The New Jersey Devils dropped their sixth consecutive home game on Thursday night as they were trounced, 5-2, by the league-leading Washington Capitals.
A few notes:
1) After working so hard to climb back into the playoff race the Devils seem ready to fall right back out of it. Having lost consecutive games in regulation they now sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and seven points out of the final Wild Card spot. The Devils and Philadelphia Flyers have played the same amount of games, too, so making up that kind of difference, and leapfrogging seven other teams in the process, won't be easy. They'll at least play some competitive games coming out of the break, but it seems playoffs probably aren't going to happen this year.
2) Despite being pulled I didn't necessarily think Keith Kinkaid played poorly. The first goal came on a terrible giveaway from Kyle Quincey. Alex Ovechkin, who always destroys the Devils, came in on a mini breakaway and went bar-down. The second goal was handed to the Caps by Jon Merrill, the third goal was tough for Kinkaid to readjust after the initial shot hit a wall and the fourth was kind of just a fluke.
That said, it was nice to see Cory Schneider come in, make some high-end stops and lock things down. That should give him some confidence coming off a poor start vs Los Angeles.
3) I went through the game when I got home from scouting duties (I was at Barrie vs Owen Sound) and was impressed by Stefan Noesen's debut. Obviously, his goal is the key highlight, but he was able to get a couple quality shots off throughout the night and he created some good chances for teammates. His best pass was probably the cross-ice feed to Pavel Zacha, which unfortunately wasn't converted on. Playing alongside Zacha and Jacob Josefson, who have been good together, is a nice spot for Noesen so hopefully he can keep it going.
4) Led by the Taylor Hall, Travis Zajac, and Kyle Palmieri, the Devils had a solid game at 5v5.
Hall - Zajac - Palmieri feasted on the Caps at 5v5. Wood again at/near the bottom pic.twitter.com/9hAeZi6BbE
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) January 27, 2017
The Devils' top unit went head-to-head with Washington's for much of the night and, despite that, they out-chanced the Caps 17-4 with Zajac on the ice. He wasn't rewarded with any points, nor were Hall and Palmieri, but that was a very good showing from them.
5) Speaking of Palmieri, it was nice to see him step in for Hall after being clocked by Brooks Orpik. I don't agree with a fight every time a big hit is landed, but Hall is the most important player on the roster and will be around for the long haul. I think defending Hall sends a good message that these guys have his back and will help him out whenever necessary.