The New Jersey Devils had a bad game in the first of the back-to-back before the All-Star Break. Thanks to a quick strike offense, they were still close to beating the Nashville Predators. In the second half of the back-to-back, they managed to pull off the win against the Western Conference-leading Dallas Stars.
The Good
Jack Hughes scored in both games (twice against Dallas, including the overtime game-winner), had multi-point performances in each, and generated offense at a level we’ve never seen in a New Jersey Devils uniform. None of this is surprising, but seeing him without Erik Haula for large chunks of the game was a breath of fresh air, even if it probably won’t last. Yegor Sharangovich played with him for a decent amount of the game and scored an absolute snipe of a shot against the Predators.
Mackenzie Blackwood had a bad save percentage against the Preds, but his defense did him zero favors. That game would have been out of hand without him on a few occasions. He might not have been able to steal them a win, but this L is not on him. In game two, Vitek Vanecek was a monster and bailed this team out with an insane .946 save percentage. The team might have let some early goals in, but he closed the door for 45 minutes after that and is the number one reason they got points on the night.
Dougie Hamilton had a few blunders the first night but had quite the set of games, going +4 and getting himself five assists in recent weeks. He has been on an offensive tear lately, and when the game gets more intense, he steps up when it matters.
The Bad
The entirety of the defense was a sieve for stretches of both games. They were exploited countless times against Nashville. The team hasn’t allowed this many breakaways all season, and it could have been a lot worse if Blackwood didn’t make a few big saves.
The team also started very slow in both games and allowed the first two goals against Dallas. While it was 2-2 in Nashville, they had 23 shots against in the first period. That’s more than they were averaging against a game for a large chunk of the first half of the season.
All in all, it was a mixed bag between the two games. The Devils have a lot of points in games that they probably shouldn’t have in the last month and should be happy to make it to the break in second place in the Metropolitan Division. When they return on Feb 6, it is against the awful Canucks. This should put them in a good spot to push for the playoffs and get their feet going again.