The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals in overtime on Saturday night. It was their return from Christmas break, and it was a much better result than they’ve become accustomed to. They’ve been playing their worst hockey in a long time, but the process was much better against the Caps.
There were a few things that went right on Saturday despite the decisions that led to a loss. For one, the Devils scored on the power play, and they did it quickly. The PP has been terrible as of late, so getting a quick goal with the man advantage should help with the confidence of that unit. Cody Glass also scored the team’s third goal of the game. They haven’t had three goals in two weeks.
However, the most important result of the night came from Jesper Bratt. After going more than a month with just one goal, Bratt scored two in one night. Bratt scored the Devils’ power-play goal, then he scored a goal in the third period to tie the game.
This does two things: show the Devils they can come from behind in the third period and show Jesper Bratt he actually can score.
After starting the season with goals in back-to-back games, Bratt’s scoring has dried up completely. He came into this game with one goal in December, and he only had one goal in all of November. Bratt has not been finishing like a superstar winger. While the analytics still have him playing well, at some point, the results must follow.
On Saturday night, they did.
Jesper Bratt's two-goal game is key to unlocking his scoring potential
Prior to the Capitals game, it was clear that Bratt’s confidence was impacted by his results. In their last game against the New York Islanders, Bratt had multiple empty nets, but he couldn’t get the puck to go in. Sometimes he was robbed by a goalie, and other times he just missed. Either way, the process was driving Devils fans nuts, and we're sure Bratt himself was going crazy.
Bratt has just under 10 individual xG according to Natural Stat Trick, yet he only has eight goals. Many believe that means he’s doing even more goals moving forward.
Sometimes, hockey is about luck. Bratt has been unlucky with the puck on his stick, and that did impact his play. He hasn’t driven to the net as much, and he is passing too often in a high-danger shooting area.
Hopefully, after scoring two goals coming out of the Christmas break will build his confidence. If that’s the case, losing the points in the standings won’t matter because Bratt will get that tenfold moving forward.