New Faces Plus New Season Equals Same Old Devils
I resisted the urge to pound the Devils after Thursday’s 5-2 opening night loss in Philadelphia. It was just one game, right?
After a second 5-2 defeat? To another club (Detroit) who is expected to be among those tanking for prime lottery position for the rights to presumed No. 1 prospect Connor Bedard? Who was playing on a back-to-back? In the Devils’ home opener?
Sorry, the gloves are off.
What we’ve seen in—yes—only two games is the Same Old Devils for all but one of the last ten years. Flubbing glorious scoring opportunities on one end. Mismanaging (i.e., coughing up) the puck on the other end. A powerless power play. Substandard goaltending. Murdered in the second period. Inexcusable losses piling up.
All the positive vibes from an offseason of upgrading talent throughout the lineup and a 5-2 preseason—gone, in a flash. Welcome to New Jersey, Ondrej Palat, Erik Haula, John Marino, and Vitek Vanecek. You’ve never gone through anything like this.
It took about 25 minutes of Saturday’s game action before the “Fire Lindy” chants from the nearly sold-out crowd became audible in their appeal to management to make a coaching change from Lindy Ruff, who never deserved a third season in New Jersey.
With his lease intact, Ruff was free to make sure his line combinations made little sense. Since when did Tomas Tatar, notorious for blowing golden opportunities (his four preseason goals meant zilch), prove himself worthy of playing with elite playmaking center Jack Hughes for over 13 minutes, including two minutes of power play time, per NaturalStatTrick.com?
Hughes, who has yet to register a point after scoring 56 in 49 games last season, needs snipers on his wings. Yet 24-goal scorer Yegor Sharangovich played all of 3:46 with Hughes after getting demoted before the game to the fourth line along with rookie Alexander Holtz, who skated on Hughes’ line for much of training camp and netted his first NHL goal in Philly.
Heck, even Fabian Zetterlund would have been a better option than Tatar. All that kid does is put up points—Zetterlund points per 60 in his 15 games as a Devil: 3.13, Tatar in 78 games: 1.43. Saturday’s time on ice (Zetterlund was a healthy scratch in Game 1): Tatar 14:57, Zetterlund 9:40.
Another of Ruff’s inexplicable favorites, center Michael McLeod, was given a whopping 3:59 of ice time. Why bother dressing him? So he could lose three of his four faceoffs? The Devils never even attempted a shot in his two minutes of five-on-five action.
The Devils did pepper the Detroit net with 39 shots, but it’s hard for me to say that they made Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic look like Dominik Hasek when I couldn’t really pinpoint any saves that required unique athleticism or reflexes. New Jersey’s expected goals for, per NST, was 3.49. Mostly, the Devils shot pucks into Nedeljkovic’s equipment.
Or into Detroit defenders. For a second straight game, the Devils’ opponent blocked at least 20 shots. If only Ruff could get the same buy-in from his boys—the Devils have finished last and in 25th place in blocked shots per 60 in Ruff’s two full seasons and have started the season averaging just 10 blocks per game, tied for the league’s second-lowest average. There have already been a few longer-range shots that have found the back of the Devils’ net which might have been prevented with more sacrifice from the skaters in front of the goalies. Big wing Nathan Bastian, the team’s leader among forwards in blocked shots per 60 last season, did not dress on Saturday. His large presence could also have been helpful on New Jersey’s dreadful power play since no one on the two units has the size to take away the opposing goalie’s eyes.
As for the Devils’ goalies, nothing’s changed there as well, except so far this season injuries can’t be used as an excuse. Neither Mackenzie Blackwood nor Vanecek could come up with the big saves when needed in their starts. Among the 52 goalies who have played so far, they rank 42nd and 51str respectively, in goals saved above average.
As left wing Miles Wood complained after the Philly loss, “In the past we’ve had a snowball effect where we were piling up the Ls. It’s not ok.” He called Saturday’s game ‘a must win.” Oh well.
Wood contributed with a goal to tie the game at 2-2 in the second period, but then the Devils surrendered two more before the horn sounded to put them at minus-5 on the season in the period with the long change. New Jersey was a 30th-ranked minus-31 in second periods last season, so again, nothing’s changed.
You can argue that it’s just two games, but what has this group shown you that makes you believe they can right the ship? Though it’s beyond warranted, I’m not sure that even a change behind the bench will do the trick. The losing is so ingrained into the culture, it may take a full blowup to eradicate it.
It’s a shame. New Jersey, in its 40th year, once worked its tail off to rid itself of the Mickey Mouse label to become a three-time Cup-winning model. They’ve since reverted to being entrenched among the also-rans. It doesn’t matter that very offseason it seems like the Devils should be getting closer to competing with the big boys. Until they prove otherwise, they continue to look like they’re stuck in place on the ice.