The New Jersey Devils have made a habit of playing down to competition this season and that was the case again on Tuesday night.
As a whole the Devils have enjoyed more success than anyone would have expected but they've left a lot of points on the table to teams they should beat.
The Devils are 0-5 on the year in games against current bottom-5 teams (Colorado, Columbus, Carolina, Calgary and Edmonton) and have put forth some of their worst efforts against those teams.
They weren't bad against the Avalanche but they certainly weren't at their best and by the time they found their game they already spotted the Avs a couple goals.
Some thoughts on the loss:
1) I'm not sure why John Hynes elected to leave Cory Schneider in the net when the Devils had an offensive zone faceoff down one with about 1:30 to play in the game. The Devils ended up winning the draw and definitely could have used the extra attacker out there. By the time Hynes pulled Schneider there was only 35-40 seconds left and the Devils never really got set up in the offensive zone. Maybe pulling Schneider earlier wouldn't have changed the outcome but the Devils would have had a better chance of scoring playing a man up for 90+ seconds.
Hynes has done an excellent job behind the bench this season but I think this particular situation could have been handled better.
2) I really liked what I saw from Damon Severson against the Avs. He was physical, moved the puck efficiently, had a couple shots and drove possession all night long. Severson logged more than 19 minutes of ice - all at even-strength - and had a game-high plus-11 shot attempt differential to boot. He's really starting to come around.
3) Speaking of Severson his days on the power play appear to be done - at least for now. For the second game in a row he didn't see a second of ice on the man advantage while John Moore played 2+ minutes on the top unit. The Devils failed to score on their two opportunities but they did get some quality chances.
4) Another note on the power play: I don't love Andy Greene on the second unit and it has nothing to do with his play. He plays a ton as it is and I don't think any more minutes need to be piled on his plate. I know power play ice isn't nearly as taxing but it's not like the Devils don't have any other weapons on the back end.
5) Cory Schneider continues to do Cory Schneider things. On a night where he fought a few pucks and looked shaky by his standards he still managed to stop 23-25 (.920SV%) and kept the Devils in it until the final buzzer. Schneider has posted a .920 save percentage or better in 13 of his last 14, which is downright insane.
6) For my money Travis Zajac was one of the best players on the ice. He won a handful of puck battles, used his size to protect the puck, had four shots on goal and was second in the game with a plus-10 shot attempt differential at even-strength. This while playing about half of his 5 vs 5 minutes against Nathan MacKinnon's line. Impressive.
Prospect Updates
1) Mackenzie Blackwood was one of two goaltenders - Mason McDonald (Calgary) being the other - invited to Team Canada's World Junior selection camp. This, of course, means that barring an injury he will play for Team Canada.
Both goaltenders will undoubtedly get some playing time but one would think Blackwood will be the starter. He's started 23 of 25 games for the Barrie Colts thus far and leads the OHL with a .930 save percentage.
2) John Quenneville was one of 17 forwards invited to Team Canada's selection camp. I don't know that he's a lock but I'd be pretty surprised if he doesn't make the team.
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