Five observations from New Jersey's 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres:
1. Taylor Hall picked up where he left off Hall may not be playing at 100% but he certainly looked it against Buffalo. He was darting around the ice a mile a minute and his speed made him a constant threat throughout. He was very involved offensively – nobody on the Devils recorded more scoring chances – and Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt looked completely rejuvenated with the potential Hart Trophy candidate playing by their side.
After scoring last night, Hall's point streak has reached eight games and he's tallied 13 points during that stretch. He really is a difference maker each and every night.
2. Miles Wood stepped up again I thought he looked good on a line with Pavel Zacha and Kyle Palmieri. They seemed to mesh really well together in the offensive zone and, as usual, Wood's speed took the top off the defense in the neutral zone, which led directly to the game's opening goal.
Drive to the net and good things happen! @MilesWood44 pic.twitter.com/K1o5EXa15P
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) January 31, 2018
Very few players can skate like Wood so if you hit him in stride with a pass in the neutral zone, he's going to blow by the defender and create a scoring chance. It's just a matter of whether he finishes and this year he's been a lot better in that regard.
3. Keith Kinkaid was strong Thanks in part to four more power play opportunities, the Sabres out-chanced the Devils 25-20 in this game. It didn't matter, though, because Kinkaid was fantastic.
He looked confident and in control from start to finish. He didn't leave many rebounds on the doorstep and was there to clean them up whenever he did.
Big save by @Blockaid1! #NJDvsBUF pic.twitter.com/NnlER3MY6N
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) January 31, 2018
John Hynes recently made a comment about needing better goaltending regardless of who was between the pipes and Kinkaid provided that last night.
4. The PK was great New Jersey's penalty killing has been solid for the majority of the year and that was the case again vs Buffalo.
The Sabres really struggled to set up shop in the offensive zone and any time they got a shot off it was a one-and-done situation. Kinkaid would either gobble the puck up, or the killers would hammer the rebound down ice.
According to NaturalStatTrick, the Sabres only generated one high-danger chance in their 7:55 of power play time. The Devils did a nice job of keeping things to the outside.
5. 7D is fine with me I generally prefer dressing the traditional 12/6 but I had no problem with John Hynes dressing seven defensemen vs Buffalo. In fact, I liked it. With Marcus Johansson and Brian Gibbons out, the Devils don't have 12 quality forwards. I'd rather dress Mirco Mueller, play him 13-14 minutes, and ease the workload of some others on the back end than play Jimmy Hayes and get caved in for eight of the 10 minutes he sees. Some of the extra ice goes to Hall and Wood, anyway, and I'm all for them getting out there as much as possible. Their speed makes them a threat even on nights where they're a little bit off.