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Five observations from New Jersey vs Nashville:
1. That was huge
What a game. What a win. Given the circumstances, that's as impressive of a win as you could possibly imagine for the Devils.
The Predators are a remarkable 24-7-3 on home soil this year. Beating them in their own building is difficult to begin with. Beating them while severely undermanned at a position as important as center is pretty near impossible.
Nashville rolled out a 1-2-3-4 punch down the middle of Ryan Johansen, Kyle Turris, Nick Bonino, and Mike Fisher.
New Jersey rolled out a 1-2-3-4 punch of Nico Hischier, Brian Gibbons, Blake Coleman, and Brian Boyle.
That's a rookie in his first playoff push, two regular wingers, and a depth center. And New Jersey won.
Did they out-play the Predators? No. The Predators got the better of the chances, especially down the stretch.
Should the Devils have won? Probably not. But they did. They were in desperate need of two points and they did enough to get them both.
2. Keith Kinkaid was excellent
Nashville struggled to generate shots on target in the early going and the lone one they had over the first chunk of the game beat Kinkaid. Conceding early goals has been a problem for him all season long so it had a 'here we go again' feel to it. As has often been the case, particularly of late, Kinkaid settled right down after a rocky start.
As the game progressed the Predators created more and more scoring opportunities and Kinkaid was always there to slam the door shut.
When all was said and done, Kinkaid stopped 34-36 (.944SV%) and 4-5 in the shootout. It was easily his best start of the year and it came at a time when the Devils needed it most. Hats off to him.
3. Michael Grabner needs to get going
There were a couple moments where he resembled the guy we saw in New York but they came few and far between. He was mostly unable to generate anything dangerous offensively and the ice was generally tilted in Nashville's favor when he was out there. The Devils were out-attempted 16-5 (23.81 CF%) and out-chanced 7-1 (12.5 SCF%) during Grabner's 10:22 of 5v5 ice. He also took a penalty in overtime that could have easily resulted in the game-winning-goal for the Preds. So far the Devils are not getting nearly enough given what they invested. He needs to step up.
4. Taylor Hall was a chance machine
He failed to record a point for the second consecutive game. It wasn't for a lack of chances, though. He had just two shots on target but led the Devils in shot attempts (8) and scoring chances (7). He continues to generate a bunch of good looks each and every night regardless of who he plays with or matches up against. That's encouraging considering the Devils will play a ton of good teams over the next couple weeks. He'll have to get it done vs stiff competition.
5. Sami Vatanen continues to get it done
Another game, another point for the Vatman™. He did a nice job getting his shot through traffic on New Jersey's opening goal and was rewarded with his 14th point in 15 games. He also posted a plus-2 goal differential at evens and logged more ice than anyone in the game. John Hynes has been riding him into the ground of late and giving him assignments usually reserved for the league's truly elite defensemen. So far he's handled it surprisingly well.
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