After Watching The Latest Regrettable Devils’ Home Loss, Holtz Should Have Played More
Add the Canadiens to the list of garbage teams that morphed into Devils slayers upon their arrival at Prudential Center this season. They joined such other lottery-bound luminaries as the Coyotes, Blue Jackets, Sharks, and Ducks to have beaten host New Jersey (22-17-3) with their 3-2 victory on Wednesday night on Cole Caulfield’s rebound goal with 4:31 remaining. These missed points could easily come back to haunt the Devils in their race for a playoff berth in the wild Eastern Conference.
It's inexcusable. Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff was clear in his press conference following Wednesday’s morning skate that despite the wave of injuries to key personnel, in particular All-Star center Jack Hughes, this team had to figure out a way to still bank wins.
Going scoreless at five-on-five in their last 157:09 of game action is not going to cut it. Both Devils goals on Wednesday were scored within 51 seconds of a four-minute double minor at the start of the third period.
The tying snipe came courtesy of Alexander Holtz’s one-timer from the left circle. The 21-year old wing, New Jersey’s No. 7 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, has that type of shot.
But despite notching his 11th goal of the season and the Devils’ struggles finishing their scoring chances, Holtz received just 5:49 of five-on-five ice time on Wednesday. Over five minutes of that were on a line with minor leaguers Chris Tierney and Max Willman, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
What a waste. That’s like putting BB gun pellets in an assault rifle. You’re not going to do much damage.
Unlike during their 3-0 loss in Boston on Monday, the Devils did generate some quality chances against Montreal, which crept within two points of New Jersey in the seven-team Wild Card battle for two slots. The executions of those sequences were A) substandard, and B) typically one-and-done’s, with only a handful of rebound attempts created.
Ruff let loose some frustration when asked in his postgame media conference about why Holtz received only two more shifts over the final 18:22 following his goal, “You don’t watch the game very well,” Ruff testily responded to the reporter, one of the very few in these forums who isn’t employed by the team or the league. “If you look at the (Montreal) opportunity in the middle of the second period where he threw a puck in the middle of the ice and they got a point-blank scoring chance—in a tight game—it’s plays like that.”
Fair enough, but if Ruff were to hold all his players to account for their puck management sins, he’d have maybe two forward lines and one defense pair by the end of every game. Holtz might not be the most consistently diligent two-way forward Ruff has, but when Ruff has surrounded him with the right support, Holtz can be a plus factor.
For example, according to NST, the Devils have outscored their opponents, 8-1, in 52 minutes at five-on-five when Holtz has played on a line with center Michael McLeod and wing Curtis Lazar, two experienced players well-versed in the disciplines within their own zone. So there was no reason for Ruff to stick with the plodding Nathan Bastian in that right wing slot throughout Wednesday’s contest, especially when the Devils got behind and were being stymied by Montreal goaltender Sam Montembeault.
With Hughes out, it might also behoove Ruff to promote Holtz to PP1, where the respect his shot commands can open better passing lanes. Prior to the two-goal barrage, the previously dominant Devils power play had gone scoreless in 14 consecutive opportunities spanning five-plus games. Holtz was on the ice for less than eight minutes of those man advantage situations, per NST.
These are the kind of tweaks Ruff will have to contemplate if the Devils are going to hang tough until Hughes returns to action, whenever that will be (he’s still “week-to-week” with an “upper body injury”). Last season, Ruff had an uncanny feel for his players and which ones could succeed together. It’s why he was the runner-up for the Jack Adams Trophy as NHL Coach of the Year.
The first half of 2023-24, though, has seen the magic dissipate, and the second half didn’t start out any differently, with the Devils suffering another regrettable defeat to an inferior opponent at home.