How Long Can New Jersey Devils Keep Playing These Goalies?

The New Jersey Devils had another performance where they lost almost specifically because of goaltending. Nobody is going to pretend they played well in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They didn’t. The Devils were aggressive for something like the first four minutes of the period, then the Lightning took over. This was after the Lightning made a run to tie it at the end of the second period. However, the game shouldn’t have unraveled like it did.

The Devils found themselves going from tied at three to down 6-3 in just three minutes of ice time. It was what we like to call the “turn off” point of a New Jersey Devils game. This season, there have been more “turn offs” than we’ve ever seen in a season. This team is so much fun in the first period. Then, it’s dreadful in the third period, and outside of a few comebacks, it’s usually not great in the third period either.

A lot of that has to do with the status of the goalies. Jonathan Bernier and Mackenzie Blackwood were both struggling due to injuries, and now those injuries have them both out. Bernier is confirmed done for the season and we’d be surprised if we see Blackwood again. Prior to that, the Devils lost Scott Wedgewood to waivers when the Arizona Coyotes claimed him.

That leaves them with Jon Gillies and Nico Daws/Akira Schmid in net. None of them have been able to really play well. Gillies is the closest thing to acceptable, but he still only saves about 89% of the shots against him. His goals saved above average is about even. That’s fine. However, his -6 goals saved above expected (per Money Puck) cannot be acceptable to anyone.

So, what can the Devils do now? There are surprisingly a few options. They can either trade for a distressed asset like Mikko Koskinen, they can wait for the Olympics to end and sign one of them, or they can wait until the end of the college season and sign a player from that pool. The latter option there leaves the Devils with this current situation for another month.

The Devils still want to win games this season. Lindy Ruff is trying to save his job, Tom Fitzgerald is trying to look competent to the owners, and the fanbase is losing interest/patience. How will they sell season tickets for next season? There isn’t another Dougie Hamilton move in the works, and the goalie situation is still in flux. They have to figure something out in net, and they’d be smart to see if they can do it within this season.