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Devils 4, Penguins 2: Five observations from a much-needed win |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
Five observations from New Jersey vs Pittsburgh:
1. Taylor Hall carried
Last night was a friendly reminder of just how dominant Hall is when he’s on his game. With the Devils’ season heading south in a hurry, and Nico Hischier out of the lineup, they needed a monster performance from Hall more than ever. And he provided it. Hall was involved in *everything* from start to finish. He picked up a primary assist on Travis Zajac’s goal the opening shift of the game. He put the puck on a platter for Damon Severson in the high slot on the 2nd goal. He scored the eventual game-winning goal. Then he capped it all off with an empty-net dagger while defending the lead in the final minute of the game. Beyond the four points, Hall led all Devils forwards in Corsi For% and shot contributions at 5v5. It was truly one of the best individual performances you’ll see from any player all year long.
2. Damon Severson continues to impress
It’s a ton of fun watching Severson play these days. He has so much confidence in himself right now and he’s earned the freedom to take chances and activate whenever he sees fits, which is a lot. It felt like he was a 4th forward on many shifts. He was always up on the wall to try and hold pucks in. He didn’t hesitate to drive the net to set himself up for a shot or pounce on a rebound, either. His reward was two more points, both of which came at 5v5. Among all defenders, Severson ranks 3rd in 5v5 assists and tied for 2nd in 5v5 points. He’s playing fantastic hockey and providing a lot of offense for a team that could really use it.
3. Pavel Zacha held his own
I thought he was pretty good in his return to the lineup. Only Hall and Marcus Johansson recorded more 5v5 shot contributions. He finished above 50% in possession. On the PK, the Devils did not concede a high-danger chance in almost two minutes with Zacha out there. It’d be nice to see him find the scoresheet but that’s still a pretty good performance.
4. Sami Vatanen took care of Evgeni Malkin
In my preview post, I suggested John Hynes and co. stick Vatanen on Malkin if they were going to hard match vs anyone at 5v5. They did just that – and it worked. Vatanen and Malkin went toe-to-toe for almost 11 minutes. In that time, the Devils won the shot attempt battle 13-5 (72.22 Corsi For%) and did not give up a single high-danger chance. Those are fantastic numbers considering Malkin is one of the toughest players to match against in the NHL. Vatanen’s assignment probably helps explain why he wasn’t involved in much offensively at 5v5. You don’t want to take many chances vs Geno.
5. The 4th line provided nothing
Most Devils played well last night but not everyone was perfect. In particular, I thought the 4th line struggled at 5v5. They were not on for a single Devils chance in almost 10 minutes of ice and gave up a handful in that time. Simply put, it’s fair to expect more from a line that features two players (Miles Wood and Stefan Noesen) pulling in $1.75 million or more per season.
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