The New Jersey Devils went into the season with a risky situation. They were relying on Jake Allen, who spent a good portion of his career as a high-leverage backup, and Nico Daws, whose numbers in the AHL hardly garner widespread support, as the tandem in the NHL. They did sign David Rittich and added Remi Poirier on waivers, but none of these players are at the level of other starting goalies across the league.
The hope was that the defense could keep things off their plate, and for one game, that looked like the plan. Against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Devils held an insane shot advantage. Joseph Woll stood on his head, but the Devils won in overtime thanks to some timely saves by Allen.
In that game, the Devils had 95 chances to the Flyers' 41, according to Natural Stat Trick. They led in high-danger chances, 14-5. That is the formula to win with less-than-stellar goaltending.
Unfortunately, that formula did not sustain against the Islanders and Mammoth, and Allen and Daws folded under the pressure.
The Devils defense is doing the goaltending no favors, especially Brenden Dillon
Brenden Dillon has not been good enough on the back end. Meanwhile, his partner Declan Chisholm has not been good in his first games with the Devils, Dillon has arguably been worse.
And that’s where the issues really come to a head for the Devils. He’s been on the ice for four goals against and zero goals for. Three of those goals against came on the penalty kill, where Dillon has been especially problematic, but his 5v5 numbers aren’t great.
Dougie Hamilton will be someone who is pointed to as a guy who needs to do better, but that’s just the counting stats talking. He’s been on the ice for seven goals against, but that’s on just 17 high-danger chances.
Overall, Dillon does a lot of what the Devils need. He blocks shots, hits people, fights when it needs to happen, and he at least puts a little fear into the opponent. However, all of that is erased if he is an offensive black hole.
Surprisingly, Dillon has started most of his shifts in the offensive zone (when removing on-the-fly starts entirely). And yet, the numbers show his line is getting caved in.
And let’s talk about fighting real quick. Dillon needs better situational awareness about his fighting.
On Tuesday night, he was defending Jonas Siegenthaler, who was injured on a bad hit into the boards. He fought Jack McBain in a pretty good tilt. One problem: Siegenthaler is a left-handed defenseman, and Dillon is a left-handed defenseman. That left one left-handed defenseman available for more than five minutes of ice time in a third period when the Devils needed two goals.
Of course, the Devils wanted Luke Hughes on the ice as long as possible, but he can’t put up a 5+ minute shift. That means the Devils had to play Declan Chisholm on the left, putting him with Dougie Hamilton, who was already struggling defensively.
Dillon has to be better if the Devils are going to be a playoff team this season. It’s early, but the team is going to rely on him to get him where they need to be in the standings. He’s just a third-line player, but his role is much more than that. When he has a slow start, the Devils lose.
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