New Jersey Devils: Penalty Kill Can Lead To Successful Season
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils lost some key pieces in the offseason, but their penalty kill was kept mostly intact. If this team can improve when a man down this season, that could bring them back to the playoffs.
The New Jersey Devils were pretty average at most stats as a team last season. They were smack dab in the middle of the league with 3.0 goals per game. They ranked 17th in goals against, and barely broke the top ten in power play goals. The only real aspect of the Devils game that was tops in the league was their penalty kill.
The Devils ranked 8th in the league with a 81.8% penalty kill. This team collectively spent 694 minutes in the penalty box, around the middle of the league. They take about as many penalties as give, which means they need to keep the power play goals out of their own net.
The Devils have some of the better penalty killing forwards in the Eastern Conference. Even with the loss of Brian Gibbons, the Devils still have Travis Zajac, Blake Coleman, Jesper Bratt and Pavel Zacha. Not only did all of them play really well defensively, but they all scored short-handed goals. That may be the biggest momentum changer in the entire league. When a team expects to score on the man advantage, but their opponent scores, it causes some serious dejection.
The Devils penalty kill was never more important than it was in the playoffs. Against the highest scoring team in the league, the Devils penalty kill needed to show up. They did not in the first two games, and the Tampa Bay Lightning scored multiple times.
The Devils power play goes in spurts, while the penalty kill was much more consistent. There could be five power play goals in two games, but could also do what it did in ended the Devils season. Their power play went two for 13 in the last two games. Having that kind of opportunity lost against the top team in the Eastern Conference means a loss in the first round.
The only reason the Devils were in those games were thanks to its penalty kill. They went 10 for 10 in the last two games. If the Devils could find a way to score with the man advantage, we may be having a different conversation entire this offseason.
More from Pucks and Pitchforks
- Should New Jersey Devils Try Load Management With Vitek Vanecek?
- New Jersey Devils Will Prove That Last Year Wasn’t A Fluke
- New Jersey Devils: Luke Hughes’ Playmaking Will Outshine His Mistakes
- New Jersey Devils: Chase Stillman’s Performance Causes Concern
- Can Devils Fans Separate Zach Parise Heartbreak From Achievements?
The Devils penalty kill will rely on two key factors to see if they can improve on last year. One is whether Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid can keep goals out of the net. Also, can the Devils defense play well enough to help out their forwards?
The Devils will rely on Andy Greene and Sami Vatanen to lead the D during the man disadvantage. It will probably be some combination of Ben Lovejoy, Steve Santini, Yegor Yakovlev or Mirco Mueller for the second line. Honestly, it all depends on who makes the team.
As for the goalies, Schneider needs to come back healthy. Also, Kinkaid needs to play like he did down the stretch last season.
Either way, the Devils penalty kill needs to improve at least a little bit in order to compete again this year. If the team can sneak into the top five of the league, they could be major competitors in the Metropolitan Division. Obviously, some other things need to work out, but having a top unit really helps.