How Can the New Jersey Devils Get Back to Winning?
The New Jersey Devils are on a 0-1-2 stretch as they arrive in Dallas to play the Stars on Wednesday night. So how can they get back in the win column?
The easy way out would be to say that the NHL needs to change, or at least look into, the offsides rule. While I completely agree that rule robbed the New Jersey Devils out of two points, that is not the only reason why they haven’t come out as winners in their past three games.
One thing they need to do is start fast. They cannot afford to come out slow against any team they play. Yes, they have been a team that has proved they can comeback from just about any deficit, but they shouldn’t have to every single night.
They did end the first period against Buffalo up 1-0. However, they did not look their best by any means. They played slow and if it was against anybody other team, it would not have ended the same way.
In Washington, they had to come out like it was the biggest game of the season. They didn’t. This was the most disappointing to me. They couldn’t seem to get anything going in their battle for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
The same thing happened in St. Louis. The first period was far from their best showing, but luckily Kinkaid played one of his better games this season and kept them in the game.
The New Jersey Devils need to use their speed advantage from the first drop of the puck tonight in Dallas. This team needs another game like they played against the Chicago Blackhawks. The key is to come out hard and fast early and get good scoring chances. They need to use their youth and speed to get their opponents on their heels early.
Tonight the Devils will need a vintage night of domination from Cory Schneider. Schneider hasn’t looked great in his last two games against Washington and Buffalo. He also didn’t look too bad, but by his standards he was a bit off. I expect to see an outstanding comeback game from Cory tonight to take a little bit of the pressure off of the offense. When they’ve needed him this year he has been there. He’s the guy that the players have looked to turn things around when things start to get away from them.
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The last thing the Devils need to get back into full gear is a resurgence of their second-line center Travis Zajac. He has caught a lot of trash talk from the fans lately. I’m usually one of the fans who sticks up for Zajac. However, there is no denying that the Devils cannot allow the absence of offense that Zajac has given them thus far at the second line center position.
Zajac is known for his more defensive style of play, penalty killing, and winning faceoffs. While he has been pretty solid for the most part, the scoring has not been there. He has just four points in 22 games played. Two of those points came in the loss to Washington. This needs to become a consistent thing. Zajac either needs to figure out how to help put the puck in the net regularly or he must be moved down in the Devils lineup.
Travis Zajac is one of the long-time veterans of the New Jersey Devils and I believe he understands how important it is for him to start scoring like he used to, as much as the fans do. I would not be surprised if we saw the Johansson-Zajac-Palmieri line score a couple goals tonight.