The New Jersey Devils played their best game of the preseason against the New York Islanders on Wednesday night but once again they left the ice without a win.
They were far from perfect but there were certainly positives.
Some thoughts:
- Damon Severson may have been the best Devil on the ice in this game. He looked very poised with and without the puck, his positioning was solid and he always seemed to be in control.
Look how effortlessly he shut down what could have developed into an odd-man rush.
Damon Severson is not allowing anyone or anything to get by him. https://t.co/P9C7W4ASS4
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) September 23, 2015I think he's going to take the next step towards stardom this season.
- I also thought Jon Merrill played an excellent game. He logged almost 27 minutes of ice and was getting it done at both ends of the rink. He didn't register a point but he had three shots on goal and had a team-best +11 shot attempt differential at even-strength.
- Sticking with the young defensemen I was also impressed with Eric Gelinas. Everything he did was with authority. He was involved in a couple scrums, had a couple solid hits and almost every outlet pass he made was firm and on the tape. He looks a lot more controlled this year and his positioning in the defensive zone is much better. Thus far he hasn't over-commited the way we've seen in years past. Hopefully that continues.
- Lee Stempniak just might be playing his way onto the team. He played almost 15 minutes last night and 4:30 of his time on ice was spent killing penalties. Clearly head coach John Hynes trusts Stempniak and is willing to use him in defensive situations. On top of Stempniak's good work on the PK he was a 61% possession player at even-strength and also chipped in offensively with a goal.
No offense to Jim O'Brien but I really liked the read Stempniak made prior to his goal. He was on a 2-on-1 and saw O'Brien was with him. Rather than passing up a good shot in order to feed O'Brien, Stempniak simply took it himself, grabbed his own rebound and stuffed it in on a wraparound. That was a smart play from a smart player.
- If you told me prior to the game each team would have five power plays but Reid Boucher would play 15 seconds on the man advantage and a hair less than three minutes on the penalty kill I wouldn't have believed you. That turned out to be the case, though, and Boucher actually looked pretty good on the PK. In saying that I'd definitely want him out on the man advantage as his shot is probably his best asset.
- I wouldn't read too much into Stefan Matteau's low time on ice totals. Both games he has dressed in have turned into special teams battles and he doesn't play on the PP or PK. It's hard to get him ice when only 2/3 of the game is spent at even-strength.
- Tyler Kennedy had a solid game but once again there were blemishes. He was good in possession, had three shots, four hits and the OT goal that didn't matter. On the other side of the coin he once again struggled to stay disciplined taking two minors. He needs to cut down on those.
- I wasn't overly impressed with Vojtech Mozik. He made some good outlets but in the defensive zone he was a train wreck at times. He was easily pushed off the puck on New York's 2nd goal and was caught out of position several times throughout. He did make some plays in the offensive zone but the Devils have enough blue liners that can contribute offensively. If he wants to play his way onto the team he's going to need to be able to hold his own in the defensive zone.
- Pavel Zacha played 5:30 on the power play and started 75% of his shifts at even-strength in the offensive zone. Despite that he had just one shot on goal and had a negative shot attempt differential. John Hynes couldn't put him in a much better position to succeed and, though he wasn't bad, Zacha had almost nothing to show for it. He's going to be a very good player one day but he's simply not ready.
- I know it's only preseason but the Devils are 0-3-0 and have lost by an aggregate score of 10-4. They've also scored just one goal at even-strength. That's not very encouraging.
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