A few notes from New Jersey vs New York:
1) Once again the Devils had a goal called back and many are pointing to that as a big reason their losing streak extended another game. While it surely played a role, I don't think the refs are to blame for the loss. The Devils are. They worked their way into a fantastic position and had numerous opportunities to win the game, or put it away, and they shot themselves in the foot over and over and over. Up two goals late in the 3rd? They blew that. Then they were handed a golden opportunity to win it with a 4-on-3 power play in overtime. They butchered that, too. Nobody would shoot the puck and the team's best player, Taylor Hall, was parked in front of the net rather than running the offense, which made little sense. Then the shootout came along and the Devils sent out Brian Boyle and Brian Gibbons for pivotal shots. I know the shootout is a crap shoot (no pun intended) and sometimes depth guys are surprisingly successful in that area, but with the game on the line I want to take my chances with the 1st overall pick, or a guy with five straight 44+ point seasons, and a $4.58 million salary, shooting. Live and die with the top players.
2) Taylor Hall was yet again the best player on the ice and I don't think it was close. He scored a beautiful backhand goal, hit a trailing Will Butcher to get another started, and finished with game-highs in shots and scoring chances with eight and 10 respectively. For perspective, no other player had more than five shots or six chances. Hall was spoon fed almost 24 minutes of ice and he certainly made the most of it. Unfortunately, another great performance was wasted.
3) Miles Wood banged in a rebound goal on the doorstep, made a nice drop pass to get the Hall goal started, fired five pucks on net, had five scoring chances, and posted a +3 chance differential at 5v5. He did that while logging less ice than every Devil aside from Blake Coleman. Wood continues to be a very efficient producer at 5v5 so I think it'd be smart to up his usage a little bit and see how he responds.
4) Boyle has had a really nice season but he certainly didn't have his best game vs the Islanders. His line was routinely hemmed into the defensive zone when he was on the ice and it resulted in a couple goals against. He also bobbled the puck and didn't even get a shot off in the shootout. That kind of thing can happen to anyone so I'm not going to rip him for it, but it kind of just summarized his afternoon.
5) Like any player, Damon Severson has his faults but he's at worst the 2nd best defenseman on the team. There's no reason for him to be healthy scratched twice and then finish 5th among blue liners in ice during his return. He makes mistakes sometimes, sure, but the good outweighs the bad and there's plenty of evidence to prove it. Play the guy.