The New Jersey Devils had an up-and-down game against the always bottom-feeding Arizona Coyotes Sunday night. They put up a fight from the opening puck drop till the last second. Today was also a must-win like many will be if they want to catch up to the Carolina Hurricanes for the top of the Metropolitan Division. The Devils schedule becomes more difficult coming up, so they have to bank points against bad opponents. Luckily, they were able to make that happen on Sunday night.
The Good
Timo Meier had a goal and three hits in his first game as a Devil. He showed some physicality which the team needs and it was a decent start with the team though it could have been better he was the best on his line.
The Haula-Boqvist-Palat line was solid, probably the best line on the team tonight, and Jesper Boqvist had his first career two-goal game. They utilized their speed and forechecked well all willing to go to the dirty areas to create opportunities instead of just hoping things happened, unlike some past Devils lines in years past. They also had some good pressure for most of the night and were often winning the depth line matchups. It was shocking to see Boqvist in the lineup and Yegor Sharangovich out, but with his play tonight, he has earned that spot right now. This line should get a look for a few games.
The Bad
The Coyotes have literally nothing to play for. It didn’t matter. They came out flying and wanted to win, pushing the Devils hard. This is a team that should be easy to stomp down for two points, but the Devils just might have overlooked this game. It almost cost them.
The Meier-Hughes- Bratt line was negative on the night and got stuck in the defensive zone or their rushes broke up far too often. The passing wasn’t great, and while chemistry takes time it was pretty disappointing to watch.
The BMW line also had a rough night and spent more than a few shifts hemmed into the defensive zone. Bastian and McLeod threw some good hits, and McLeod is always good in the faceoff circle, but no line can be effective, spending the kind of time in the defensive end they did at times tonight. They have been hot lately, though, and can get back on track with the right effort and mentality.
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Vanecek wasn’t great again and was out of position a few times forcing himself to make some big saves he didn’t need to. He also finished the night with a .862 save percentage, and this should have been an easy game to get back on track.