Five takeaways from the first Todd Cordell Bowlâ„¢ of the 2017-18 season:
1) Given the Devils were missing three of their best forwards, and on the road against a playoff team, I thought they played a pretty game.
Calgary was the better team, and ultimately deserved to win, but the Devils hung around for the entirety of the contest and consistently found ways to answer every time the Flames took a lead. Even in the shootout, they wouldn't go down without a fight.
I think they have to be pretty happy with a point and should feel pretty good about themselves heading into Tuesday's game against a scorching hot St. Louis Blues team.
2) Nico Hischier was terrific last night and undoubtedly one of the best players on the ice. He was flying through the neutral zone, always had the puck on his stick, set up teammates for several excellent looks, picked up a couple assists and a team-high five shots on goal, led all Devils forwards with a 63 Corsi For%, and played a career-high 19:16. He made a big mistake turning it over to Calgary's top line, which cost them a goal, but he was otherwise fantastic.
3) Another game, another quiet night for Pavel Zacha. I don't want to get on him too much because he is just 20-years-old, still has a lot of room to grow, and didn't force anyone to take him at 6th overall, but it's getting pretty hard to make an argument he was the right choice there.
Ivan Provorov and Zach Werenski were taken with the next two picks and look like Norris-caliber defensemen for division rivals. Mikko Rantanen was taken in the 10-spot and already has 20 more points plus 73 more shots, and Mathew Barzal, a guy I really hyped up and wanted at 6th overall, has 12 points in 13 games and leads the Islanders in 5v5 chances.
I'm by no means writing off Zacha, but it's going to be tough for him to reach the levels some of these guys are already on.
4) Taylor Hall continues to stay red hot as he scored a goal and posted a team-high six scoring chances last night against the Flames. He's now up to 13 points and 34 scoring chances over his last games, which is truly incredible production. With his play at the level it is, he is almost single-handedly leading the Devils to at least a point on a nightly basis. He's playing at a level no Devil has been at since Ilya Kovalchuk (sorry) in the 2011-12 playoffs.
5) Miles Wood, my man. What is up with skating 100 miles per hour throughout the entirety of every game and coming in as slow as slow as a turtle on penalty shots? It's failed twice now. Maybe try something else.
Wood during 5v5 play: darts around the ice at 100mph
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) November 30, 2016
Wood during a penalty shot: comes in slow as a tortoise
Recent Posts …‹Devils lay an egg, get trounced by Oilers