Good afternoon Devils fans. In another frustrating comeback failure, the Devils lost to the Washington Capitals 6-4. Defensive woes, coupled with a poor 1st period for Akira Schmid saw the Devils go down 3-0. What followed in the 2nd was an unbelievable comeback attempt with the Devils scoring 3 in 3 minutes and 4 total to end the period 4-3. The steam built up from this was squeezed out by a terrible defensive 3rd, seeing 3 unanswered Caps goals against Vitek Vanecek and eventually an empty net.
Highlights from the game can be found below:
I’ll skip over player ratings since I wasn’t able to catch the full game. From what I saw, it was a common story we’ve seen the last few games with Jack Hughes continuing his astounding form, Jesper Bratt and Tyler Toffoli repeating strong contributions, Timo Meier still improving, goaltending and defensive inconsistency, and overall lack of strong defensive decision all around.
I’m the first one to say that the team could do better than Lindy Ruff. However, I do give him credit where it’s due with him speaking honestly and openly about the team’s struggles. Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com did a solid write up of post game comments by the head coach, who called the team “soft”, criticizing the idea of overly blaming the goalies while the whole team has done poorly to manage neutral zones and defensive clearances, and being open to lineup changes. I don’t think that should rely solely on line rearrangement. Maybe this is a time you start benching players who aren’t contributing and whose presence is negatively affecting the whole climate. There is a wealth of players in the Utica Squad in both the defensive and offensive front. Not saying we’ll become a powerhouse by bringing up players like Cal Foote, Tyce Thompson, Daniil Misyul or Simon Nemec. However, this could send a message to players that the group needs to wake up.
2. Some Areas of Improvement
I try to find the positive in losses. As a coach of youth sports, I came across the concept that “losses are lessons” and have really appreciated it over the years. Less penalties this time around was a plus with only 3 minors in lieu of 4-8 that we’ve seen over the season so far. Additionally, Luke Hughes led the team in minutes, had 3 takeaways and an assist. If he gets promoted, that could lead to Bahl bringing more of a defensive mindset to the 3rd line, especially if the Devils are to foster some type of improvement over Brendan Smith.
3. Inconsistency Cannot Define This Year
I 100% understand it is the start to the season, the Devils currently have an above .500 record, and there are some positives to take from aspects of this team so far. Knowing that, the inability of the Black and Red to put together regularly strong performances in all aspects of the ice is worrying. The save percentage of both goalies range from .863 to .900, not a good sign that the netminding or defense is particularly strong this year to start. The offense is defined so far by a legendary Jack Hughes campaign possibly beginning, strong starts to Jesper Bratt and Tyler Toffoli’s season, a good offensive year for Dougie Hamilton while he doesn’t do much defensively, Timo Meier starting to find his touch, and the rest still trying to play well on a regular basis.
The Devils (3-2-1) take on the Buffalo Sabres (3-4-1) at the Rock tomorrow night, 7 PM. Starting next week, I’ll also be adding a weekly prospect update article to see how our younger players are developing in leagues around the world. Yes, I will talk about Lenni Hämeenaho and his solid year so far.
What are your thoughts? How do the Devils adjust and start finding a better path forward?
Leave your thoughts and comments below. Raise Hell,
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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