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Devils show well, come up on wrong end of goaltending duel vs Maple Leafs |
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Five notes from New Jersey vs Toronto:
1) Though Cory Schneider only faced 25 shots in almost 65 minutes, I thought he was spectacular and put forth one of his best efforts of the season. The Leafs had a lot of quality chances around the net and Schneider came up big time and time again. Following a down season, many were concerned about the 31-year-old bouncing back but he's looked like the Schneider of old posting a .924 save percentage through 13 starts. He's giving the Devils a chance to win every night and that's all they can ask for.
2) The game was closer than the shot clock suggested – the Devils out-chanced the Leafs by four, which equates to about one every 16 minutes – but I think it's fair to say that was one of their better performances of late. They won the shot attempt battle at 5v5 for just the second time in 11 games and didn't have many stretches where they struggled to generate quality looks. I'll take that performance, and result, on the road against a team that will almost certainly make the playoffs.
3) The Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Kyle Palmieri line didn't get on the scoresheet but I thought they played a fantastic game. They were all over the ice and Frederik Andersen is the only reason they didn't have multi-point nights. The Devils' top trio combined for 25 shot attempts, 18 scoring chances and 16 shots on goal. If they can come remotely close to doing that on a nightly basis, they're going to be a handful for anyone.
4) Adam Henrique has not been overly good of late but he showed signs of life last night. He made a couple great defensive plays to prevent quality chances that could have led to goals and had a few good looks of his own generating three individual chances for just the second time in nine games.
5) Can we discuss how the Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy pairing has been killing it? Yes? Good, because they've been killing it. I'll be honest, I thought this pairing would be, well, bad. Butcher still has work to do defensively and Lovejoy has struggled – at times mightily – as a Devil so I didn't think they'd be a good combination. They've worked well together, though, and the Devils have dominated territorially with them out there. Are they playing easier minutes? Yes. Will it continue? Who knows, but they've solidified the 3rd pairing at even-strength – at least for the time being.
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