Devils Unsung D-Man Helps Exorcise St. Louis Demons
When the Devils invaded the Enterprise Center in St. Louis on Tuesday night, they needed their own exorcist. With New Jersey winning just once there in their last 11 visits going back to 2008, the building was a veritable House of Horrors.
It took a whole team to break the spell on Tuesday, but I think a special shout should go out to a player often overlooked--Jonas Siegenthaler. The Devils defenseman didn’t register a single point in New Jersey’s thorough 4-1 victory; in fact, he was on the ice for just one of his team’s goals, Jesper Bratt’s empty netter that closed the Blues’ coffin with 3:16 remaining.
And you had to watch the highlight closely to notice Siegenthaler’s contribution to the play. St. Louis was pressing after closing the deficit to 3-1 midway through the third period, pulling goalie Jordan Binnington for an extra attacker. Devils center Jack Hughes deservedly drew high praise for winning a puck battle behind the net and finding Bratt for the breakout that led to his rush to the goal, but that couldn’t have happened unless Siegenthaler first pinned Blues forward Brandon Saad in the corner as the puck moved around.
Siegenthaler’s physicality was on full display throughout the contest, getting under the opponents’ skin with legal and maybe some extra-legal body and stick work. Many of the late-game scrums involved him and his defense partner Johnathan Kovacevic, with Siegenthaler earning two roughing minors.
Defense play, however, involves skill as well. Though St. Louis was limited to just 20 shots on goal, the Devils allowed a bit too many odd-man rushes against for Head Coach Sheldon Keefe’s liking. Several of those forays didn’t reach goalie Jacob Markstrom because players like Siegenthaler and Luke Hughes were adept in blowing up the Blues’ passes into the middle of the ice.
As noted in the MSG broadcast, the Siegenthaler/Kovacevic pairing has been an unexpected boon to New Jersey’s defensive rise since Keefe put them together during the preseason. Kovacevic was acquired in an offseason trade with Montreal ostensibly to play the role of a depth d-man, but he was clearly superior to sophomore Simon Nemec, whose waivers-exempt status made it easier for the club to send him down to AHL Utica.
Siegenthaler, meanwhile, was coming off a down 2023-24 campaign that was fraught with injuries. With his $3.4 million salary cap hit through 2027-28, there was talk that the Devils would have to move him at some point to create room for an inevitable Luke Hughes extension when he hits restricted free agency this summer. Kovacevic, by the way, is a pending unrestricted free agent this offseason.
I can’t see either going anywhere any time soon. Among the 65 defense pairs in the league that have logged a minimum of 200 minutes of ice time this season, the Siegenthaler/Kovacevic duo ranks fifth in NaturalStatTrick.com’s expected goals for percentage metric at five-on-five (Hughes/Brett Pesce is right behind them at No. 6!). Since the Devils broke a four-game losing streak on October 27, they’ve been operating with a third-best expected goals share.
And those have been hard minutes, with Keefe often matching them up with opponents’ top lines and off defensive zone faceoffs. Any point production is a bonus—each has chalked up one goal this season—because this has been a true shutdown pairing, a rarity in New Jersey since the three-Cup era.
Keefe likes to split the Siegenthaler/Kovacevic pairing on the penalty kill, with Brenden Dillon typically on Kovacevic’s left and Pesce playing with Siegenthaler. Per NST, only Vegas’ Alex Pietrangelo and Brayden McNabb have been on the ice for fewer goals against on the PK this season than Siegenthaler/Pesce (minimum 40 minutes played together). St. Louis was credited with just one shot attempt that missed the net on its sole power play on Tuesday, the Devils tenth consecutive kill covering five games.
With the win, the Devils (21-10-3) remained in second place in the more relevant points percentage ranking in the stacked Metropolitan Division but are rounding into form. The team may be known for its ludicrous speed and gifted offensive playmakers, but it continues to be defense that has fueled the surge. St. Louis was the fifth opponent in the last six games to record a shot total of 20 or fewer.
Pretty scary.