Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils Lose Penalty Driven Preseason Game

By Vincent Parise

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 02: Travis Zajac #19 of the New Jersey Devils awaits a face-off during the second period of the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on December 2, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Devils 5-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 02: Travis Zajac #19 of the New Jersey Devils awaits a face-off during the second period of the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on December 2, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Devils 5-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils were mostly outplayed, and flat out annoying to watch for almost an entire hockey game on Thursday vs the New York Islanders. Things better get fixed soon or there will be steps back taken.

Without trying to overreact to preseason, there are things that you can see during the exhibition season that can make you excited or nervous. To be happy with the way things have gone so far in the preseason would be way to optimistic. Especially after the mess of a split squad that took place on Monday.

There are (like Monday) some positives to look at. It can not be stressed enough that the results of preseason games mean absolutely nothing. It is the effort and production from individuals that should mean the most. Now lets be honest here, no Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, Kyle Palmieri, Marcus Johansson, Sami Vatanen, or Cory Schneider in this game. The core of the team not playing will obviously hurt. That is a positive because we know those guys will be in the lineup once the games count.

Other positives include Will Butcher, who seems to have kept his word that he will work on his shot, and man he can slap the puck. He has certainly improved his shot and it showed tonight. One would think that it will help the Devils attack 5-on-5 and on the power play. It is also good to see the youngsters lead the way in ice time for the game.

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Let’s get into the bad parts. The penalties. The Devils lost the game 2-0, with New York scoring two power-play goals. The issue isn’t that they gave up two power play goals, but that they put the Islanders on the power play eight times. That is unacceptable in preseason, regular season, or beer league. This is extra frustrating for fans because they for the most part controlled the pace, and outshot them 36 to 27. The penalties killed the flow of the game for the Devils and they were never able to get on track.

It would also be nice to see some offense from some other people that aren’t the usual suspects. We know what the big names are going to do, but how about the guys that are trying to crack the squad? Who else is going to contribute offensively?

One would think that John Hynes puts together some intense practices following this effort. The Devils next preseason game comes Monday night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers on NHL Network.

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