The New Jersey Devils aren’t playing well right now. They aren’t playing terribly, but they’ve lost three games in a row, all in regulation and all at home. It’s a terrible stretch that saw the Devils go from fighting for the top spot in the division to fighting to keep their playoff spot in place. They currently sit in the second Wild Card while the other Metropolitan Division teams keep winning.
Meanwhile, the Devils are looking for answers. It’s been an issue since Jack Hughes went down with his bizarre hand injury. It’s not only Hughes. Evgenii Dadonov and Zack MacEwen are also injured, while Stefan Noesen and Paul Cotter have struggled in the lineup. Luke Glendening and Juho Lammikko are tanking the fourth line, although they were good on Wednesday against the Dallas Stars.
It’s not that the Devils have been terrible in the past three games; it’s that something is incredibly off with them. It’s almost like they have lost some confidence in themselves, and other teams are taking advantage.
Fans could see it against the Stars. The Devils were playing stride for stride for the first 30ish minutes. Then, the Stars scored. The Devils didn’t play well after the Stars scored, and they allowed them to score two more after that, eventually winning 3-0.
Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe addressed the issue in the postgame, saying he “didn’t like” how they played after the Stars scored.
"We we're essentially lifeless (after Dallas scored) I thought. We had our looks. Didn't make good on them. We made a couple mistakes in the second period, and their best players made us pay for them, as they did in the third again."Sheldon Keefe, Devils head coach
It’s become a theme for the Devils with Hughes out of the lineup. When trailing by one since November 15th, when the Devils announced Hughes’s injury, the Devils have only scored two goals. They’ve allowed seven according to Natural Stat Trick. Only the Detroit Red Wings have allowed more in that time, and they’ve scored seven while trailing by one.
When trailing by any number of goals, the Devils have allowed 12 goals against in the past 10 games. Nobody has allowed more in the entire league.
The Devils dig themselves holes, and instead of buckling down and coming back into the game, they let other teams build bigger leads. It’s a serious problem. Something is wrong with this team's mentality.
Why would the Devils play a different game when they are losing? Why does the other team’s goal going in change how they play? Does it have something to do with how Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom are playing?
Whatever it is, it’s up to Keefe and team leadership to figure it out. No more taking the foot off the gas. No more allowing teams to score goals in bunches. Playing the same game they do in the first period, where they tend to play their best hockey as of late, will lead to winning more games.