New Jersey Devils: Steven Stamkos Injury Must Be Exposed
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Playoffs today (!!!). One of their biggest goals must be to exposed an injured superstar.
It’s finally here. After six long seasons, the New Jersey Devils are back in the playoffs. Now that were here, what should the Devils do?
Well, everyone knows about the vaunted offense of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Five players recorded at least 63 points, and six players scored at least twenty goals while in Tampa. This offense is insane.
The leader of the offense is Steven Stamkos. Nikita Kucherov is the points leader and the Hart Trophy candidate, but there’s no denying who drives this team.
There’s a major issue here. Stamkos is hurt. He’s not injured, because he’s expected to play every game, but he’s definitely hurt. He said as much.
"“Listen, my body will never be 100 percent, regardless, going through the stuff I’ve been through. So there’s no point asking about percentages.”"
Stamkos missed the last three games of the regular season with a lower-body injury. He’s still technically questionable for game one of the series. I don’t buy it. He’s 100% going to suit up.
If Stamkos is anything less than one of the best offensive weapons in the world, the Devils need to expose him. Obviously, the Travis Zajac line will play a majority of their time against Stamkos, Kucherov and JT Miller. Zajac, Blake Coleman and Stefan Noesen need to frustrate Stamkos at every turn. Hit him as much as possible, legally of course. Don’t do anything dirty, but frustrate him by getting in his face every single time he gets the puck.
The Devils have seen two different versions of Stamkos this season. Earlier in the year, when he was fully healthy, he was unstoppable for this defense. He scored four points in the first two games, but was held without any in their final appearance.
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Getting a player who’s already frustrated with his injury to get frustrated with his play, and it can give the Devils a chance to steal game one. Getting in his head will hurt his shot, hurt his passes and cause him to make mistakes with the puck.
The Devils are one of the best teams in the league at pouncing on another team’s mistakes. They scored a league-leading 12 shorthanded goals. There’s be even more if Michael Grabner could score on one of his many breakaways. Forcing Stamkos to make mistakes will only help their cause.
The Devils are the clear underdog, but coming into this series with a 3-0-0 record against the Lightning only breeds confidence. If they can use that, and take the confidence away from another superstar, then the upset special may be on the horizon.