New Jersey Devils Embarrassed At Home, Now Down 0-2
Once again, the New Jersey Devils came out and had no answer to their biggest rival the New York Rangers, dropping both home playoff games by a score of 5-1. The team should feel embarrassed by their play and need to completely change everything before heading to the Big Apple.
Having an opposing team chanting “Let’s Go Rangers” in your own building and “Igor” while most jerseys are blue at the end of the game is not a good look. The guys on the ice needed to give the fans something to cheer for. Even if they came up short in a hard-fought game, at least show something. Oh well. Now to the good and the bad of Thursday night.
The Good
Timo Meier was an absolute bull that was hitting everything that moved. He was looking like a guy who wanted to win badly on Thursday night and was going to try and make it happen himself. Unfortunately, it is a team game, and no one around him did a thing.
Michael McLeod takes a lot of flak from Devils fans, but his tip led to the only goal, he was 62% in the faceoff circle, had four hits, and had an incredibly tough fight with Braden Schneider. He only played 10:59, but he deserved far more with how little the rest of the team did and his heart was in this game.
Erik Haula was another guy who came to play. Even if he didn’t score, he was one of the better players on this team. Regardless of his +/-, he wasn’t at fault for a goal against and was a pest all night, getting into players’ faces and laying the body on whoever he could. He showed the playoff experience he has and played the right way.
The Bad
Where is the offense? The team has scored a whopping zero 5v5 goals this series. The only real contribution from a top-six player has been the Jack Hughes penalty shot goal. Dawson Mercer, Ondrej Palat, and Tomas Tatar have done a grand total of nothing and showed nothing in either game.
Jesper Bratt had another terrible night making one noticeable play which was the giveaway to Patrick Kane. His backcheck was lacking, and to no one’s surprise, a 2-on-1 with Patrick Kane and Chris Kreider resulted in a goal against.
Miles Wood took a stupid penalty that led to a goal against yet again. What else is there to say at this point? It is just who he is. In barely over five minutes of ice time, he hurt the team and should 100% benched the next game.
Brendan Smith drew into the lineup somehow for Jonas Seigenthaler, a high-end legit top-four guy who focuses on the defensive end and doesn’t get pushed around. Smith, of course, was physical but took a penalty that cost the Devils yet another powerplay goal against.
The penalty kill let Kreider tip in another two goals, and special teams have been the only thing that has mattered all series. After the last game, the team should have adjusted and made sure to tie him up.
So what should they do for Game 3?
Put Jonas Siegenthaler back in.
This one is a no-brainer. Pulling a top-four defender for a #7 is a stupid decision unless he is injured, but by all accounts, it looked like a healthy scratch.
Sit Miles Wood.
Miles Wood has done nothing, and they can easily replace him with Jesper Boqvist or even go seven defensemen and let Luke Hughes get in his first playoff game. This team needs goals, so why not take the risk and put someone in who can actually produce some offense.
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Consider Akira Schmid in net.
Vitek hasn’t been the problem, but this team could really have used some key saves, and the puck luck has not been with him. Either way, it would shake up the team a lot, and Vanecek has not looked as confident lately.