Louis Domingue finished his first start filling in for Mackenzie Blackwood with a win vs. the Detroit Red Wings. New Jersey Devils head coach John Hynes seemed to be very comfortable after what he saw the night before when Louis came in relief. In his first appearance as a Devil, he seemed very calm, cool and collected like most Quebec native goalies. To move over to the game against Detroit, Domingue only faced 20 shots and allowed only one goal.
One of the things that stood out was his positioning. Louis showed whether Detroit had traffic in the slot, along the crease, on the points, he was able to sniff out any possible deceptive plays to stop offensive bursts. Another key to Domingue’s dominance against Detroit was his play in the trapezoid. Devils fans know all too well from another Quebec goalie (not comparing Louis as that guy) who had superb display of puck-handling, and puck re-distribution. One of those plays came in both the 2nd and the 3rd periods.
Whether you’re a fan of youth hockey or NHL-level hockey, watching Domingue force the Red Wings in full retreat on odd-man breakouts is a complete momentum changer. Those kinds of plays and rushes give your forwards the confidence in themselves. That confidence along with a very stingy Devils defense happened to be the sword that began to pierce the Red Wings battle plans. Once Domingue’s goalie game kept going at various angles, it bought guys like Will Butcher time to score.
Another feature that really impressed Devils fans was his laser focus. There were times where he seemed to cheat shooters at different angles, and force them to make bad shots. The other portion of Louis’ tool box was his sense of trust in a really energized defense. It appeared that when Domingue got the start versus Detroit, the team was able to rally around him.
The other attribute about this Quebec goalie is that he just seemed so positive during the game and after. He did mention in the post game that he knew what to expect from the fans and seemed to enjoy molding into the Devils locker room. Anytime you have a guy like Louis Domingue “getting off on the right foot” is a huge confidence builder for this roster. Both on and off the ice if the team can really bond around Domingue they should also help alleviate the extra workload for Mackenzie Blackwood.
One of the things Coach Hynes has done right is not to yank goalies to the point that their trust and mindset is completely shot. So when back to backs happen, it would be very prudent for Mackenzie Blackwood to get his rest. Having a dynamic duo this time in the NHL certainly goes a long way, however at this point Blackwood is your number-one starter, and Domingue is your very reliable goalie who could be a bit better than what Keith Kinkaid used to be.