5 Things We Learned From Devils’ Season-Opening Back-to-Back

#1. The Hischier line has just been plain bad

There’s no way around it, and there’s no way to sugarcoat it: Nico Hischier’s line has not been good for a single minute so far. As a unit, Hischier, Timo Meier, and Dawson Mercer have been out-attempted 18-26 through two games. Against the Coyotes in particular, they produced only five shots and conceded nine. It’s not good enough, simply put.

For the entire preseason, Hischier and Meier were paired up with Alex Holtz, and at times, Ruff wasn’t their biggest fan. Naturally, Ruff swapped Holtz with Mercer prior to the game against Detroit, and they managed to get even worse. The bottom line is this: if Hischier and Meier weren’t good with Holtz and they haven’t been good with Mercer, it might be time to split them up altogether.

None of these three are bad players – far from it – but this combo just isn’t working. The Devils desperately need offense (and defense) from their top guys, but instead, they get lifeless and uninspired shifts that usually result in the puck dying along the boards. Rinse and repeat for the shifts that follow.

Only the coaches know what they see in practice and in the games, but the only thing that matters is the score when the clock hits 00:00. The game against the Coyotes was a winnable one, penalties notwithstanding. The Devils brass cannot allow this trend to continue much longer than this.

*Advanced stats used are credit of Natural Stat Trick

Again, this is a small sample size, but the Devils do need to solve this puzzle. New Jersey just won’t win many tough games, with three of their best players idling in second gear.