A Pair Of Resounding Comebacks Set Devils Up For Consequential Second Half
What a way to hit the halfway point of the season.
A pair of two-goal comebacks against Eastern Conference powers Carolina and the Rangers sent a loud signal to the rest of the league that the Devils aren’t ready to fade into the pack just yet and might even stay in contention for their first playoff berth in five years. New Jersey (26-12-3) now needs just one more victory to match their total over 82 games last season.
The Devils leaned on their top guns to outlast their cross-river rivals in a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday at a raucous Prudential Center, with Jack Hughes leading the way with two goals. In Carolina on Tuesday night, it was their less heralded players who stole the show. Sophomore Dawson Mercer, who hadn’t scored in a month, netted a pair on two of the most gorgeous individual efforts you’ll see on highlight shows while Jesper Boqvist, who hadn’t registered a single point in 19 games, and stay-at-home defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler tallied their fourth and second goals of the season, respectively, before captain Nico Hischier iced the game with an empty-netter for goal No. 19.
It's been quite a ride over the first 41 games, with New Jersey racing out to a shockingly torrid 21-4-1 start before dropping eight of their next nine games, with all but one of those losses in regulation. They have since found more of a middle ground, going 4-1-1 to maintain their second place standing in the uber-tough Metropolitan Division, two points behind Carolina.
What has to happen in the second half for New Jersey to close the deal? Here are four keys:
1) Relatively good health
This is item No. 1 for just about every team in every professional sport these days. In the salary cap era, injuries often derail seasons, since it’s not like teams can go out and trade for anyone to replace missing top performers. Knock on wood, but the Devils have kept their core personnel upright in the first half. The injuries that they have sustained, such as to high-priced offseason free agent wing Ondrej Palat, solid defenseman John Marino, and hard-edged wing Nathan Bastian, have been for the most part accommodated through better depth. However, there are certain players—Hughes, Hischier, wing Jesper Bratt, and goalie Vitek Vanecek—whose talents just can’t be replicated.
2) Consistent goaltending
Vanecek has shown over the first half that he is capable of stealing games, particularly on the road, where he has gone 9-1-1. He is more positionally sound than acrobatic, so there have been times when he’s been a tad off his mark and pucks have gone through him, as evidenced by his slightly above average .913 save percentage for a team that has allowed the second-fewest high danger scoring chances in the league, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. More troublesome is that supposed 1B goalie Mackenzie Blackwood still can’t seem to stay healthy after two injury-plagued seasons--and when he has played, he’s been dependent on goal support to be on the fortunate end of five wins in his 10 starts. During the Devils hot streak, Vanecek was a top ten goalie by any metric. Over his next six starts, he was the league’s worst. With the way the Devils can dominate puck possession, they just need their goalies to play at a more average efficiency to stay in the race.
3) A more diverse power play
The Devils haven’t been awful with the man advantage this season and converted 1-of-8 power plays during these two tough games against high puck pressure teams. However, since Bastian and his forceful net front presence exited the lineup on November 26, they have ranked 21st in the league on the power play. Worse, they have surrendered four shorthanded goals against, including two in Carolina on Tuesday. As such, only five teams have had a lower goal differential in these situations. The problem is that Head Coach Lindy Riff has loaded up his top unit with four similar, perimeter-oriented forwards with defenseman Dougie Hamilton as the quarterback. Hughes’ brilliance creates instant offense by his lonesome, but a more sustainable look would include the aforementioned net front screener and an off-wing, one-time shooter. Maybe Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald can find someone with those skills with a trade deadline mentality of…
4) Buy!
For all but one season in the last decade, the Devils have been known as one of the more voracious sellers at trade deadlines. Any veteran on an expiring contract was auctioned off to the highest bidder. In the coming two months, Fitzgerald should be an active buyer. This roster isn’t complete—it could use more size and grit up front and a more reliable goalie—but New Jersey can be a scary playoff opponent with the right infusion. The Devils are in a prime position to bid on players who fit their needs given their deep prospect pool. They have all their future draft picks save for a 2023 third-rounder used to obtain Marino. Salary cap space will have to be managed, but we see contending teams up against the cap pull these moves off every year. I’m not saying that New Jersey should be in the market for someone like Chicago’s Patrick Kane, but they need to be aggressive where the fit is right. Fitzgerald should be all in on not letting this first half of the season go to waste.