If you're itching to see some March Madness, look no further than Timo Meier. For the second straight season, the 28-year old is turning on the jets during this month as the Devils seek to lock in a playoff spot.
In his Devils career, Meier has proven to be streaky -- but just two seasons removed from his career-high 40-goal campaign, his performances in March are a flash of the goal-scorer he can be. He's tallied five goals and two assists in the nine games played this month so far to hit the 20-goal plateau for the seventh time in nine seasons.
What makes this trend so notable is that Meier scored just one goal in all of January and February this year. Similarly, last season, he had two goals in the first two months of the year before exploding for 13 goals in 15 games played in March. Of his 48 goals scored over the last two seasons, 18 of them have come during the third month.
That's certainly not for lack of effort, though -- Meier is second only to Jack Hughes in both shots on goal and shot attempts on the Devils. With 428 total shot attempts on the season, that's a whopping 101 more than Jesper Bratt, who has the next most among Devils forwards. It was only a matter of time before Meier started hitting the back of the net again.
You may be wondering, what's different in the last nine games that Meier has begun to produce more offense? For one, Sheldon Keefe has found a line that clicks. Previously, Meier has been shuffled around in the Top 9, going from the third line to first and back. He was paired with Dawson Mercer and Justin Dowling at one point and even tested on the top line with Hughes and Bratt.
Timo Meier is at his best in March, but is there a reason why?
Now, alongside countryman Nico Hischier as well as Stefan Noesen, Meier is getting another chance to skate with the unit he's had the most success with all year. That trio has performed well with a Corsi-for of 55.2% while racking up 62.4% of all high-danger chances while on the ice together per Natural Stat Trick.
On an individual level, Meier is simply generating more opportunities for himself and his teammates this month. His 30 SOG leads the team in that timeframe, and 28 scoring chances are good for second-most behind Hischier. Perhaps most importantly, Meier has created four rush attempts to lead the Devils in an area where the team has struggled recently. Compared to the previous nine games played, there's been an increase in every single one of those categories.
Taking a look at last year, it was more of the same. Meier led the Devils with 58 SOG in 15 games, creating 53 scoring chances, of which 23 were high-danger.
"Just simple things like taking a puck to the net is going to get rewarded if we keep playing dirty and keep frustrating them," Meier told MSG analyst Rachel Herzog on Monday.
The Devils are 12-7-0 in games when Meier hits the net, including two GWG this month alone. With seven games left to play in March and 13 to go in the season, all eyes are on Timo to finish strong and help lead the Devils confidently into the postseason.