New Jersey Devils: Play Better But Still Lose After Coaching Change
The New Jersey Devils made a coaching change before the Tuesday night game against the Vegas Golden Knights and they played better but still lost.
The New Jersey Devils announced on Tuesday afternoon that they have fired John Hynes from being their head coach. He was the coach for over four seasons. Before this year, you can argue that he got the team to play beyond their capabilities at times, but enough was enough after the way this season went. They needed a change and a change they received.
Alain Nasreddine was named as the interim head coach ahead of their contest with the Vegas Golden Knights. The players didn’t have much time to think about the change as they took the ice just a few hours after the firing of coach Hynes. They knew they needed a good effort to even have a chance against the Golden Knights who are one of the league’s best teams. Vegas has a top-six forward group that can all score yet be solid in all three zones.
One of those forwards for Vegas is Jonathan Marchessault. He had a had trick to complete the comeback for Vegas and the Devils lost the game 4-3. They lost the game but they played much better than what we have become used to. Before this, they looked lethargic and lost out there. In this game vs Vegas, they were hard on the puck, tenacious in the attacking zone, and looked like they were actually a hockey team again. This team has some really good players and they need to start showing it.
One bright spot over the last few weeks has been Nico Hischier. Nico has been awesome this season and is really developing into a great two-way player. He can impact the game in his own end but is really starting to show that he can impact a game offensively as well. He scored a goal to bring the Devils back within one in this game to give himself goals in two straight games. He is a major part of this team’s future so his development is key.
The Devils were also without Jack Hughes for the third straight game. He has already become such a big part of the Devils’ attack so missing him is a big loss. He looked like he might be able to go in this game but they opted to keep him out of this one but they have a few days off now to try and get him healthy and back in the lineup.
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The Devils are back in action on Friday night when the Chicago Blackhawks are in town to play the Devils at the Rock. The Hawks bring in similar struggles as the Devils into this game. They have a game against the Boston Bruins in between now and then on Thursday night so their visit to The Rock will be the second half of a back to back. The Devils need to use this opportunity to try and get a win.