Five observations from New Jersey vs Montreal:
1. A get right game Heading into last night's contest, the Canadiens had lost nine of 12 prior games. They were tumbling down the standings even further and their lineup reflected a team focused on giving kids experience and looking forward to next season rather than one desperately trying to win now.
On the other side of things, the Devils had dropped five of seven and their position in the standings was slowly starting to become uncomfortable.
Last night seemed like the perfect opportunity for the Devils to get back on track and they did just that.
They were in control from start to finish and seven players – including some who had been struggling offensively such as Travis Zajac, Brian Boyle and Will Butcher – had multi point games.
Other than taking their foot off the gas a little too early, which is easy to do when leading by so much, there really wasn't much to complain about.
2. Getting to the net The Habs dressed a very young, inexperienced defense core and the Devils were able to take advantage of that.
They had no problem getting the puck into high-danger areas and lived around the net. As is often the case when that happens, they were rewarded with a bunch of goals. There's no better way to break out of a slump than driving the net and putting home some garbage.
3. Will Butcher's shooting For the first time since December 23rd, Butcher recorded a multi-point game. It wasn't because of slick passing breaking out of the zone or good puck movement while quarterbacking a power play, but rather because he shot the puck.
In three games prior to last, Butcher took one attempt at net. One.
Against the Canadiens, he recorded four attempts and both of his assists came as a direct result of putting the puck on net.
He is a pass first guy, and there's no problem with that, but sometimes you just have to shoot when there are lanes available.
4. Defend the crease better The good news: the Devils had no problem taking the puck to the net and causing havoc around the crease.
The bad news: neither did the Canadiens, especially late.
They generated their fair share of quality chances in tight and got right into Keith Kinkaid's kitchen on numerous occasions.
You don't want opposing players running over your goaltender at the best of times. You especially don't want that happening if your No. 1 goaltender, who has fought injuries all year, is in there. The Devils have to make sure they clean that up – even more so if Cory Schneider gets the next start, as expected.
5. Ben Lovejoy struggled For the most part, Lovejoy has been pretty good in a depth role this season. He was anything but good last night. Whether he was skating with Butcher, or rotating alongside Andy Greene, he spent the vast majority of his time chasing play in the defensive zone.
At 5v5, the Devils were out-attempted 22-4 with Lovejoy on the ice. That's good for a 15.38 Corsi For%, which was by far the worst on the team.
Oddly enough, Lovejoy's struggles were magnified when out against Montreal's 4th line. In ~5 minutes against them, the Habs had an 11-1 attempt advantage.
Everyone has off nights but that was a strange game to have one.
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