The New Jersey Devils got off to a poor start in the 2019-20 season, but Blake Coleman was a bright spot in an annoying game.
The New Jersey Devils blew a 4-0 lead to the Winnipeg Jets in their season opener on Friday night at the Prudential Center. It was a pretty pathetic way to start the season and not one that fans wanted to see after such a strong offseason. It was, however, just game one and there are 81 more games to go so it’s not time to freak out.
One major bright spot in the game was the play of Devils forward Blake Coleman. He scored two goals for New Jersey, one of which was an early goal of the year candidate. Coleman’s secondary scoring was what helped the Devils earn a point in this one, and they are going to need much more of that from him.
With stars on the team like Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, and Kyle Palmieri at forward, it is important that the team gets some steady production from their depth forwards. When preseason was going on, we didn’t really expect Coleman to be on the second line, but there he was on opening night with Travis Zajac and Wayne Simmonds. The line played well, and the reason it is the current second line is that they are likely watching the matchups they give Jack Hughes and his line.
If Blake Coleman can keep up this level of play throughout the season the Devils will be a very deep forward group. He had 22 goals last season which is really good for a guy in his role. He has been a great find for the New Jersey Devils and hopefully next time he has a performance like this they won’t completely blow it.
The Devils did earn a standings point even though they blew the lead, and until Cory Schneider got injured they were all over the Jets. The good news is that Coleman and the Devils are right back at it tonight against the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo. They are likely going to be an annoyed group and hopefully, some better lineup decisions are made for this one. It is only game one so we need to not overreact that much. There will be highs and lows all season long.