Five notes from New Jersey vs Florida:
1) All things considered, that was one of the worst performances we've seen from the Devils all season. Florida entered last night's game 29th in the NHL – ahead of only Arizona and Buffalo – and were missing two of their best wingers in Evgenii Dadonov and Radim Vrbata. Despite being a struggling, undermanned team on the road, the Panthers came out and absolutely dominated the Devils for the first 40 minutes of the game. They didn't just control play, they dominated. After two periods, the Panthers had a 31-10 lead in the shot department and a 30-12 lead in terms of chances. The Devils played a very strong 3rd period but you can't show up for 20 minutes and expect to come away with a good result. The Devils got what they deserved last night.
2) Nico Hischier scored a nice goal in the 3rd period to extend his point streak to three games and also drew yet another penalty, moving his penalty differential up another peg to a league-best +11. There weren't many positives last night but his play was one of them.
Nico Hischier.
— Devils Insiders (@DevilsInsiders) November 28, 2017
Game Changer.#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/8FGDiNLe19
3) Steve Santini played tough minutes (again) but the Devils were absolutely crushed when he was on the ice (again). How bad are we talking? Well, the Panthers out-chanced the Devils 16-5 in the ~13 minutes of 5v5 play Santini was on the ice for. This has been happening each and every night. I know he's a young player, and the Devils are asking a lot, but this has become problematic. I think the Devils are starting to pick up on that, too, as his usage has quietly been reduced of late. Santini played 20+ minutes 10 times in the first 16 games and came within five seconds or less of reaching that plateau twice. He has played 20+ minutes once in the last six.
4) Some of Santini's ice has rightfully been shifted to Damon Severson, who has been excellent since being sat for a game a few weeks ago. He continues to do a good job of moving the puck and getting it heading in the right direction and his defensive play has been steadier as well. He's getting it done at both ends right now. Last night, for example, Severson had a plus-6 chance differential at 5v5 in a game where many on the team no-showed.
5) I loved seeing some bite from Taylor Hall but he has to pick his spots a little better moving forward. The Devils can't afford to have their best player in the box for two minutes while trailing late in the 3rd period. I'll give him a pass this time, though, because he's been a monster this season and is by far the biggest reason the Devils are sitting atop the Metro Division.