The New Jersey Devils went into this week’s Western Canada road trip flying high. They were getting NHL quality goaltending from Nico Daws, which is something they had been missing all season long. That led to wins in three of their previous four games going into the game against the Vancouver Canucks. They had a ridiculous winning streak against Quinn Hughes’ team, but that ended pretty terribly on Tuesday night. Daws was pulled from the game and Jon Gillies had to come in for the first time this month.
The Devils made a comeback in the game, going down 2-0 early to see Ryan Graves and Jack Hughes score to tie it. Then, Vancouver went off and the Devils turtled. The Canucks grew their lead from 4-3 to 6-3 by the end of it. It showed a lack of finishing ability, something that has plagued the Devils all season. While the Devils got their chances, it just didn’t seem like it was their night. It happens. A team like this is going to have off nights.
Then, the Calgary game happened. It was one of the worst nights of the season for the Devils. That’s saying something. It may be recency bias, but Wednesday night’s game against the Flames was atrocious. The Flames got 65 total chances at even strength on Wednesday night. The Devils got 37. It was just total annihilation.
The Devils did get goals by Dawson Mercer and P.K. Subban to keep themselves in it early, but the dreaded second period eventually took them out of contention in this one. Sure, the Devils players might have been tired from playing a back-to-back and being on the other side of the continent. The effort still left a lot to be desired.
Lindy Ruff is back on the hot seat after this performance. The Devils showed nothing in these two matchups, and it can’t be blamed completely on the goaltending. It’s so much more than that.
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Devils fans were riding high going into the trade deadline, and most thought that the team was a goalie away for at least competing for a playoff spot in 2022-23. It’s clear that isn’t the case. The Devils need a lot if they want to be a competitive franchise in the future. At least, that’s the feeling until the Devils go on another win streak in two weeks.