The New Jersey Devils came off the California trip over the weekend to welcome the Florida Panthers to the Prudential Center. They are considered one of the best teams in the NHL. The odds of winning this game were quite low but as a surprise, the Devils came out big and scored the most they have all year. It might not have been a perfect game but it sure was exciting and lighting up a great team must feel good for all the guys in the locker room.
The Good
Andreas Johnsson has easily been one of the best forwards on this team all season and put in his team-leading six goals and team-leading nine points. He was all over the ice and his turnaround has been incredible to watch. As usual, his linemate and partner in crime Dawson Mercer was making the most of his young career by getting another pair of points now good for seven in eleven games. He is going to make a lot of teams and GMs look foolish for passing over him.
Pavel Zacha and Nico Hischier are starting to turn things around outside of the offensive zone which is massive and while they are making progress the team needs them to take some of the harder matchups and put up points. On the offensive side, they are rolling now. Zacha, like Johnsson, netted his sixth goal tying him for the team lead. Hischier finally got his second after just missing the back of the net over the last few games.
Ty Smith made a few boneheaded passes again which is still odd to see from the young man who was pure poise and hockey IQ last season but with a goal and two assists Tuesday night, expect his play to pick up. He is an offensive defenseman and going seven games without a point must have been wearing on him at least a little bit to start his second year. This should be the confidence boost he needs to get back to playing the style of game he did in his rookie season.
The Bad
The team was not ready to play early on and got scored on in the first four minutes which could have sunk the team early. In the second period, they made the same mistake allowing goals 24 seconds in and a minute and a half into the period earning a lot of well-deserved boos from the crowd. The saving grace of this team again was the Mercer/Johnsson line who saved the game by completely changing the momentum thirty seconds later by scoring a huge goal. The team has to be ready to play from shift one and someone in the locker room needs to make sure they are awake.