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1) Taylor Hall is well ahead of schedule in his recovery and is expected to return to the lineup within the next day or two.
That is pretty much the best possible news for the New Jersey Devils. They have lost three consecutive games and, though they've had no trouble scoring of late, it seems like they've sacrificed their defense for offense in Hall's absence.
Hall won't right all the Devils' wrongs but when he is on the ice the Devils have controlled 58%(!) of the scoring chances and generally spend a lot more time in the offensive zone than defensive zone when he is on the ice. It's tough for opposing teams to score when they're forced to defend.
2) Miles Wood looked like a completely different player than the guy we saw to start the season. In his first few games, he was hesitant, didn't use his speed to his advantage and looked like he was trying to avoid mistakes rather than to make things happen.
Last night in Winnipeg it was a different story. He was darting around the ice like he had his hand pressed down on the speed burst button in an old NHL game and it caused the Jets all kinds of problems. He drew a penalty, a penalty shot, had several excellent chances and potted his first career goal.
He was rewarded for his efforts by getting a shift as the extra attacker late when the Devils were pressing for the tying goal. It was the best effort of the season for a bottom-6 player, in my opinion, and will earn him at least another game or two to continue proving himself.
3) I'm assuming Jacob Josefson was benched for taking a penalty but I don't really agree with the decision. As a whole, his play has been sort of disappointing on the year but he deserved more opportunity last night. In his six minutes and change the Devils out-attempted the Jets 10-1. They were almost exclusively in the offensive zone when Josefson was on the ice so I don't think benching him sends the right message. He was playing well.
4) Over the last few games, I've had a lot of people complaining to me about the play of Cory Schneider. Some have suggested giving Keith Kinkaid a few starts in a row to give Schneider some time to regroup. I don't think that's the right thing to do.
Schneider may not be at his best right now but it's not as if he is a disaster and is costing the team games. The Devils have, in large part, played poor defense in front of him. Last night, for example, Schneider allowed three goals on 29 shots and probably wasn't at fault for any of them.
On the first goal, Dustin Byfuglien and Damon Severson were battling for position in front. As you'd expect, Severson (like any other player in the NHL) had a tough time moving Byfuglien out of the way. As such Schneider was forced to fight through traffic on the initial shot, but he made the save.
After the initial shot, Byfuglien played the puck over to the side where Mark Scheifele, the NHL's 2nd leading goal scorer/point getter, was left with ample space and time to shoot with lots of net in front of him.
The second goal was more of the same. Jacob Trouba was battling with Travis Zajac in the slot but managed to get the puck to the net. After Schneider made the save, both Kyle Quincey and John Moore decided to go to Andrew Copp to ensure he didn't bang in the rebound. They were successful in doing so but there was one problem: they left Blake Wheeler, he of 95 points in his last 107 games, wide open on the doorstep. Shockingly, he was able to convert.
On the third goal, Patrik Laine was coming down the wing with speed. Jon Merrill tried to poke check Laine and prevent a shot from getting to the net but he actually deflected it top shelf.
Schneider's numbers in that game (sub .900SV%) would suggest he was the problem but that is simply not the case. I'm not sure anyone could look at those goals and think the results would be any different with Keith Kinkaid between the pipes.
Schneider has been an elite goaltender for years and there's no reason to believe that has changed. Stick with Schneider, play some better defense and the numbers will be there.
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