss To Edmonton
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils put up one of their worst performances of the season against the Edmonton Oilers. Injuries are not helping them out.
The New Jersey Devils have been one of the surprises of the early NHL season. After being last on most people’s Eastern Conference rankings, and even coming at the bottom of the Las Vegas betting odds, this team is now in many analysts playoff picture. This is thanks to a new philosophy, rookies playing out of their minds and Cory Schneider coming back to form. This is all happening despite some key injuries.
Those injuries seemed to catch up to the Devils on Friday night. Marcus Johansson fell face first into the boards against the Vancouver Canucks. The next day, we found out he is now out with a concussion. That last-minute injury on a Western Canada road trip forced head coach John Hynes to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. That put Dalton Prout into the lineup. This is something the Devils should never have to do, especially as an “extra” defenseman.
The game against the Edmonton Oilers was ugly as can be. Prout allowed a chance seemingly every time he was on the ice. The Devils left Schneider out to ry for 60 minutes. The loss spoiled Taylor Hall returning to Edmonton with an actually good team. Injuries are largely to blame for the position the Devils are in.
Johansson’s loss takes a ton of the depth away from this offense. MoJo hasn’t been great, but it’s clear he needs a few tweaks to go off. He has three goals, despite taking just 11 shots in 10 games. Now, with him fighting off a concussion on what was a scary crash, who knows how long he could be out.
Kyle Palmieri could be the biggest injury plaguing the Devils. He got hurt last weekend after his own crash into the board, except this time it was in practice. Palmieri has seven points in seven games, and really pushes the offense. He started skating again, but he has no chance to play until the Devils return home.
Travis Zajac has been sorely missed the past three games. The Devils were appalling in the faceoff circle. Going into the third period, the Devils were 8 of 39 in the dot. You can luck yourself into better numbers. Also, positioning was bad for the Devils on Friday. That’s one of Zajac’s best qualities. He puts himself in the right place at the right times.
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The last injury the Devils are dealing with wasn’t an injury at all. Brian Boyle returned against the Vancouver Canucks after fighting chronic myeloid leukemia. The fact he didn’t have a preseason, and missed the first 10 games of the season puts Boyle behind automatically. He hasn’t been bad, but he is clearly getting his legs under him.
Injuries are part of the game. It shouldn’t be an excuse for the Devils’ effort on Friday night. However, the injuries are forcing Hynes to make hard decisions. The 11/7 lineup does not work for this team, clearly. Stefan Noesen should start the next game to give the Devils four full forward lines.