New Jersey Devils defenseman Damon Severson found himself in the doghouse on Friday night after just a brutal game on the scoresheet. He took three minor penalties, and he was a passenger on the Los Angeles Kings’ first goal that broke a scoreless tie. He watched it go past him and the Kings took the lead.
He wasn’t the sole reason the Devils lost. A bad play by Ty Smith in overtime led to the game-winning goal. It was a rough night for the Devils defense, and they were lucky that Pavel Zacha scored late to give the team a point for taking it to overtime.
Early in their Saturday night matchup with the San Jose Sharks, it looked like it was going to happen again. Severson took a penalty, albeit a terrible call, just nine minutes into the game. It was early, and the Devils were on the penalty kill in a 0-0 game. Luckily, the Devils killed the penalty, and Severson had a solid game beyond that.
Severson was on the ice for 21 chances for the Devils and just 11 chances against. Neither team was playing really well at even strength, so it’s not a surprise he was on the ice for on high-danger chance and one against the team. There wasn’t a lot going on there.
Severson played the most time on the penalty kill of any player on Saturday night. He played 1:40 with a man disadvantage, and while he was on for the goal against, he allowed only three total chances and zero high-danger chances. Jonathan Bernier should have stopped that puck from going in the net (but no one is going to blame him after the performance he had).
The peak of the Severson comeback tour came in the shootout. Lindy Ruff made the headscratching decision to go with Severson in the shootout over Nico Hischier, Andreas Johnsson, Dawson Mercer, Tomas Tatar, and Pavel Zacha. It seemed like Ruff was overthinking another decision, but it worked out. Severson did this:
Damon Severson called game! 😤@NJDevils steal one in San Jose. pic.twitter.com/uQsd8L55Tu
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 7, 2021
What a move there by the defenseman. Severson really saves the weekend there, and the Devils survive the California road trip with a 1-1-1 record. They head into a brutal stretch of games with a 5-3-2 record, keeping their head above water with Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton among the casualties on the injury report.
Severson playing this well without the mistakes is key to being one of the star players this team needs. Think about how quickly things changed for him. In 24 hours, he went from the goat to the G.O.A.T. Maybe that’s conjecture, but Severson did show himself for what he is this weekend. He’s either a dominant force or he is a mistake-prone mess. However, he is starting to make the “mess” games less often.
Severson is still a sore point for the Devils fanbase, but most defensemen make mistakes. If Severson came make them at less opportune times, then he should become a fan favorite.