Same old Devils.
For the fourth time in a row and seven of their last eight contests, the New Jersey Devils found themselves in the “L… column.
New Jersey was defeated by the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 on home ice last night, marking the fifth time they surrendered four or more goals this month. After Jack Hughes got the team an early first period lead, Vegas scored four unanswered goals (two within 33 seconds of each other).
Despite, respectively, getting power play and shorthanded goals by Tomas Tatar and Jimmy Vesey, it wasn’t enough for the Devils to mount a third-period comeback. The final nail in the coffin was an overturned goal by Jack Hughes for being offsides and an empty netter by Jonathan Marchessault—who had some choice words after the scrum that ensued in the game’s final seconds.
To offer a little perspective, the Devils were 7-3-2 on November 11, and have since gone 3-10-3. Over the last 16-games, they’ve given up four or more goals in nine of those contests, and lost by a differential of three or more six times. While their power play has been an abysmal 9.8 percent since November 11, they’ve surrendered the fourth-most goals among NHL teams over that time, and have a -20 goal differential.
The most alarming distinction in New Jersey’s performance during the season’s first month and last five weeks is how many goals they’re allowing. They were giving up 2.67 goals per game through November 11, and have since seen that number skyrocket to 3.81.
Burning Questions
Is this the consequence of having such a young inexperienced team? How much concern should we have about what’s going between the pipes? How much would this team benefit from a coaching shakeup?
What do you think?
Devils Fans Rule!
I don’t interact with Devils fans much on twitter, because Vegas never plays NJ, but I have to say they are a hilarious bunch.
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) December 17, 2021
Put Devils fans in the good column, for me at least.
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Sam Woo is co-host and executive producer of the Let's Go Devils Podcast which can be heard live every Sunday at 9pm ET and Wednesday at 8:30pm ET.
You can follow Sam on Twitter: @PrimetimeSamWoo