It is obviously not the best season for the New Jersey Devils, but what does Cory Schneider need to do to get a win?
It is hard to say you are feeling bad for a professional athlete on most occasions. They make a lot of money and earn a decent amount of fame for playing a game. With that said, it is very hard not to feel sorry for New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider.
In his latest installment, he lost to the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2. The Devils got off to a 2-0 lead and it looked like they were going to cruise to a victory before Chicago scored five unanswered goals to win.
This is with both teams having plenty of chances and shots. In fact, the Devils had 43 shots on goal and the Blackhawks had 36 of their own. The difference is the Chicago goaltender Cam Ward played just a bit better than Schneider.
The Devils were not able to capitalize on their chances and the Blackhawks were able to take advantage of a weakened Devils lineup. Not having Taylor Hall, Sami Vatanen, Miles Wood and Blake Coleman is a huge hole as those are all impactful players but there are no excuses in the NHL.
So what does that mean for Cory Schneider? I think he has been good since coming back from his Binghamton but he just hasn’t been good enough to win in most games. The game against the New York Islanders that the Devils lost in a shootout was a step in the right direction.
In that game he only gave up one goal. The team as a whole did not get it done in the shootout so Schneider couldn’t get the win. It has just been a sad sight to see a goalie that used to be one of the very best in the world have such a hard time finding a winning effort.
The Devils are partially to blame because it is clear that they are not a very good defensive team. That used to be a very big strength of the team but it is now a very glaring weakness. It is believable that if Schneider was on a different team he would be very good and possibly even the Schneider of old.
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The injuries were also brought up and even though there are no excuses the loss of Hall impacts the whole team. With an MVP level player in the lineup the possession numbers go up leading to less chances on the goalie and scoring goes up which loosens up every player on the team and allows them to play their game.
All of these factors leading to Schneider not being able to win is the reason to feel sorry for him as a hockey player. He is not in a position to succeed and that is not a great sight to see. We can only hope that he and the team figure it out before it is too late for him as an NHL goalie. His resume shows us that there was an elite goalie in there somewhere.
It is very possible that Cory figures it out before long and hopefully next season a healthy Schneider and a better defensive team can get back to the playoffs. They have Hall, Hischier is getting better every single game, and they have help on defense on the way. There is no reason not to have confidence that there are better days ahead for the Devils.
The Devils are right back at it again on Friday when they take on the Minnesota Wild in St Paul before returning home for a while. They were defeated by the Wild less than a week ago so hopefully they can get some revenge.