The New Jersey Devils haven’t given fans much to be optimistic about over the last few weeks, going 4-8-1 since returning from their February pause, and 1-3-1 in March. A recent piece covered how New Jersey is among the league’s least-penalized teams, despite their 31st-ranked penalty kill. Their standing in that category hasn’t changed, and is currently an abysmal 64.6 percent. Although their penalty kill has been disastrous this season and they have just one victory since March 1, New Jersey’s shorthanded play has shown subtle signs of improvement.
Going into March 1, the Devil’s penalty kill was 62.3 percent—still last in the NHL. In the month of March however, their PK has a 75 percent success rate, having killed nine of their opponent’s 12 power play opportunities. This is good for 19th in the NHL over that span, which is nothing to brag about, but a notable improvement compared to their pre-March numbers.
To break things down further, the New Jersey Devils have remained relatively disciplined. Despite being 16th among NHL teams in times shorthanded (12), they’re 18th in minor penalties taken (12), and 21st in both penalties taken per 60 minutes (2.59), along with penalty minutes per game (6:12) since March 1.
Aside from being efficient at staying out of the penalty box, the Devils have improved on the PK in a few essential categories as the chart below shows.
| Category | Season | Before 3/1 | Since 3/1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SV% | 78.50 | 78.02 | 81.25 |
| HDCA/Game | 1.68 | 2.05 | .4 |
| SCA/Game | 4.09 | 4.23 | 3.60 |
| SA/Game | 4.86 | 5.35 | 3.20 |
| FO% | 33.3 | 33.0 | 34.8 |
| FO/Game | 5.18 | 5.35 | 4.60 |
While the dramatic reduction in high danger chances against (HDCA) on the PK appears significant, New Jersey only faced two this month, compared to 37 before 3/1, so that particular statistic is slightly misleading (but noteworthy nonetheless). Despite no major changes in face-off or save percentage, their number of shorthanded draws per game is down considerably this month (4.6) compared to their pre-March rate (5.35) and season average (5.18).
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What stands out are the differences in amount of shorthanded scoring chances and on-net shots faced. This month, the New Jersey Devils have surrendered an average of 3.6 shorthanded scoring chances and 3.20 shots on net per game, a considerable decline compared to the 4.23 scoring chances and 5.35 on-net shots against per game on the PK over their first 17 contests. Since March 1, the Devils are also performing below their season average (4.09 shorthanded scoring chances against per game, 4.86 shorthanded shots on net against per game) in these categories.
While possession still remains an issue, these numbers are indicative that the New Jersey Devils are tightening up their shorthanded play, and getting better at limiting their opponent’s chances. Although these improvements are somewhat of a bright spot, five games is a comparatively small sample, but provides hope that their shorthanded play could finally be shifting in the right direction. The next couple of games will be very telling as to whether this team is finally righting their penalty kill, or merely went on a flukey streak.