The Devils have lost three of their last four games and some concerning trends are showing.
The Devils are giving up a lot of goals. The Devils have allowed 14 goals in the last two games, and not surprisingly, have lost both games. In the Devils last three losses, the Devils have allowed four or more goals each time. For a team that made it a mission to improve defense and goaltending over the off-season, allowing so many goals so frequently early in the season is a highly concerning trend. The best way to look at that is Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce haven’t played yet so the Devils haven’t played their best possible roster yet. But even still, the Devils are allowing opponents to have tons of time and space in the devils zone, which is a recipe for disaster at any level of hockey, let alone the NHL.
At even strength, the Devils are not pressuring the puck carrier. This leads to the opponent being able to hold the puck for extended periods of time in the the Devils zone and find opportunities. The Devils are supposed to be a fast team, they need to be more aggressive on the puck to cause turnovers. No NHL team can just sit back in the defensive zone the way the Devils do an expect to be playing hockey in April, May, and June. I am nor judging the Sheldon Keefe era on just nine games. However, this team desperately needs to start playing with a little bit of urgency. They cannot keep allowing the opponent to control the puck and dictate the pace of play and expect to win games. This season is starting to slip away early.
When it rains, it pours. I don’t even want to praise Jack Hughes for getting his second goal of the year on a sweet breakaway. I’m not really even excited about Timo Meier scoring two goals tonight. Stefan Noesen has 9 points in 9 games, and I’m not really pumped about a bottom six forward exceeding expectations. The offense isn’t exciting to me right now because no team can score enough to win when they are giving up seven goals per game. The Devils have scored 10 goals in the last two games and lost them both. That shows that nothing matters until the Devils can figure out a way to keep the puck out of their net.
It really feels like it’s happening again… Another season wasted by missing the playoffs because they can’t keep the puck out of the net. I don’t want to overreact too early, but the Devils are not off to a good start so far.
The Morning Skate 