Tuesday night’s performance by the Devils against the Lightning was the worst performance of the 2024-25 season so far. Despite being 5-3-1 just nine games into the season, fans across social media seem to have their frustrations get the best of them and have already compared them to last year’s team. It’s elementary to understand why, with the entire 2nd period, Brandon Hagel scored a hat trick in 6 minutes, allowing Victor Hedman to get two, and then in the final period, allowing a shorthanded goal where Jake Allen did not even try to save it, as well as giving up eight goals and not bothering to put Markstrom in the game. This game, however, isn’t the only issue fans have; they are fed up with being dominated at home every time they play an opponent, where the team gives little effort every night. It seems like fans will shift the blame to Sheldon Keefe, claiming the team feels underprepared for every home game. However, I fully believe the fans must be patient with Sheldon Keefe.
Let’s look at the differences between Lindy Ruff’s and Sheldon Keefe’s tenure as coaches here. Keefe is a very stubborn coach, just like the fans. He doesn’t like losing and isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind. Like any other coach on a new team, his system takes time to learn, and while fans want results now, it makes sense to wait because the team isn’t complete yet. Sure, he had injuries and poor goaltending with Lindy, but Lindy didn’t seem to know what he was doing with the roster last year. Remember, he put Timo Meier out of his natural position and was criticized for it.
Remember that Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce must still return to the team, so I don’t think it’s fair to criticize the defense because we aren’t at full strength. Also, remember that the Lightning were playing an angry kind of hockey because they gave up four goals against the Maple Leafs the previous night, which forced Andrei Vasilevskiy out of the game. Sure, the Devils did have two days off and should’ve been the better team in that situation, but clearly, the Lightning wanted the game more, and it showed. If you want to argue that Keefe should’ve put Markstrom in the game, that’s a fair point. However, the Devils did try to get back into the game, putting up two more goals by Nathan Bastian and Timo Meier. However, the momentum did shift due to a poor goaltender interference penalty, and the Devils should’ve been a four on 4 in the faceoff because Jonathan Kovacevic did get high-sticked on that faceoff, which led to the PP goal. So, it seemed clear that Keefe wanted to keep Allen in because of the momentum the team was getting.