New Jersey Devils Should Just Forget This Week Entirely
By Nick Villano
Nothing good came out of the New Jersey Devils last two games. They lost both games to both New York teams, getting knocked in the teeth by the Islanders on Friday before blowing a two-goal lead to the New York Rangers on Monday night. Monday’s game was especially frustrating because the Devils were the better team by quite a bit. They had 60% of the chances and more than 80% of the high-danger chances at 5v5, according to Natual Stat Trick.
The Devils looked really good, with Jack Hughes scoring to make it 3-1 and eventually taking a penalty shot that put Igor Shesterkin on his butt. Unfortunately, Shesterkin got lucky with his skate, and he avoided the 4-1 deficit. This led to a bad penalty call against Jonas Siegenthaler that turned into a power-play goal. Then, nobody told the Devils the next faceoff took place because the Rangers scored again to make it 3-3.
The Devils were able to secure a point, with the game going to overtime. However, the Devils once again lost a game in overtime that they blew despite controlling the game, similar to what happened against Nashville.
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This week is the worst of the Devils’ season since they lost the first two games of the season. They did have a nice performance against the Chicago Blackhawks last week, but they had pretty horrid games surrounding that one.
The best thing the Devils can do to learn from this experience is to forget it. They can’t let this creep into their minds. This isn’t who this team is. Sure, injuries are catching up to them, but they are still outplaying opponents. The Nico Hischier-Jesper Bratt-Tomas Tatar line dominates results. Jack Hughes is always the best player on the ice. The Devils need to get back to basics.
Mistakes are what destroyed the Devils in this game. The team recorded six giveaways and only had three takeaways (although it felt like there were many more on both sides). Just a boneheaded play in overtime led to the goal. Falling asleep during the faceoff led to the tying goal. A bad call led to the second goal. It is what it is. The team won’t get all of the calls. We learned that against Toronto. Just chalk it up to bad luck and move on.
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The lucky thing is the Devils play on Tuesday night, so they can take out their frustration on the Dallas Stars. Expect a quick start from the Devils; hopefully, it’s enough this time.