New Jersey Devils: Will Butcher Finds His Scoring Touch Again
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils were able to help many slumping players in a 6-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens. One player who really needed his points were Will Butcher.
Will Butcher was a monster on the ice for the New Jersey Devils last night. His shot was as good as we’ve seen in a long time, and it led to two major assists to get the Devils going against the Montreal Canadiens. This was as important as any points the Devils scored, as Butcher had gone a long time without showing up on the score sheet.
Butcher went through the entire month of February with one point. That’s right, the offensive defenseman went an entire month with one lone assist. He had 11 assists in his first month, but could not find a helper at all last month.
Last night, we saw vintage Will Butcher. He took two great slap shots, that turned into goals. Butcher took his first shot, which was tipped on the way by Stefan Noesen. That’s the exact kind of goal you want with the rookie defenseman on the ice. Blake Coleman’s goal was similar. A shot from Butcher in the point ended with a rebound in front that Coleman could clean up.
Butcher is now up to 30 assists on the season. Even with the major slump, he is still second on the team in helpers behind the impossible Taylor Hall. This major slump also didn’t take him out of the top 20 among NHL defensemen in assists. He’s holding onto 19th, right behind Seth Jones and Dustin Byfuglien.
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Butcher is going to be a key player in the Devils upcoming stretch. He’s getting to that part of the season where rookies start to get really tired, but if he can power through he can be a secret weapon for this team. Remember, Butcher played 43 games last season for University of Denver. This year, he’s at 66 already. He’s played this many games once in his life, and it was five years ago. He played 67 games with the United States National Team Development Program, along with another 26 in the USHL.
If he can power through the fatigue and play like he did last night, he can lead this Devils team to the playoffs. He needs to keep the Devils power play scoring. The Devils have scored a power play goal in five straight games. This after a rough stretch where they looked worse with the man advantage. This great stretch actually has the power play back in the top ten in the league at 21.3%.
Will Butcher can really make a mark as a defenseman. He can find a second wind, and start helping this offense. If last night wasn’t a fluke, that would make this upcoming rough stretch that much easier.