The New Jersey Devils lost their game against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night. They had a chance to win it in overtime after tying the game with under a minute left, but it didn’t work out. At least they got a point, right? There’s been a lot of that lately. Hoping for any positive result now that the team is playing without Dougie Hamilton, Jack Hughes, Miles Wood, and they’ve been without Ty Smith, Mackenzie Blackwood, Jonathan Bernier, and Damon Severson for different stretches.
That last name, Damon Severson, didn’t last long on the injured list. He only missed one game. Then he was back in the lineup, and it was a mostly positive reception to get the Devils defense back at full strength once Ty Smith returned.
They played together last year, so both coming into the season injured was not ideal. They were the one line with built-in chemistry. Now, they are both on the ice, and they aren’t looking so great. Ty Smith’s issues are a segment for another day. Today, let’s focus on Damon Severson.
The eye test tells one story about Damon Severson’s night while the analytics tell a completely different one. Severson made several key mistakes, and two of Severson’s mistakes directly led to goals. At the very end of the second period, the game was 1-0. That’s because with about one second left, the Kings sent a pass through the crease, and it just looked like Severson lost track of it. He was standing right in front, but the puck skated past him and the Kings scored to make it 1-0 going into intermission.
Fine. Sometimes players lose sight of the puck. Sometimes goalies even lose sight of the puck, so it’s excusable to have one mistake. However, Severson’s play in the third period was inexcusable. He took three penalties in the period. One of the penalties led directly to a goal mere seconds after he went to the box.
Were they some soft calls? Two probably were, but Severson needs to not put himself in the position. Players are going to dive. Unfortunately, it’s a part of the game defensemen have to understand.
Now, when looking at his numbers, most would expect them to suck. Let’s just be honest here. However, his advanced statistics show he was the best defenseman on the ice. Wait, what?
His CorsiFor% was 62.86% at 5v5. He was better than anyone not on the Nico Hischier–Jesper Bratt–Andreas Johnsson line. He was on the ice for four high-danger chances for and only two against his line. He even took four shots, had eight individual chances, and had a high-danger chance all to himself. His two rush attempts could have been something in what was a slog of a game.
Severson plays his game the same way he always has, but there are nights like this where he just can’t get out of his own way. It’s almost like lapses in otherwise very good hockey. The lapses are impossible to ignore.
Severson needed to take a step in the right direction with Dougie Hamilton out of the lineup. He did not. On paper, he was good in the situations he was in on Friday. When the game is played back, it was clearly the worst game of Severson’s season. Those kinds of lapses can’t happen, even if the penalties are bad calls. Get out of those positions, and give the Devils a chance to win.