The New Jersey Devils are in trouble. After a 4-0-0 start, they are now 5-5-1. This type of consistency will not get it done in the Eastern Conference. The Devils have some climbing to do if they want ANYTHING out of this season.
It wasn’t all bad. They did technically play much better than the New York Islanders for most of the game, and that is what makes it the most annoying to think about. They outshot the Islanders 35-33, which seems even in the end, but until the final period, the Devils had a decent lead in the shot count, which you can tip your cap to Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss, but the Devils need to score a goal.
Once again the top line of Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, and Kyle Palmieri controlled play and created chances. Hall and Palmieri each had three shots, and Hischier had four. Sometimes that line will shoot and miss, but others need to step up.
Special teams once again are the difference. The Devils like to get themselves into penalty trouble and give up power play goals. The Islanders’ Jordan Eberle scored on the power play following two Devils power plays early on. The Devils were 0-4 on the power play in this game, and that is just not good enough. They need to capitalize on these opportunities if they are going to win games.
It is weird to see a team struggling to score not insert skill depth players in favor of less skilled depth players. Sending down Pavel Zacha to Binghamton was a smart move, as he only really needs to improve his offensive game, and a trip to the minors can really help out with that. I would think Joey Anderson gets inserted into the lineup next game, and maybe it is time to bring up Michael McLeod for some offense hope.
Things need to be cleaned up on the road for this team, otherwise it is going to get ugly quickly. 0-4-0 on the road is very very bad, and 0-3-0 on this seven game road trip is worrisome. Things do not get easier, as they are headed to Pittsburgh on Monday night to face Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins.