Five observations from New Jersey vs Boston:
1. What the heck was that? The Devils have had to deal with some questionable officiating over the last month or so but last night's display undoubtedly takes the cake.
Error after error after error was made by the refs and, in part due to their calls, or non-calls, an otherwise excellent effort was completely wasted.
Giving Miles Wood the only penalty for a 'cross-check' extremely similar to the one Kevan Miller landed on Nico Hischier seconds prior was strange. Giving him *two* penalties for that was just ridiculous and don't even get me started on the penalty clock counting upwards. I've never seen that in my entire life.
Naturally, Boston scored on the power play to come. Some will point out Boston would still have been on the power play if Wood was given a single penalty – and that's 100% true – but a good case could have been made for offsetting calls, especially after Miller tried to initiate a fight and was giving Wood some stick work. If that was the case, the Marcus Johansson penalty never even happens.
Speaking of Johansson, the elbow he took from Brad Marchand was pretty blatant and should have been called. Not only did Marchand not get a penalty, but he was used to defend the lead in the dying seconds while Johansson, who surely would have been one of the six skaters on the ice for New Jersey, was unavailable due to the headshot he took.
What a crapshoot.
2. The Devils deserved much better Last night's game was as big of a schedule loss as you'll see. The Devils were playing in a back-to-back, their third game in four nights, and their fourth in six nights, against a very good – and rested team – in their own building.
Despite that, the Devils somehow controlled play for much of the game. Boston's chances came few and far between – they were credited with one(!!) in the final period – while Tuukka Rask was peppered with 39 shots by the bruised and battered Devils.
Given the circumstances I think it was one of the best performances we've seen from the Devils all year. They clearly out-played the Bruins in this game so to come up empty-handed is a tough pill to swallow, especially with teams around them in the standings piling up the points on a nightly basis.
3. Damon Severson was a beast With defensemen dropping like flies around him, Severson was asked to log a ton of ice (23:35, to be exact) and he handled it like a boss.
His skating was effortless, his puck movement was excellent, and he did not hesitate to jump into the play and get involved offensively.
Johansson and Zacha backhand sauces for Severson to bury.#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/GHLYopFtck
— Devils Insiders (@DevilsInsiders) January 24, 2018
Severson finished the night with a goal, three 5v5 chances, which tied him with Marchand and Nico Hischier for the game-high, and four shots on goal.
Perhaps even more impressive than his individual numbers is how severely the ice was tilted in New Jersey's favor with him on the ice.
At 5v5, the Devils out-chanced the Bruins 12-3(!) when Severson was patrolling the blue line. He was spectacular.
4. Pavel Zacha continues to impress Just a night after piling up seven scoring chances, Zacha put forth another strong showing.
He was assertive with his size in battles and he gained the Devils some extra possessions as a result. He distributed the puck effectively – he picked up an assist, and the backdoor pass he made through traffic to hit Marcus Johansson was incredible – and, as was the case with Severson, the Devils controlled play every time he touched the ice.
He finished with a game-high +15 shot attempt differential.
He's not Mathew Barzal's caliber, and he probably never well be, but he has played very well of late and he deserves credit for that. He's come a long way since the beginning of the year.
5. Dropping Nico Hischier down the lineup was smart Replacing Hischier with Travis Zajac on the top line made a lot of sense last night.
Why?
Simple: Hischier, the most dynamic forward in the lineup, almost completely avoided matching up against the Patrice Bergeron line (he played *one* shift against them).
The Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak trio is as dominant as any in hockey – they've outscored their opponents 22-4 at 5v5 this season – so it would have been a lot to ask of Hischier to slow them down.
On the other end of things, Bergeron may be the best shutdown center in the league. Without him breathing down Hischier's neck, he was able to create some good scoring opportunities.
There is often more than meets the eye when a coach makes what seems like a head-scratching move and I think this was one of those cases.