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Five observations from New Jersey vs San Jose:
1. The Devils were out-classed
New Jersey's ceiling is a fringe playoff team and they were taking on one of the Stanley Cup favorites in a road back-to-back. It certainly showed. At 5v5, the Sharks controlled the vast majority of the game. They out-chanced the Devils 31-16 (16-9 in terms of high-danger opportunities) and were often on the front-foot even while leading.
It felt like whenever the Devils really started to push, they'd make a glaring mistake and it'd end up in the back of the net. A Sami Vatanen turnover at the offensive blue line led directly to San Jose's 1st goal, which really woke them up. While pressing to tie late in the 2nd, Taylor Hall forced a pass that wasn't there and it resulted in another Timo Meier goal that essentially put the game away.
After a strong first ~10 minutes or so, the Sharks dictated play and were deadly on the counter-attack any time the Devils started to threaten.
2. The 2nd line was horrendous
For the most part, I've liked what I've seen from Marcus Johansson, Pavel Zacha, and Jesper Bratt. The latter's return to the lineup has helped jump-start Johansson offensively and Zacha gives the line some necessary defensive skill. They were bad against the Sharks, though. Really bad. On their first shift of the game, they generated a couple good looks. That was essentially it for the night. They spent a lot of time chasing play in the defensive zone and were caved in possession-wise.
Johansson attempted all five shots he was on the ice for. Beyond him, the 2nd line combined for two shot contributions at 5v5. Two!
3. Will Butcher handled himself well in a top-4 role
He led Devils defenders in 5v5 ice and it's hard to argue that shouldn't have been the case. He was one of just five Devils to finish with a Corsi above 50% at 5v5. Butcher was also involved in anything and everything that happened offensively leading the team (by a mile) with 11 shot contributions. I really hope he gets an extended run alongside Vatanen.
4. Top-heaviness shows again
On Monday I wrote about the top line's strong performance in Anaheim and noted they were the only forwards on the team to finish with a Corsi above 50%. That was the case again vs San Jose.
Beyond dominating territorially, Nico Hischier and Taylor Hall finished tied for 1st in forward shot contributions and Kyle Palmieri created a goal with a great feed to a pinching Andy Greene. They were very good. Unfortunately, very few of the other forwards were.
5. The punching bag came through
Drew Stafford takes a lot of heat from Devils fans. Sometimes deservedly so. Last night was not one of those times. Playing for just the 2nd time in more than a month, Stafford stepped in and contributed despite limited ice. He recorded four shots, five attempts, a couple high-danger chances (no Devil had *more*) and converted one of them to give the Devils an early lead. Realistically speaking, nobody could have asked or hoped for more from him. He provided a needed spark.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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