Sheldon Keefe has been a solid coach for the New Jersey Devils so far in his debut season. Unfortunately, one glaring issue with him is that his team has not played 60 minutes in the most recent games. The last games showcased this, as the Devils, while up 2-0 and then 2-1 against the Blue Jackets, got outshot most in the third period, but thanks to Jake Allen, they won.
The following game against the Flames on Thursday showed how badly this constant issue of not playing 60 minutes has affected them. The vibes were great after a significant first two periods, which featured goals from Paul Cotter, Erik Haula, and Nico Hischier. While Jacob Markstrom did give up a goal to Matt Cornato in the second period, as long as they learn their lesson from that game and play well in the third, they’ll get the win.
Do you know what they ended up doing? It's the same thing they did in the game against the Blue Jackets. The Flames played much more physical and outshot the Devils for the entire 3rd period. While Jacob Markstrom did all he could, he slowly started letting goals in, and it began when Connor Zary barely squeaked a puck past Markstrom. Later, Daniil Miramanov tied it up, and following that goal, a turnover led to a Jonathan Huberdeau goal to give the Flames the lead.
The New Jersey Devils blew it against the Calgary Flames because they stopped playing at 40 minutes
While Markstrom does get criticism for allowing all those goals, Sheldon Keefe deserves just as much criticism. Keefe’s team got outshot for not only the second straight game but also failed to call a timeout after the Zary and Mirmanov goals.
Calling the timeout late after the Huberdeau goal is entirely unacceptable. This kind of coaching is the same kind of coaching that has been losing the Devils games in January and February. What game will it take for Keefe to finally put a solid game plan together where the team plays 60 minutes? Well, after this game, Keefe finally must get it together.
This loss will be the most significant lesson learned through all of these games played so that the Devils will perform better and lock up a playoff spot. If the Devils miss the playoffs, this loss and the other losses that the Devils didn’t put up a 60-minute effort will be a significant talking point in the offseason.