New Jersey Devils Should Not Sit Sami Vatanen

New Jersey Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen is coming off his worst game since coming over from the Anaheim Ducks. While some call for accountability, and for him to be benched, that would be a terrible decision.

The New Jersey Devils come off yet another sloppy game in which they still only lost by one goal. Taking on the Dallas Stars on the road, the Devils managed to lose 4-3 while having Taylor Hall a foot away from the game-tying goal in the waning seconds. When the games are that close, fans start to nitpick every single thing that could have turned the game around.

Sami Vatanen gave fans plenty of fodder to get mad about Thursday night. The biggest blunder was a play that most probably didn’t know was a penalty. Vatanen was coming out of the box, and touched the puck before he was all the way out. That immediately put the Devils on the penalty kill once again.

As you could probably guess, the Stars scored on the ensuing power play.

If that was the only mistake, fine. It’s one major faux pas. However, that wasn’t it.

Vatanen was absolutely scorched by Mattias Janmark, leaving Cory Schneider to try and stop a two-on-one. That score put it out of reach, making it a two-goal lead in the third period. The Devils got Vatanen to stop plays like that.

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Despite the terrible game Vatanen had on Thursday, he should not be scratched on Saturday versus the New York Islanders.

Vatanen is still a very good defenseman. Prior to this game, and maybe part of the game prior, he’s been the best defenseman on the ice. He was able to bring up John Moore’s game to be respectable. His two-way game was finally starting to click.

I get it, head coach John Hynes calls for accountability. He’s sitting Damon Severson for the mistakes he’s made on the ice. While I don’t agree with sitting Severson, the Devils can’t afford to sit Vatanen in favor of Ben Lovejoy.

The Devils desperately need a win against the New York Islanders. It’s been an extremely disappointing four games. They’ve lost because of bad calls by the refs, messed up chances and overall sloppy play. It seems like it couldn’t get worse. During an 82 game season, these ebbs and flows will happen.

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They happen with defenseman, too. Give Vatanen a chance to redeem himself after this terrible game. I’m sure some of Thursday’s mistakes came out of frustration. Let him calm down and get back on the ice.