Devils Keefe Facing First Bout With Adversity After Second Straight Porous Outing
Despite injuries to two of his top four defensemen, Sheldon Keefe was able to ease into his new gig as Head Coach of the Devils with five wins in the season’s first seven games. Some of that was courtesy of the schedule strength, but the team did appear to be buying in to his simpler, defense-first structure. New Jersey allowed a total of just 14 goals against in those contests.
Keefe will be tested now, as the Devils have coughed up another 14 goals in their last two outings, a 6-5 overtime loss to Washington on Saturday followed by Tuesday night’s 8-5 thrashing by Tampa Bay. Both defeats were in front of antsy crowds at Prudential Center, and they may not have Keefe’s patience should that be his answer to this early bout with adversity.
One thing we learned about Keefe: He is not a fan of pulling his goalie in the middle of a game. Jacob Markstrom (minus 2.29 goals saved above average, per NaturalStatTrick.com) and Jake Allen (minus 4.29 GSAA) were each required to finish their respective rough nights, with Allen, who was marvelous in Tuesday’s first period, even allowing a goal from Tampa Bay’s defensive half thanks to an odd ricochet off the center ice side glass. (Note: I was floored that the MSG broadcasters gave Allen a pass on that one—yes, it was a once in a blue moon carom, but you don’t leave the net wide open if you can’t find the puck.)
Keefe’s explanation that he left Allen in while the Lightning blitzed him for five straight goals in the second period because he wanted to give Markstrom, his No. 1 goalie, the night off rings hollow, for New Jersey just had two days off and have another one before Thursday’s game in Detroit.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, was on a back-to-back, making it the second time this season where a Devils opponent endured a late-night travel to New Jersey from Canada and came away with a victory at the Rock the next night. The Lightning were the quicker team, beating the Devils up the ice numerous times for odd-man rushes and winning more one-on-one puck battles. The Devils five-man units did a lot of watching in their own zone (and what was Jesper Bratt doing on Jake Guentzel’s power play goal off a faceoff to put Tampa Bay up, 7-4, after New Jersey rallied with two goals in the first 5:24 of the third period?) while the Lightning defenders were the committed ones who laid out to block shots.
These last two games were inexcusable, yet there’s a tendency to simply want the team to flush them and move on. That’s the kind of accountability failures that plagued prior HC Lindy Ruff, who often excused inconsistent efforts due to the Devils’ youth.
Only this squad is not that young anymore. Defenseman Danil Misyul was making his NHL debut and another d-man, Simon Nemec, is in his second season, but the other 16 skaters all had at least three seasons of prior NHL experience. About half of Tampa Bay’s five-on-five damage came with the defense pair of Dougie Hamilton, 31, and Brenden Dillon, 33, on the ice. They all should know better.
Keefe should be concerned that this type of play can snowball and become the new normal. Simple line shuffling might not be enough to get certain players’ attention. The way to impose discipline is through ice time, possibly even removal from the lineup. It’s not panic if you see something that needs correcting and make changes.
Thursday’s contest marks the Devils (5-3-1) 10-game mark. While it’s still considered “early,” these games all count the same, and points lost in October will be rued in April. Keefe does have two cards to play first whenever defensemen Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes return to action (Keefe called it “imminent”, but that’s a relative term in the NHL). But even that won’t be enough if the Devils don’t tighten up in terms of ending plays in the defensive zone and then making clean exits; forechecking aggressively and with physicality; and tracking back hard to prevent trailers from finishing off opponents’ rush attempts.
And, to reprise an annual plea, it would be nice if these highly hyped goalies made a few more saves.
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