New Jersey Devils Come With Mixed Results On Southwest Trip
The New Jersey Devils began a four game road trip last week. The southwestern United States portion began in Dallas and ended in Vegas. It also was without the team’s best player, Taylor Hall. Not to mention missing a pretty important piece in Marcus Johansson as well.
It began in Dallas with one of the weirdest game of the season. Dallas had themselves a 3-1 and 4-2 lead in the game. The Devils, however, have shown some resiliency before this season, even when things haven’t always gone their way. They managed to send it to the third period tied at four. Dallas would ultimately take a 5-4 lead and that would be the final score in a very frustrating game.
A few nights later the Devils would defeat the Arizona Coyotes in a shootout in a game that was pretty back and forth throughout the night. This would mark the Devils’ first shootout win of the season.
The trip ended in Vegas. This was the most frustrating game of them all from a fan perspective, as the Devils had themselves a 2-0 lead early. Some good play by an elite team in the Vegas Golden Knights got the game tied and eventually a 3-2 lead which they would hold on and win.
Two losses in three games is definitely something to be upset about, but there are definitely some things the fans can take away from the trip so far. They lost both games by one single goal.
They ended both of those game with some mad scrambles in front of the oppositions net that looked like they were going to tie the game. This makes you think, what if an elite player like Taylor Hall was in the lineup, or Marcus Johansson who has had some flashes of late game heroics this season and throughout his career. Not making excuses, but definitely something to think about.
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MacKenzie Blackwood didn’t have the strongest game of his short career in Dallas, but he made some big saves to keep the Devils in the game. Then, in the game that followed, he was injured halfway through. Keith Kinkaid was welcomed into the game by Pavel Zacha turning the puck over to a Coyotes player right in front of him unguarded. A few seconds into his relief appearance he gave up the tying goal.
From that point on he was pretty good, and made both saves in the shootout to get the win. He was also good in the loss to Vegas, just not good enough to out duel the Golden Knights’ Malcom Subban.
It is unclear what Blackwood’s status is, but we will likely find out soon enough. The team called up Cam Johnson to back up Kinkaid in Vegas, while Blackwood and Cory Schneider recover from injuries.
Another takeaway from this road trip is how well Nico Hischier has played. Over the three games, he has had two goals and one assist. His two way game is so far and away ahead of most 20 year olds to play in the NHL. He also got robbed by Dallas goalie Ben Bishop in overtime. Hischier is showing he could run his own line without Hall. It’s so fun watching him develop right in front of our eyes.
Next. Taylor Hall Is An NHL All Star. dark
The Devils have one game left on this trip, but it is back east. They visit Buffalo on Tuesday night to take on the Sabres who have had some ups and downs this season. However, they find themselves in the playoff picture entering the week. There are questions about the lineup, as the team sent down John Quenneville to Binghamton, Taylor Hall and Marcus Johansson have yet to re enter the lineup from injury, and there will likely be an update on the goaltenders.