The New Jersey Devils hosted the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night and, for the seventh consecutive game, left the game without two points.
James Neal scored a pair of goals in the 1st period to put the Devils behind the 8-ball early and, unlike the last time these teams met, the Devils had no answer.
A few notes:
1) Cory Schneider is not playing his best hockey right now. Not even close. I'm not excusing him from that, but when a player is struggling he needs his teammates to make things easier on him, not more difficult.
The Devils are giving up odd man rushes like it's their day job, and screening Schneider on almost every goal he gives up.
Take Filip Forsberg's goal, for example. How is Schneider supposed to stop a high-end shooter with three players directly in his sight line?
Hard to stop what you can't see pic.twitter.com/st6rbsbjfF
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) December 21, 2016
Schneider has been elite for years, and is paid to be elite, so at some point you'd like to see him make a save that he probably shouldn't. That said, it's hard to fault him for many of the goals he's giving up right now.
2) One thing the Devils really need to improve is their puck management, particularly in the defensive zone. When you chase play for 30 seconds and finally get the puck back you can't just throw it away. Too many times the Devils are dumping the puck out or launching it to a spot where a teammate has no chance of getting it. When that happens, they relieve pressure for five or 10 seconds and then are forced to defend again.
In one sequence towards the end of the 2nd period, the Devils touched the puck five or six times in ~90 seconds. Each touch they immediately dumped the puck out or turned it over and Nashville came right back on the attack. That's not exactly a recipe for success.
3) The play of the Beau Bennett - Pavel Zacha - P.A. Parenteau line was one of the few positives last night. Pretty much every time they were on the ice Nashville was hemmed in their own zone and the numbers certainly back that up.
It was another rough night for Henrique and Palmieri. Severson led the way on D, Bennett up front. pic.twitter.com/zj8mhgYjNO
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) December 21, 2016
I don't think Luke Gazdic should be taking any of their spots in the lineup anytime soon.
4) Kyle Palmieri is struggling right now, and seeing limited ice as a result, but part of it is simply luck related. Last season he scored on 13.5% of his shots, which was a little bit above his career average. This season Palmieri is scoring on 6.9% of his shots. If Palmieri was shooting 13.5% right now he'd have eight goals and 20 points in 30 games and be on pace for a 54 point season (he had 57 last year).
Sure, he has struggled defensively and in possession. He did last year and probably always will. If he was still scoring, he wouldn't be picked apart like he is right now.