A few thoughts from New Jersey vs New York:
1. The Devils couldn’t defend a lick There’s bad defensive games, and then there’s whatever it is we saw from the Devils last night. They were a complete trainwreck in their own zone from puck drop until the final whistle.
New York isn’t the greatest offensive team in terms of talent but they work really hard and are driven. They will bull rush to the net. If you’re not ready to put everything into boxing out, they’re going to get there. The Devils were not ready to box out.
They also made mistake after mistake with the puck, carelessly throwing it away seemingly every time New York’s forechecks applied pressure.
It’d be one thing if it was Mirco Mueller and the bottom pieces on the team’s defense at the forefront of the mistakes. It wasn’t. Sami Vatanen and Damon Severson, who actually entered play with pretty good results together, made some truly terrible plays that they paid the price for. Both were on for three goals against and they finished last and second to last in expected goals against.
When your top defensive pair gets absolutely shredded like that, even when going against bottom-6ers, it should be no surprise the outcome was so poor. The Devils set season highs in chances, high-danger chances, and expected goals against. All while spending zero (0) seconds shorthanded.
If we isolate just 5v5 play, the Devils gave up 39 Grade Bs, 23 Grade As, and 3.65 expected goals. Their previous highs in that game state were 36 Grade Bs, 13(!!!) Grade As, and 2.97 expected goals.
The Devils can thank Mackenzie Blackwood for even getting the team a point.
2. Blackwood is a baller Speaking of No. 29, I couldn’t be more impressed with him right now. Blackwood is starting essentially every game, continually facing ridiculously difficult workloads, and still keeping the Devils in competitive night after night – even when they don’t deserve to be.
The Islanders may not be the Tampa Bay Lightning but I’m pretty sure facing 41 shots, with a *ton* of them coming in the home plate area, is still crazy difficult. Blackwood stopped 37 and kept the Devils around until the final buzzer.
He also made some out-of-this-world stops, including one where he stretched out entirely to make a save at the far post while looking in the opposite direction and gushing blood out of his mouth. The guy is a beast.
Good luck to him at his next dentist visit. I’m assuming it won’t be pleasant.
3. The Nico train keeps rolling Another game, another eventful outing for Nico Hischier. Geico’s favorite hockey player, like almost every Devil, had a tough game in terms of 5v5 on-ice numbers but he was still very impactful offensively. Nico fought through a ton of contact while powering his way to yet another beautiful goal.
Nico Hischier is a man's man.#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/xJrM3Ob22t
— Devils Insiders (@DevilsInsiders) January 8, 2020
He also picked up a primary assist and finished tied for the team-lead in shots *and* scoring chances.
Nico is up to 18 points over his last 21 games.
4. Jesper Boqvist is getting there I thought he played one of the more eventful games we’ve seen from him in a while. That’s not necessarily a knock on him – he’s just a kid and routinely stuck on the 4th line.
At any rate, he showed some encouraging flashes. There was a nice burst of speed shown racing to an Islanders’ puck carrier, picking his pocket, and driving to the net for a chance. There were also a few good looks generated off the rush where he was able to really step into shots. Unfortunately, I think they all just missed wide. Baby steps, baby steps.
5. A true miracle Andy Greene had a tough night. By the eye it felt like he spent a ton of time chasing play in the defensive zone and the numbers certainly back that up. He was on for 30 Islanders attempts, and 16 chances, against at 5v5. Crazy! What’s even crazier: the Islanders didn’t convert on one of them. Somehow, some way, Greene finished with a positive goal differential despite being hemmed in for much of the night.
numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com Recent Posts Midseason Vezina Trophy picks