New Jersey Devils Lose Roller Coaster Game To Capitals
The New Jersey Devils dropped an absolute rollercoaster of a game to the Washington Capitals, with massive highs and lows for each team that made it quite the exciting night despite the outcome. The Capitals took a 3-0 lead followed by the Devils’ scoring four unanswered, only to be undone by another three from the Capitals, a team that has had this team’s number for so many years. However, all of those were a stronger team than the current Capitals roster.
The Good
Lindy Ruff and his assistants have done what they can. Whoever plays with Jack Hughes has been great, so after benching Timo Meier, he has given him ample time with the superstar and now he has points. Tyler Toffoli is thriving with him and Travis Green’s powerplay is top-notch. Getting the goal called back for offside kept this team in the game in the third as well despite the outcome and he gave this team every opportunity to get points.
Kevin Bahl was having a great night on the backend, and his stickwork and positioning were on point almost all the time. The best example of this was in the first when he broke up an Alexander Ovechkin-Tom Wilson 2on1 and probably stopped this team from being down by four in the first.
The team woke up in the second period once again, led by the Jack Hughes line. They scored two in just over five minutes and three in the period. Hughes was the best player on the ice like always and he makes everyone around him better including Timo Meier who is putting some points in now. The pass he made to Meier for the tap-in goal was incredible and it was nice to see number 28 make a power-forward move to just drive the blue paint. Toffoli is also on an absolute tear right now, netting another two goals on the night for five in a two-day span. If this team ever truly gets a line other than Hughes’ going, they are going to be dangerous.
Michael McLeod and Erik Haula were both 58% in the faceoff circle, while Nico Hischier was a whopping 64%. They have all been doing great this season, and having this kind of depth in the center of the ice will allow the offense to get possession early and often and shouldn’t be overlooked for long-term success.
The Middle
Special category today as the third line of Haula/Mercer/Holtz was a bit of a mixed bag. They started the game off rather strong being the only line that did anything in the first period, and they did what they could to get at a goalie in his first game early when Mercer’s pass was tipped by Haula on net. Then they followed this up the next shift by keeping a solid minute of sustained pressure, the only pressure of the period for the Devils. Unfortunately, they did virtually nothing for 40 minutes after this and the Devils need way more consistency from all but a few forwards.
Want your voice heard? Join the Pucks And Pitchforks team!
The Bad
Three goals against in the first period on eight shots for Akira Schmid was not a good start. This team’s first periods are just brutal. They have yet to score the first goal, and they can’t rely on comebacks all season. It is far past time to be awake for game time and put in a solid 60 minutes.
Jonas Siegenthaler hasn’t played great defensively this season, which is surprising since he was quietly becoming one of the better guys in the league at shutting down the other teams last season. It was a very soft and casual-looking giveaway in the first that led to the first goal being given up by the Devils yet again and in the third he started the period with a bad read that set the momentum against the team yet again and cost them the game. He only played 14 minutes on the night, and it was clear he could not be trusted on the ice this game.