1) There were a lot of positives for the New Jersey Devils in preseason. Perhaps none hold a candle to the level of goaltending they had, especially given concerns about the position heading into the year.
Cory Schneider was nothing short of spectacular from start to finish. He stopped 118 of 124 shots, good for a ridiculous .952 save percentage.
Four games is four games but this comes on the heels of two great months to end last season, and a solid outing at the World Hockey Championships to follow.
Schneider has looked really good for a while now and the numbers are certainly back that up.
Mackenzie Blackwood hasn’t gotten as much fanfare but I also think he played well. His .912 save percentage doesn’t pop off the page, however, five of the six goals he gave up were on high-danger shots. It’s not like he was getting beaten by wristers from the point.
If we look at 5v5, where most of every game is played, Blackwood’s numbers (.933SV%) look a lot better.
Yes, this is a small sample size against inconsistent competition. With that said, I think we can all agree that what we saw is a lot better than Schneider and Blackwood getting shelled and heading into the season with no confidence.
2) John Hynes has talked Matt Tennyson up a fair bit over the last few days. He’s clearly been impressed by Tennyson’s camp and, honestly, it’s hard to blame him. While the defenders with more lucrative contracts, and draft pedigree, entered camp with a leg up over guys like Tennyson, they’ve done absolutely nothing to separate themselves. Check that, they have separated themselves...in a bad way.
Waiver status, contracts, future outlook, etc. play a part in roster decisions, of course, but if the Devils are handing jobs to the 23 most deserving players, Tennyson should be one of them.
He's showed up while his competition, well, hasn't.
numbers via naturalstattrick.com Recent Posts My thoughts on McLeod and Bastian getting cut