Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils Youth Helps Defeat Buffalo Sabres

By David Holliday

Apr 8, 2021; Buffalo, New York, USA; New Jersey Devils center Pavel Zacha (37) celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 8, 2021; Buffalo, New York, USA; New Jersey Devils center Pavel Zacha (37) celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New Jersey Devils rebounded nicely after losing Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac to what many consider a mediocre return in a trade with the New York Islanders. Moving forward, it will be hard on this team which now lacks veterans, especially on the offensive side. The younger players need to take the reigns.

The Good

After letting in a quick goal, the Devils’ struck back fast for a change which was needed in a bad way as losing to the Sabres twice in a row should kill anyone’s confidence at this point. Pavel Zacha, Jesper Bratt and Ty Smith showed great puck movement and on two quick powerplays netted two goals giving the Devils the lead and let them dominate for a huge chunk of the game. All three of these players have been fantastic all year and they need to continue it moving forward if the teams going to stay out of the basement.

Jack Hughes had a big 3 point night and finally broke through scoring a goal after being so close on a dozen high danger chances over the last 11 games since he scored. Both of his linemates did a great job forcing a turn over with hard work as well and if it wasn’t for that effort there would have been no chance on net and no goal. Placing Hughes with Kuokkanen and Sharangovich looked to be a good choice  and having some big bodies that can play and shoot with him will probably be needed for a long time so hopefully they can get a long string of games together and we can see how they develop and mesh together.

The Bad

Letting a goal in the first minute is never a good start and Dell didn’t have the best game. He was shaky all night letting out too many rebounds and was a little lucky to only have a .889 save percentage. Against a better team or one who had Jack Eichel it could have been a bad night fast and a high scoring affair.

Looking ahead the Devils have a tough streak of games with two against the always difficult Penguins and then a four game grind against the Rangers. These will be a huge test for the youth and while the playoffs are out of reach they can certainly hope to play spoiler for their biggest rivals.

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