Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils: What Must Improve In Game 2

By Luke Garrison

Apr 18, 2023; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) battles with New Jersey Devils left wing Miles Wood (44) and defenseman Ryan Graves (33) during the first period in game one of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 18, 2023; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) battles with New Jersey Devils left wing Miles Wood (44) and defenseman Ryan Graves (33) during the first period in game one of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tuesday night was not what the New Jersey Devils and their fans hoped to see coming into the first game of the playoffs. The team didn’t look ready, struggled to keep up with the New York Rangers, and overall played awful.

It didn’t look like the Devils team that went 3-0-1 against the Rangers in the regular season. With the Devils’ lack of experience in the postseason, they could easily get swept in this first round. With Game 2 on Thursday, the Devils hope that will not happen. To win Game 2, here are a couple of the biggest problems the Devils had in Game 1 that must get fixed.

Make the Special Teams Work

When the Devils went on their first powerplay Tuesday night, they could’ve scored early to gain momentum. Unfortunately, the first powerplay and the other three powerplays looked incredibly bad. They couldn’t find any puck movement or gain any zone time. Even when the Devils did take shots, they got blocked or pushed wide of Igor Shesterkin.

The powerplay was so bad they had 0 shots on goal on all four powerplays. That’s unacceptable, especially since the PP can be enormous in the playoffs. So, in practice for Game 2, they find new line combinations that can work, like trying to set up Timo Meier or Dougie Hamilton. Also, passing the puck repeatedly instead of shooting it doesn’t work. Trying to find ways to get a shot on the PP would be a big difference in Game 2.

Most people know by now that the Rangers’ power play is deadly. Two of the five Rangers goals came with the man advantage. Both goals were scored by Chris Kreider. While they would kill off the other three powerplays, it’s still a bad sign.

So the Devils must try to find the puck as quickly as possible and clear it, or try to go shorthanded if they make a mistake. Putting Yegor Sharangovich on the PK changed that. Sharangovich can fight hard for pucks on the PK. Putting pressure on guys like Chris Kreider and Patrick Kane could also help.

Play Simple, Don’t Overthink Everything, and Get Pressure on Igor

The Devils clearly overthought simple plays, especially in the Rangers’ zone. A great example of this was Dawson Mercer in the 2nd period. Mercer had a great chance to shoot a puck while skating toward Shesterkin but instead decided to pass it. That happened a couple of times, impacting other players.

They focused too hard on finding the perfect play, which doesn’t work, especially with how good the Rangers’ speed is if the Devils turn over the puck. If they can just shoot on great chances whenever they have them, they could get a couple of goals going their way that could affect games.

It’s no secret that Igor Shesterkin is a fantastic goalie in the playoffs. But Shesterkin pretty much sat back for 40 minutes of the game. With the Rangers getting pressure on the team, nobody on the Devils could put pressure on him until the 3rd period. So they need to fight past the solid Rangers defenseman and get pressure on Igor. The way to do that is to get other guys involved.

While Jack Hughes played well, he was the only one on the team trying to pressure the Rangers netminder. Ondrej Palat is a guy who knows Shesterkin and played well against him, so he needs to try to get shots past him. Jesper Bratt is another guy who could really step up and play well against Igor. Getting most of the team to try to shoot the puck at him would show that this team that played well in the regular season will try to fight for goals. Doing this would change the way the Devils play in the series.

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