New Jersey Devils may have ruined former player's award campaign

The New Jersey Devils made some history on Thursday night. There was some personal history, with Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes both hitting single-game career highs with five points each.

It was part of a seven-goal performance by the Devils that left the Washington Capitals in a really bad position. Prior to the game, the Caps were just three points out of a playoff spot. Today, that number is still three, but four teams are tied with 88 standings points. The Capitals would have to jump the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, and Columbus Blue Jackets to make the playoffs. 

That was true on Thursday before the Devils loss, but beating a team essentially out of it would have put them just one point behind those four teams. One more win would allow them to jump some or all of those teams. 

It wasn’t just the Capitals' standings that were hurt in the matchup. The Devils beat up on Logan Thompson, the team’s star goalie. Thompson is largely the only reason the Capitals are still in the hunt.

And because of his impact on the Capitals, many are saying that Thompson should be in the running for the Vezina Trophy. Of players who played at least 10 games this year going into Thursday, Thompson was third in save percentage. Igor Shesterkin and Scott Wedgewood are ahead of him, but neither is in the Vezina running. 

Logan Thompson's Vezina Trophy odds are in jeopardy after loss to the Devils

When looking at goals saved above average, Thompson was number one according to Natural Stat Trick. 

As of Friday night, Thompson has fallen behind 10 players in save percentage. It’s April. For one performance to have such an incredible impact on the statistics is insane.

That’s what happens when a goalie who is at the top of the league allows six goals. The real issue for Thompson is that two of the goalies also up for the Vezina, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Ilya Sorokin, passed him in the statistic (even if it’s just by percentage points). 

Thompson already had an uphill battle for the Vezina if his team missed the playoffs, but leading the league in GSAA was his ticket. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. He’s now third in the league, and fourth and fifth in the stat are Vasilevskiy and Sorokin.

Thompson is well known as a player who was in the Devils’ system before breaking out as a star. He played for the Binghamton Devils and Adirondack Thunder in 2018-19. In one AHL game, he allowed five goals and had an .819 save percentage. Still, there were signs he could be good, with his .918 ECHL save percentage.

It might be one of the biggest flubs by Devils management, but this one was by the late Ray Shero (and it’s probably something that didn’t even come across his desk). 

We’ll see what happens on NHL Awards night, but if Thompson comes out empty-handed, he’ll go back to April 2nd and wonder if that was the night he blew it.