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The streak is over. After allowing three or more goals in nine consecutive games, the New Jersey Devils were able to get back on track Tuesday night be allowing just two goals in their win over the Vancouver Canucks.
A few notes:
1) Before I get to anything else, I want to comment on the Taylor Hall/Philip Larsen hit. Obviously, Larsen's health is more important than anything else, so I'll begin with a positive update passed along from Canucks reporter Dan Murphy.
Regarding the hit: I've watched it numerous times and I don't think it was dirty. The result was very scary but there wasn't intent to injure Larsen. Hall stayed on his feet, didn't raise his elbow, nor did he target the head.
Hall is not a dirty player and has absolutely no bad blood with Larsen, a former teammate of his, so there is no reason to believe he had bad intentions on the play.
I think Hall was just trying to land a solid hit and when he realized he really had Larsen caught -- the latter didn't see him coming -- it looked as if he tried to hold up a bit.
It was an unfortunate incident, and something you never want to see, but these things are bound to happen on occasion with how big, strong and fast today's players are.
2) Back to the game...Yes, the Canucks are a poor offensive team. No, the Canucks aren't loaded with skilled power forwards who can make life miserable for goaltenders and defensemen trying to clear the crease. That said, I think the Devils did a much better job in their own zone last night and took advantage of a favorable matchup
Their breakouts were better, they didn't allow opposing players to post up in front of the net, and they allowed just 10 scoring chances at 5v5, which is tied for the 2nd fewest they've given up in a game this season.
3) During the game I made a comment on Twitter about how lucky the Devils were to pry free a talent like Taylor Hall, even forgetting that they paid pennies on the dollar (no offense to Adam Larsson, who is a good player) to get him.
I also posed the question: when is the last time a player with an 80+ point season to his name was traded away at 24 years of age, or younger?
I did some digging and, with the help of a few followers, found out that Dany Heatley was the last player to accomplish such feat before being traded. That trade happened back in 2005, almost 12 years ago.
Tyler Seguin is the closest recent comparable, but he was traded before he truly became a star. Everyone knew he'd become one, but he wasn't there just yet. Hall was. To see a guy like him dealt after accomplishing so much at a young age is very rare.
The Devils got lucky.
4) Miles Wood's speed is becoming a huge problem for opposing teams to deal with on a nightly basis. Over the last few games, he has drawn a couple penalties, a penalty shot, and used his straight-line speed to generate a few breakaway opportunities. He's really making a positive impact in the bottom-6.
5) Beau Bennett doesn't get much recognition but he continues to quietly play very good hockey. The Devils out-attempted the Canucks 8-1 at 5v5 with Bennett on the ice and he made a couple nice passes to set up scoring chances, including a beautiful Royal Road dish to give Devante Smith-Pelly an open look in front.
It's so nice to have guys like Bennett and Wood in the bottom-6 after years of Tuomo Ruutu, Stephen Gionta, Jordin Tootoo, Bobby Farnham and co.
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