It was another disappointing night for the New Jersey Devils on Saturday as they lost to the Ottawa Senators 3-2. The final score did not indicate how that loss felt. The Devils were down for most of the game, and they deserved to be. Ottawa scored the first two goals of the game within 33 seconds of each other early in the second period, and not even Jesper Bratt's record-breaking assist could save the Devils from a disappointing night.
The loss came down to multiple factors, but the defense had one of its worst periods in a long time. They just couldn't stop a soul in the second period, and the Senators were doing pretty much whatever they wanted to after the first intermission.
This is a unit that's missing Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler, but this is also a unit that added Brian Dumoulin and Dennis Cholowski. Neither helped them on Saturday night, but the goat of the unit (the bad kind) seemed to be Johnathan Kovacevic.
It all started in the first period when he was the proponent of yet another delay of game penalty. This is the third time this season he's illegally sent the puck over the glass, and it's the second time in March. After that, his game didn't exactly evolve.
He was on the ice for a goal against, the David Perron tip that ended up being the game-winning goal and the back breaker for the Devils. Kovacevic didn't realize Perron skated behind him in front of the net. Nico Hischier tried to cover him, but he still got a tip on the puck into the net.
After the game, Kovacevic was critical of the team's play. Devils' head coach Sheldon Keefe was not a fan of his remarks and had some of his own.
.@GabeCTrevino: Kovacevic just mentioned to us that the team needs to have a “playoff mindset” going down the stretch —
— Trey Matthews (@treymatt4) March 23, 2025
Sheldon Keefe: Kovacevic just needs to play better. That would help…
*Ends press conference* #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/McuwJqcu4j
Sheldon Keefe had harsh words for Johnathan Kovacevic after the loss to the Senators.
That... is one way to end a press conference. Keefe has been very open and honest about his thoughts on his team's performance. None of the players have been vocal about their issues with it, if they even have issues with this. Keefe has been honest, and Kovacevic does need to play better.
Without Jack Hughes in a lineup that already struggled to score, the Devils need their top defensemen to step up in a big way. With Siegenthaler and Hamilton on the shelf, Kovacevic should be the next man up, and he hasn't. He's been somewhere in the middle when he needs to play like a top defensive defenseman in this league. Since Siegenthaler went down on February 4th, Kovacevic has been on the ice for as many goals for as against, according to Natural Stat Trick.
That's not terrible, but it's also not anything to go home about. The Devils needed him to step up,and he hasn't. He's not the number one culprit by any means, but he's in the discussion for guys who fell off. There's still time for him to turn this around, and maybe Keefe's comments will light a fire under him. Only time will tell.