New Jersey Devils Sneak An Overtime Win On Long Island
The New Jersey Devils had a slow week and time to figure out the few things that were not working early in the season. While they did get two points against the New York Islanders on Friday night, not a lot changed for good or bad. The Islanders tried to play the same game it feels like they always have, defensive, gritty, and hard-hitting. They were able to match the Devils and even out-compete them a fair bit of the time despite the apparent skill gap on the rosters. They have a solid culture of always competing and props to them for playing that way always.
The Good
The same guys are getting it done for this team. Jack Hughes had two goals two assists, Jesper Bratt had three assists, and Dougie Hamilton popped in another goal for three on the season. These guys are carrying this team offensively and driving the play like no one else. Hamilton had seven shots and Hughes had six which combined for 33% of the team’s total. Not a lot happens offensively without these three contributing in some way.
Luke Hughes made a bad play not getting the puck out and giving the Islanders a virtual free goal since Brendan Smith had unfortunately been caught stickless but overall he is figuring it out slowly. His shot on the point was really nice and he is adjusting to the game. We all know defense takes time and it is good to see he is getting some respectable minutes 5v5 and on the powerplay.
Micheal McLeod was all over the ice and showed off his speed and hustle all night. With Erik Haula down, McLeod had to play up in the lineup and did a good job then with Nico Hischier down he had to fill in a bit more and you could see the effort in his game.
The powerplay is on fire. Going 4/5 was insane. They felt like they could score every time they were a man up and this whole year it has held this team’s offense together. The two-unit setup felt a little weird compared to most teams loading one unit up and playing them for 1:30 most times but this split setup has worked phenomenally and Travis Green should be given a ton of credit.
The Bad
Nico Hischier did not finish the game and he took two pretty big hits. Even before that, he has not looked like himself this season. He plays the game hard, but it might be time for someone on the coaching staff to tell him to back off on the corners a little bit more and to watch out for the opposition. This might be an unpopular opinion, but he keeps getting crushed out there, and the smaller guys on the team have been able to avoid it. Hischier needs to do a bit of the same or he is going to be playing banged up all the time. Neither he nor the team can afford that.
Timo Meier… What to say about this guy right now? He got a pair of assists on the night but was terrible again and is probably about to start to get it from fans if the slow start continues, and while a point is a point, Hughes’ shot was the catalyst to that overtime goal. He was so bad he was benched the previous game, a controversial decision for sure. He was still a key member of this team playing next to the best player and getting 20+ minutes Friday night. That being said, it wasn’t clear if he got benched again because he was absolutely invisible out there after the first period.
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5v5 this team did not score a goal on the night, and 9 of its 15 goals have been on the powerplay this season. This team was a 5v5 monster last season. Yet, it is not clicking at all right now unless it’s on the Hughes line which is a weird problem to have to look at them in pre-season and the roster they have.