The New Jersey Devils were dominated once again. Bad special teams pushed the team to 1-7 in their last eight games. They made overtime once in that stretch, and it was the win. That’s seven regulation losses. Those losses have ended their season. It’s over.
It’s been over, but now it’s over. The loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night really didn’t change the result. It did show that the attempt isn’t even there. After a terrible offensive performance on Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres, head coach Sheldon Keefe went with the same exact lineup.
Guess what happened? The Devils scored the same one goal they scored on Wednesday.
The New Jersey Devils have shown that nothing has changed and this season is going down the tubes, wasting another season of Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.
The Devils have been the worst offensive team for months. Call it bad luck or call it bad execution, but the Devils cannot score. They get their chances, but they never get the second chance. As we saw with the Penguins' go-ahead goal, you have much better chances on the second and third try.
Who knows what the reasoning is behind the Devils doing the same thing over and over again. It doesn’t matter at this point. The issue starts at the top of the house. Tom Fitzgerald has shown he’s not one to pull the trigger when things aren’t going well. He can’t make the big trade for a goalie when Vitek Vanecek is dying out there. He can’t get the top-six forward when that hole is clear as day. He can’t fire Lindy Ruff when the season is going down the tubes and he had a chance to save it, and he can’t fire Sheldon Keefe when it’s clear it’s not a fit.
Many people credit Albert Einstein with coining the “definition of insanity,” which states that someone or something is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. However, there is no real attribution to that quote. There is attribution to this roster, however, and it falls on the lap of Tom Fitzgerald.
This team has been dreadful, and this is one of the worst seasons ever to be a New Jersey Devils fan. Our joy that came at the beginning of the season feels like it’s years ago. It might as well be. On to the NHL Draft.