The New Jersey Devils are going to be without defenseman Brett Pesce and center Cody Glass for an extended period of time, which, by extension, removes two of the team's best penalty killers from a unit that is currently top-10 in the NHL.
Prospect Seamus Casey, who only recently returned from an injury of his own, is an exciting player, but he's hardly a plug-and-play replacement for Pesce.
With Casey, Simon Nemec, Luke Hughes, and Dougie Hamilton in the lineup, two-thirds of the Devils' defense is comprised of offensively-oriented players.
Casey drew in for Pesce for the Devils' game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night and, as a direct result of the depleted defense (and lackluster goaltending), the Devils allowed four power play goals. In total, they have allowed only six power play goals all season. That goes to show how low low can be when a recipe for disaster gets tossed in the oven on high.
As for Glass, things are a little more straightforward, though head coach Sheldon Keefe decided to pull the plug on another stint at center for Dawson Mercer and insert Juho Lammikko, who was also just injured, at the third-line center position instead.
Lammikko, like Justin Dowling before him, can and will be put in an impossible position to succeed, but that can't and shouldn't absolve the Devils of their responsibility for fixing the depth at that position.
If Glass's injury will take him out of commission for a few weeks or longer, the Devils may need to seriously consider making a trade of some kind.
Staying out of the penalty box is key for the New Jersey Devils to stay atop of the league standings
Tuesday's 8-4 loss to the Avalanche proves that the Devils aren't going to have any kind of sustained long-term success with Jacob Markstrom's struggles compounding a depleted penalty kill and a depleted lineup overall.
It sounds simple enough, but the only way the Devils are going to survive this stretch is with discipline. You simply can't give the Avalanche six power plays at home and expect to kill all those penalties with two true defensive-minded guys on defense.
Evgenii Dadonov should be coming back from his fractured hand relatively soon, but unless the Devils can settle things down defensively, November is looking like it could be a long one for this New Jersey crew.