It's been a tough start thus far for the New Jersey Devils as they try to find their footing in the early going. With a limited pre season, some of the new faces in Jersey have struggled to gel out of the gates. The defense has also shown some alarming signs of inconsistency and regression, however it's once again scoring that has been the biggest issue.
Similar to last season the Devils have good to great underlying numbers in nearly all categories yet the most important part, the results, are not there. With only two wins against NHL peasants in the Flyers and Canucks, New Jersey will face a tough test this evening as the rejuvenated Ottawa Senators and noted Devils killer, Linus Ullmark bring their 4-1 record to The Rock.
Over the years Ullmark has had the Devils number, posting a 7-1 record, a 1.89 GAA and a .939 SV% in his last eight starts versus NJ. In addition Ullmark is on an absolute heater to start this campaign, winning all four of his starts and posting a 1.35 GAA and a .942 SV%. For a Devils team that is still looking to find their way, this couldn't come at a worse time.
Keys to the game
- Start on time: The Devils are yet to score the first goal in any game this season. For a team that struggles to score, trailing early and often only makes it a more difficult task. Go get that first goal!
- Get traffic on Ullmark: 44,37,33,37...those are the Devils shots on goal for their first four games. 2,0,3,4, those are the goal totals over that stretch. Just 9 goals off of 151 shots is not enough. There have been too many easy first saves, little traffic, little chaos in front of opposing net minders. Have they gotten goalied? Maybe. You cannot control at what level the opposition plays, but you can make it more difficult. What makes it more annoying is seeing teams league wide putting up four to six goals nightly with shit totals in the teens and low twenties. For Example; the 5-2 Rangers have 23 goals in their last 6 games on just 139 shots...that's 12 less shots and14 more goals in just 2 more games played.
- Wear down and injured Ottawa D-corps: With both Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub out for Ottawa, the Devils must use home ice to their advantage and match the top two lines with Ottawa's bottom two pairs on the back end.
- Nico Daws: This is as big of a second game to a season as it gets for an NHL goaltender. Daws had an awful debut in the Devils house of horrors that is UBS earlier this month giving up six goals in a 6-0 loss for NJ. While he did make some good saves, there was not nearly enough. Daws needs to be near perfect in this game to avoid the threat of being jettisoned to the AHL in favor of waiver wire pickup, Remi Porier.
Well let's hope NJ can finally solve Ullmark, and if not they best bounce back in Detroit on Tuesday...