The New Jersey Devils kicked off the 2022-23 season with a whimper. The team lost to the Philadelphia Flyers who are no doubt going to be in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes as one of the worst teams in the league. While it is only one game it is still disappointing to wait half a year for a game that can best be described as either meh or a replay of the last season.
The Devils were the better team for most of the game but weren’t getting any great scoring chances. They didn’t turn it on until the halfway point of the third period when they stacked the top line with Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Yegor Sharangovich. Hopefully, Nico Hischier is ready for the home opener and the team has 2 lines that can push the play because they really need more scoring and can’t rely so heavily on the two play drivers as much this season.
The Good
Tomas Tatar actually looked like the player he was in Montreal and Detroit. He might not have ended the night with a point, but he showed some fire. After his hot preseason, there is some reason for optimism.
John Marino and Brendan Smith looked solid as a third pair. Even though they were minus, they made some smart defensive plays and Smith had four hits. They looked like a big upgrade from the Ty Smith and P.K. Subban pairing from last season. It will be something to keep an eye on moving forward. The hit or push on Smith at the start of the game was brutal too and could easily have been a major penalty. It was a relief to see he was ok though his shoulder will probably be taking a lot of ice in preparation for Saturday’s game.
Alexander Holtz scored his first NHL goal and had what I think was his best game as a Devil. He had 4 shots and some of the best chances on the team on top of being noticeable in a positive way.
The Bad
Mackenzie Blackwood still isn’t up to snuff. It might be harsh for game one, but with an .883 save percentage and the fact he was saved by the post 3 times, there is no other way to put it. It just looked like the same old player we have seen for the last two seasons. He has lost the goodwill of the fans already, so if he doesn’t turn it around by the 20-game mark this team might need to get a backup if they don’t want to play Vitek Vanecek for 70 games.
The Devils as a whole need to push the pace more and earlier in the game as well. This team is built to score goals and that is something they have said for years. Play fast with skill and put the puck in the net. They have the firepower to do it finally but they failed to utilize it against a soon-to-be bottom-feeder team. Hopefully, it was just a small bump in the road however and it is only one game but the home opener is against another non-playoff team so the Devils need to put up a better effort before it’s an issue.