The bruised and battered New Jersey Devils were in Colorado last night looking to rebound from a tough loss in St. Louis the game prior.
They didn't exactly get the result they were looking for, though, as they were on the wrong end of Calvin Pickard's first NHL shutout.
Notes:
1) I've seen a lot of people talking about the Devils' lack of effort as the reason they're not getting results right now. I don't think that is the reason at all.
They were a very offensively challenged team to begin with and they're currently without Mike Cammalleri, Jiri Tlusty and Jacob Josefson, among others.
They simply don't have the depth to replace those guys even though Cammalleri was the only one consistently producing. I mean, you're not going to get much offense from Jim O'Brien, Paul Thompson, Stefan Matteau and co. They're doing the best they can but they simply don't have the talent to make meaningful contributions at the NHL level.
The Devils have to continue playing their low-event style and tough it out until they get some bodies back.
2) Joseph Blandisi made a couple mistakes but still played a solid game. He had a pair of shots and finished in a tie for 3rd on the Devils with a plus-3 shot attempt differential at even-strength.
He also did a nice job of creating space for himself in tight situations.
Some real nice moves from Blandisi here. Uses stops/starts to create space for himself. https://t.co/0hPB9NsVow
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) January 15, 2016Blandisi turned the puck over a couple times but that will happen when a creative player tries to make skilled plays with the puck; especially when said player is still learning the NHL game. As a whole there's been a lot more good than bad and he's given plenty of reason to be optimistic about his future.
3) I thought Tuomo Ruutu really struggled against the Avs. He couldn't keep up with their team speed and turned it over several times in the neutral zone. On one occasion it led to an odd man rush that the Avalanche capitalized on. He's had a good NHL career but at this point he doesn't bring much to the table for the Devils.
4) Marc-Andre Gragnani has taken Eric Gelinas' spot in four consecutive games since being recalled. Gelinas dressed as the 7th defenseman against the Avs but logged less ice and had to take some shifts at forward. I think that says a lot about what John Hynes thinks of him as a player.
5) Stefan Matteau did not have a hit, did not have a shot, finished negative in possession and logged less ice than any other Devil. That's not going to help his case to remain in the lineup.
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