Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils Defeat Pittsburgh Penguins In Sidney Crosby’s Return

By David Holliday

Oct 30, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New Jersey Devils left wing Jesper Bratt (63) celebrates with the Devils bench after scoring on a penalty shot against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. The Devils won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New Jersey Devils left wing Jesper Bratt (63) celebrates with the Devils bench after scoring on a penalty shot against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. The Devils won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New Jersey Devils faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins on the first half of the Halloween weekend back-to-back. The Penguins came into the game beat up, but they got big help with Sidney Crosby back for the first time this season. The team started slow again and through the first 20 minutes showed very little which is becoming a trend and this team is not exactly scoring a ton so this is something to be concerned about. Tonight however they were able to respond and win but against stronger teams, they do need to wake up at beginning of the game.

The Good

Andreas Johnsson is really proving a lot of Devils fans wrong with his bounce-back play. He scored two on Saturday night and is on an insane pace for points. He is also playing well enough that it does not look like a fluke and might once again be the player he was in Toronto.

Dawson Mercer might not have got a point tonight but he was all over the ice and was easily the Devils’ best forward. Without him, Johnsson doesn’t score in the first and without him, Jesper Bratt doesn’t put the game away in the third. On top of that, it felt like the team couldn’t generate a thing without him pushing the play. With Jack Hughes gone, Mercer is one of the most important players on the team.

Jimmy Vesey got a shorthanded goal to put the Devils ahead in the second, almost got a second shorthanded goal later in the night, and put up a solid effort in his depth role again. He played almost 16 minutes he logged a lot of ice time and quite frankly he deserved all of it with how the top six is performing. He put up a game-high six shots on net and with zero giveaways he is continuing to show that this was a very smart pickup by the Devils.

Bratt had his best game of the season and did actually try to drive the play for the first time this season and it appears at least for now that moving him away from Nico and Zacha was a good thing. He showed some chemistry with Mercer and with two points, including a fantastic penalty shot goal, he needs to build off of this.

Hamilton and Graves both had strong games and while only Hamilton got a point the two combined for eight shots, eight hits, four blocks, had a pair of takeaways and all this was without a giveaway. They were all over the stat sheet and it was a strong performance in every aspect making the good small plays including Hamilton stopping a cross-crease pass that would have seen Guentzel tap in a goal.

Bernier had an incredible game and made some big stops on high danger chances that should have been avoided. This game would have been looking a lot worse had he not been on his game and the Devils will lean on him heavily this year.

The Bad

PK Subban took a bad penalty again, this time in a tie game in the third period, and once again it was 100% his fault and 100% avoidable. Keep your stick on the ice. A simple thing but for some reason, people in the NHL still don’t do it despite every coach they would have ever had telling them this probably from age eight. He played the last minutes of all Devils defenders and it should be time to bench him for a game or two at least because he is adding nothing and is going to cost this team games.

Zacha and Nico were pretty much invisible again and need to pick it up tomorrow. It has been enough time and they have had a lot of time playing together so if they cant put up a full 60 minute effort for the first time this season as a pair they need to be split up or have the ice time given to Mercer and Tatar.

Tomorrow the Devils face off against the Blue Jackets who were expected to be a bottom-feeder team but are off to a respectable start at 4-3-0. They don’t have the best roster on paper but the Devils need to take every game seriously and this team has had their number for years now. A slow start could sink them so it is time for a hot start in a game that they need to win.

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