1) Over the last couple weeks, the New Jersey Devils have had a heck of a time in the defensive zone. Perhaps the biggest problem has been their inability to move opposing players from the front of the net and taking away the sight lines for Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid in the process.
This has gone on for much of the season but it's been a huge issue over the last few games in particular.
So much so that John Hynes is using practice time to try and correct the problem.
#Devils coach John Hynes working a lot at today's practice on defensive box outs.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) December 5, 2016
This is encouraging to see as in recent games you'd think the Devils laid down welcome mats in front of their goaltenders.
Schneider is one of the best in the league and Kinkaid is a pretty good backup. If the defense clears sight lines for them they'll stop a lot of pucks.
2) Over the last few years, the Devils have always been at or near the bottom of the league in 5 v 5 offense. GM Ray Shero went out of his way to address this by adding the likes of Taylor Hall, P.A. Parenteau, and Beau Bennett, among others.
So far there has been noticeable improvement as the Devils currently rank 17th in 5v5 goals per 60 minutes played. Some notable teams they rank ahead of in that regard: St. Louis, Chicago, Anaheim, Dallas and San Jose.
Offense isn't a problem for this team right now and we know the goaltending will correct itself over time. If the defense can step up this is a playoff team.
3) Yohann Auvitu seems to take a beating on social media because he's a very noticeable player (at both ends of the ice) and any time he makes a mistake it looks really bad.
In saying that, he has been a definite bright spot this season and the good has more than out-weighed the bad.
At 5 v 5, the Devils generate more shot attempts and scoring chances per 60 with Auvitu on the ice than any other defenseman. In the same game state, the Devils allow fewer shot attempts and scoring chances per 60 with Auvitu on the ice than any other defenseman. More importantly, Auvitu ranks 1st among Devils' defensemen in goals for per 60 and 1st in goals against per 60.
This isn't an opinion. These are facts. Regardless of how it looks, the Devils continue to get great results when Auvitu is out there.
Obviously playing sheltered minutes against softer competition helps his cause but he has no say over deployment. He is taking the minutes he's given and making the most of them.
After Damon Severson and Andy Greene, who have shown fairly well playing the toughest minutes, I think Auvitu has been New Jersey's best and most important defenseman.