Stay Out of the Penalty Box
We've mentioned how the Devils needed to be disciplined and avoid taking many penalties to win this series. They ended up doing the exact opposite, taking four penalties in this game. The first one was a too many men penalty. Then, Timo Meier tripped Jackson Blake. Dawson Mercer also received a delay-of-game penalty for sending the puck over the glass. Finally, Timo and Shayne Gostisbehere both received penalties for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct to put the teams at 4v4. Ironically, the Devils scored their only goal of the game there.
Thankfully, the Devils' penalty kill was two of three, but the one power-play goal that Stankoven scored changed the outcome of the game. Had they not taken that penalty, the Devils would’ve been fighting hard in the third period to at least tie the game.
Bad discipline has been a problem for most of the regular season, and now it comes back to haunt them in Game 1. Physicality and discipline are essential on a team, but when your players continue to make those mistakes, it hurts in the long run. Those mistakes are how they got eliminated by the Hurricanes in 2023, so they can’t let it happen again in Game 2.
Use the Same Lines In The 3rd Period in Game 1
In the third period, Keefe decided to change the lines to get some effort finally. The lines he chose got some decent chances, like the line of Ondrej Palat, Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier. Nico was the best player on the ice offensively the whole game for the Devils, but Meier benefited from it even though he didn’t score a goal.
The second line of Erik Haula, Dawson Mercer, and Jesper Bratt also saw some chances. While the line of Paul Cotter, Cody Glass, and Stefan Noesen, and the line of Daniel Sprong, Justin Dowling, and Nathan Bastian could’ve been better, and obviously the Devils need to find a way to shift the third line without Cody Glass. Still, if they can use these lines to their advantage, they can try to get back in this series.