The New Jersey Devils blew a 2-0 lead to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and that sickening feeling in fans' guts started to return. Against yet another team with little to no playoff hope, the Devils were on the verge of losing. It was made worse when Timo Meier hit the post on a four-minute power play earlier in the game, as he just continues to be snake-bitten. He had a few other huge chances, and he was second behind Jack Hughes (who had two goals this game) with seven individual chances.
Then, Meier finally got the puck to hit the back of the net, and it came at the most opportune time possible. Meier was seventh in the shootout, going after Sheldon Keefe chose Paul Cotter, Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Jesper Bratt, and Tomas Tatar to shoot before him. Some worked well (Cotter and Hamilton also scored to keep the Devils alive), but others were terrible.
Meier was anything but. He ripped a shot so beautiful that no goalie on Earth could stop it. This showed why the Devils gave up so much to get Meier in the first place. There are only so many players on the planet who could rocket a shot like this:
TIMO MEIER WINS IT IN THE 7TH ROUND OF THE SHOOTOUT pic.twitter.com/OtwZ7rFgtm
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 5, 2025
Meier has been on the cusp of a breakout for a while now. When looking at individual xG on Natural Stat Trick, there are the same amount of players above Timo Meier as there are goalies with better statistics than Martin Brodeur. Meier leads the entire NHL with 14.94 ixG. Only Zach Werenski has more individual chances at even strength in the entire league. This isn't including the power play, it's just at even strength. Meier playing this well should result in another 40-goal season.
The breakout has been on its way for a while now, but this goal is going to be what gets Meier from the advanced to statistics to counting statistics.
Timo Meier is about to break out after his shootout game winner on Tuesday night
While the Devils have been struggling to score, there is a lot of it that can be attributed to bad luck. Meier might be at the top of that list. He's always been a streaky scorer, but he's been consistent in his impact without the results. He had just one goal in January, but he did record eight assists.
We expect February to look more like December for Meier, where he had six goals on the month. Obviously, the 4 Nations Face-Off break will impact that, but we think Meier could go crazy this month after this shootout goal. Even though he doesn't get an actual stat on this, it should build his confidence. That's all he needs to finish on his incredible chances.