On today’s New Jersey Devils Daily, a disappointing loss to the Florida Panthers, Pavel Zacha responding well to being benched and where the Devils land in the power rankings.
The New Jersey Devils had a pretty poor effort at the Prudential Center on Monday night against the Florida Panthers. After taking just ten shots combined in the first two periods, it was clear this team was exhausted from playing seven games in 12 nights. Pucks and Pitchforks looks at how this isn’t the first time the Devils put up a similar performance. We saw a similar effort when they were shutout last month against the San Jose Sharks. At the end of the day, there is an obvious excuse for the Devils poor play. With three days off coming, don’t expect a similar effort next game.
New Jersey Devils Tired Play Leads To Loss
Tyler Kelley with Pucks and Pitchforks looks at one positive from last night’s loss; Pavel Zacha. He’s been playing well since returning from his benching. He’s still a disappointment overall on a team that doesn’t have many of them, but his play lately has been more than optimistic. With Marcus Johansson returning from his concussion sometime in the next two games, Zacha has been playing well enough to keep his spot. He even deserves to stick to being linemates with Taylor Hall and Nico Hischier.
New Jersey Devils: Pavel Zacha Poised to Breakout
Speaking of Johansson, Devils fans were given great news before last night’s game. He’s been fully cleared to play after a scary concussion against Vancouver. As Andrew Gross with NorthJersey.com writes, Johansson has been free from headaches for a week, and now eyes a return to the Devils lineup. He’s been out for 13 straight games, but that could come to an end as early as Friday.
Marcus Johansson, ‘normal’ now, eyes return to Devils’ lineup
Chris Dilks with SB Nation’s college hockey blog looks at Devils prospect Reilly Walsh’s great start. He’s been very good in his freshman season with Harvard. Despite the Crimson’s weak start to the season, Walsh is one of the lone bright spots. Despite his freshman status, he’s listed as Harvard’s top power play defender. Dilks believes Walsh needs a little seasoning, but has all the tools to become a very good pro player in a few years.
Eye on the Future: Reilly Walsh
The New Jersey Devils stay in the top five for Sports Illustrated’s power rankings at the quarter mark of the season. Obviously, the rookies will get a lot of the love, but Taylor Hall is leading this team to first in the Metropolitan Division. Throw out last night’s loss to Florida, the Devils have been playing very well as of late. Almost every game, they come out with points. They jumped up from ninth in the league last week.
Power Rankings: Trying to Make Sense at the Quarter Season Mark
Marcus Johansson, ‘normal’ now, eyes return to Devils’ lineup