The New Jersey Devils set a record in Colorado on Thursday night, though it's not one they'll be proud of.
After coming from behind in the 3rd period to tie the game, the Devils and Avalanche eventually ended up in a shootout where Matt Duchene would score the winner. The Devils broke a record in the process in losing their 12th consecutive shootout.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 33-34 and both Devils shooters in the shootout en route to his 23rd win of the season.
Ryan O'Reilly was the Avs lone goal scorer in regulation, while Reid Boucher scored for the Devils.
10 notes:
1. As mentioned above, the Devils have lost 12 straight shootouts including eight this season. Not only that, but they've scored just once in 25 shootout attempts this season. That's a 4% success rate. If every shooter walked into a slap shot at the blue line, I'd expect better numbers. It's one thing to struggle, but the Devils flat out can't score in the shootout. It's stunning how bad they are.
2. New Jersey is currently one point out of a playoff spot and with two more points they'd be tied for 5th in the Eastern Conference. If they were even 1-7 or 2-6 in shootouts, which is still awful, they'd sit in a playoff position. If these skills competitions take a pretty good hockey team out of a playoff spot it'll be pretty sad for the NHL. Skills competitions don't decide winners in the playoffs, so they shouldn't factor into which teams get there.
You have the Leafs, who get outshot by about 12 shots per night, sitting in a playoff spot because they're good in shootouts (they have nine wins) while a top-5 possession team is on the outside looking in.
3. At this point Pete DeBoer may as well pick names out of a hat for shootouts. My suggested lineup for him is as follows: 1. Martin Brodeur 2. Alexander Suglobov and; 3. Ilkka Pikkarainen. If it goes to extras, work out a deal with the league and keep sending Ari Ahonen out there. Can't hurt, right?
4. Bryce Salvador has hit a bit of a wall of late and it's not pretty to watch. He had a couple brutal turnovers and spent most of his time chasing Avalanche players around in the defensive zone. I believe he was benched late in the 3rd and in overtime, which I thought was the right move. If it weren't for over four minutes of PK time in the first two periods, every defenseman would have played more than him. In a perfect world your captain isn't the No. 6 defenseman, though he's been playing like one lately. Good on DeBoer for making him sit.
5. I was impressed by Reid Boucher's game against the Avs. He didn't see a ton of ice, but he was effective when he was out there. He made a couple nice individual efforts to create scoring opportunities for himself and obviously scored a goal, as well. He's not a big guy and is pretty new to the pro game, but I think he's handled himself quite well at the NHL level. I'm not sure he'll stick around when Damien Brunner returns, but he's making a pretty good case.
6. Jon Merrill had a bit of a 'meh' start to the game, but I thought he did a good job recovering and continued to get better as the game went on. He's such a smart player and while he's not putting up a ton of points, I think he's getting better and better offensively. He has points in consecutive games and has logged almost 40 minutes in that span. I can see why he drew comparisons to Ryan Suter coming out of college.
7. Andy Greene was a positive in the possession department, had seven shots, two hits and two blocked shots while playing over 28 minutes. A lot of people barely know who he is, but he's established himself as a top pairing defenseman in this league. I still can't believe he wasn't even considered for Team USA's Olympic hockey team. I mean, how could you make a list of 18 American defenseman and not include him? Jake Gardiner, Danny Dekseyer, Jack Johnson, etc. were listed, though.
8. Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene both played excellent hockey games and gave the Devils a ton of trouble. They were all over the ice and used their speed to generate several Grade A scoring opportunities. Speed kills.
9. I have to give credit to both Semyon Varlamov. He weathered the storm in the 3rd period and overtime when the Devils threw everything but the kitchen sink at him, and then stopped both Devils shooters in the skills competition. He doesn't get much recognition, but he's quietly developing into one of the best goaltenders in the NHL.
Oh, and Cory Schneider was pretty good, too. All aspiring goaltenders should watch the tape from last night again. Both goaltenders were great.
10. To those who are still calling for Pete DeBoer's head: stop. The Devils have points in 13 of their last 16 games and are a top-5 possession team in hockey. His system is very good and the Devils' players do a good job of executing it. If they had a little more finishing ability up front they'd be among the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Prospect Updates
- Ryan Kujawinski was held off the scoresheet in a 6-3 Kingston loss to Niagara on Thursday night. He's in a bit of a mini-slump as he's pointless in his last two games, but it's nothing to worry about. His Frontenacs are back in action again tonight as they'll take on Connor McDavid and the Erie Otters in Erie.
- Ben Thomson scored a pair of goals and was plus-3 in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Barrie Colts. Thomson has benefited from a change of scenery as he now has nine goals and 16 points in 19 games with the North Bay Battalion, who are more or less the Devils of the OHL. They're a very structured team and I think they're a perfect place for Thomson to prepare himself for pro hockey next season.
- Unsigned/undrafted defenseman Brandon Devlin continues to wrack up points for the Peterborough Petes. He scored and added an assist in a 5-4 Peterborough win over Mississauga and now has 12 goals and 29 points in 42 games this season. Hurricanes prospect Trevor Carrick and potential 1st overall pick Aaron Ekblad are the only OHL defenseman with more goals than Devlin this season. Someone should take a chance on Devlin.
- I recently posted my midseason rankings for the top-30 first-year NHL draft eligible players from the OHL. You can view that here.
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