News Devils Team Notes

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils Allow 7 Goals in Disappointing Loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins

Danton Heinen scores a goal against the New Jersey Devils. | Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images

Despite the power playing pulling the Devils within reach, the Penguins outplayed New Jersey at five-on-five. The Devils’ winning streak ended at three when all was said and done. Check out what happened in Saturday’s loss in this game recap.

The New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins entered Saturday afternoon’s game riding three-game winning streaks. The People Who Matter hoped the Devils’ dominance of the Penguins, having won both of the previous two matchups, would continue.

First Period

Pittsburgh opened the first period with a flurry of shot attempts on Jacob Markstrom through traffic in front of the net. Markstrom was up for the challenge and made some solid saves within the first three minutes of the frame. New Jersey had trouble applying offensive pressure but also didn’t allow the Penguins many scoring chances in the first half of the period.

About halfway through the period, Luke Hughes dumped in a puck corralled by Jesper Bratt on the side boards. Bratt slid the puck to Cody Glass at the right faceoff dot, who fired a shot through a screen by Daniel Sprong and into the short side of the net, beating Tristan Jarry. 1-0 Devils!

NHL scriptwriters really nailed this one. pic.twitter.com/PmpIxf6AsS

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 15, 2025​

A couple of minutes later, Brett Pesce drew a hooking penalty on Evgeni Malkin. While the Devils were able to set up their power play structure more than once, they did not record a shot with the man advantage and had difficulty getting the puck off the boards.

The Penguins held the advantage in offensive zone possession time throughout the period. New Jersey allowed shots and shot attempts but did a respectable job protecting the house, clearing rebounds, and blocking shots. The Devils’ bend but don’t break defensive game broke with less than three minutes remaining in the first period. The trouble started with Simon Nemec failing to clear a puck despite having time to do so from the corner of the defensive zone. Instead of banking the puck high off the glass or simply chipping the puck out of the zone, Nemec sent a puck to nobody up the boards. Pittsburgh’s Connor Timmins intercepted the puck and got it to Noel Acciari. Acciari shot a puck that hit Connor Dewar in front. Dewar collected the puck after it hit him and slid it by Markstrom. 1-1.

25 seconds later…Yeah, only 25 seconds later…a bouncing puck hopped past Dawson Mercer, covering the point for Luke Hughes, who had jumped into the offensive zone. Philip Tomasino recovered the puck and skated down the ice with Danton Heinen on a two-on-one. Tomasino passed over to Heinen, who caught the puck off his skate, delaying the play just enough to allow Markstrom to slide by and slid the puck into the open net. 2-1 Penguins. And that is how the period would end.

Second Period

Unfortunately, the second period started a lot like the first. Less than two minutes into the frame, Sidney Crosby made a perfect pass to Brian Rust after passing the blue line. Despite Stefan Noesen being in a good position to defend Rust, the pass placement allowed Rust to tip a shot in tight on Markstrom. Fortunately, Markstrom was up to the challenge again.

The only significant offensive opportunity for the Devils was on the power play following a tripping call on Vladislav Kolyachonok at the 18:23 mark. New Jersey had Pittsburgh scrambling to cover, and Tristan Jarry was frantically shifting from post to post, but the Devils either had shot attempts blocked or tried to make the perfect pass to set up wide-open goals, which never landed. Ondrej Palat had the best opportunity on a shot from the slot, but Jarry got a pad on it and stopped Palat’s rebound attempt.

Things only got worse for the Devils. At 15:36, Rickard Rakell beat Brian Dumoulin to a puck in the Devils’ defensive end. Dumoulin tried to grab Rakell and was going to receive a holding penalty but ended up sliding awkwardly into the boards. Dumoulin appeared hurt and was very slow to get up. Meanwhile, the puck was controlled by Pittsburgh, and it ended up on Crosby’s stick, who slid it to Rakell in the slot. Rakell one-timed the puck past Markstrom on the glove side. 3-1 Penguins.

At 8:16, Brett Pesce received a four-minute, high-sticking penalty. One of the few bright spots for New Jersey was the ensuing penalty kill. New Jersey stifled the Penguins for nearly the entire four minutes. The only shot Pittsburgh had was a puck shoveled into Markstrom’s pad by Rakell from the side of the net. In fact, the Devils had the best scoring opportunity when Curtis Lazar and Nate Bastian took a two-on-one into the Penguins’ zone. After a passing play in tight on Jarry, Bastian roofed a shot into the net. The play was quickly reviewed and deemed offside.

Outside of the power play opportunities and the overturned goal, I cannot think of a scoring chance for the Devils in the latter half of the period. In fact, the broadcast reported that the Devils did not record a shot in the final nine minutes and 27 seconds of play. According to Natural Stat Trick, the shots between the two teams were tied at seven in the second period, but it didn’t feel that way. Natural Stat Trick had the scoring chances at 13 to nine at all strengths and ten to five at five-on-five in favor of the Penguins. The period ended with Pittsburgh up 3-1.

Third Period

The Devils’ woes starting periods continued in the third period. Less than three minutes in, Philip Tomasino picked off a puck after it was bobbled by Johnathan Kovacevic on a D-to-D pass from Brenden Dillon. Tomasino walked into the slot wide open and beat Markstrom with a shot low to the glove side. 4-1 Pens.

A series of four-minute minor penalties allowed New Jersey to climb back into this game. First, Noel Acciari high-sticked Brian Dumoulin in the face. On the power play that followed, the Devils set up in the offensive zone a couple of times without success. In the final two minutes of the man advantage, Simon Nemec made an excellent save at the blue line to keep the puck in the offensive zone and pass to Jesper Bratt. Bratt made a cross-ice pass to Timo Meier, who beat Tristan Jarry with a low, glove-side wrister. 4-2 Penguins.

Meier Madness rages on. #NJDevils | @Mikes_Amazing pic.twitter.com/zIpfKSAOyt

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 15, 2025​

Just seconds after Meier’s goal, Evgeni Malkin caught Brett Pesce with a high stick and was sent to the box for four minutes. The Devils didn’t need as much time to capitalize the second time. About a minute into the power play, Luke Hughes fired a wrist shot from the center of the blue line, and Nico Hischier tipped it by Jarry. 4-3 Penguins.

Tip drill!#NJDevils | @Mikes_Amazing pic.twitter.com/zpvvac8c8h

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 15, 2025​

Following Hischier’s goal, the Devils briefly generated some offensive zone pressure. However, as was the case in the rest of the game at even strength, New Jersey had problems pulling the puck off the boards and gaining any scoring opportunities inside the perimeter. The Devils’ time on the gas was cut short by an undisciplined penalty by Brett Pesce with just over seven minutes remaining. Kevin Hayes cross-checked Pesce before the puck got to him. Pesce got up and immediately retaliated with a cross-check of his own on Hayes as the puck approached. As is usually the case, the second player, Pesce, received the two-minute penalty. It was a significant blow to New Jersey’s momentum.

The Penguins buried the dagger on the power play that followed. About a minute after Jacob Markstrom made a big blocker save on Hayes, Nate Bastian failed to clear the puck from the defensive zone corner, eerily similar to Simon Nemec’s play in the first period. Following the failed clearing attempt, Pittsburgh controlled the puck and gave Erik Karlsson a low-to-high pass. Karlsson does what he does with time and space, placing a wrist shot in the top left corner of the net. 5-3 Penguins

The Devils could not get anything going when play returned to even strength. With just over three minutes left, Paul Cotter had a chance, making a nice move into the slot in Pittsburgh’s zone, but lost the puck, and nobody could get a shot off. Head coach Sheldon Keefe pulled Markstrom with just under three minutes to play, but things continued to deteriorate for the Devils. With 53 seconds left, Connor Dewar scored his third goal of the season and second of the game on the empty net. 6-3 Pittsburgh.

Somehow, that was not the end of the misery for New Jersey. With 21 seconds remaining, Kevin Hayes caught a pass from Emil Bemstrom at the Devils’ blue line. Hayes skated to the top of the high slot and fired a wrister on the net. Markstrom had a clear line of sight on the shot, but it snuck through him somehow. 7-3 Penguins.

The Result: Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New Jersey Devils 7-3.

Game Stats: NHL.com Recap, NHL.com Game Summary, NHL.com Event Summary,

NHL.com Full Play-by-Play, NHL.com Shot Report, Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

Takeaways

Frustrated at Five-on-Five

The Penguins dominated the Devils at even strength, particularly in the second period. According to Natural Stat Trick, New Jersey finished Saturday’s game with a Corsi For percentage (CF%) of 46.05% at even strength. They were expected to score just over one goal (1.19) at five-on-five. There were ten minutes of penalties in the third period, but the Devils were outshot 17-12 at five-on-five, allowing five goals while scoring one. In the second period, when penalties were less of a factor, Pittsburgh generated ten scoring chances to the Devils’ five. Outside of the power plays, New Jersey could not generate a forecheck, allowing Pittsburgh to break out too quickly. At the opposite end, the Penguins’ forecheck prevented the Devils from breaking out quickly, forcing them to fight board battles. The Devils did not play well enough at even strength.

Failure to Clear

One of the factors that led to New Jersey’s winning streak was simplifying their game, particularly in the defensive zone. Beleaguered with injuries, if the Devils’ defensemen didn’t have an open outlet, they chipped the puck out of the defensive zone however possible. Pittsburgh’s forecheck hampered those clearing efforts and caused critical turnovers by the Devils. In the first period, Simon Nemec didn’t have an open option, but instead of chipping the puck out, he made an indecisive pass attempt that was picked off. Nate Bastian made a similar play that resulted in a turnover and goal in the third period. With injuries to Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler, New Jersey needs to keep simple and focus on getting the puck out of their defensive zone quickly, however possible.

Stepping Up

While the loss of Jack Hughes has been massive, Jesper Bratt has done everything he can to pick up any slack for the team. Bratt recorded three assists today and has tallied 60 this season, tying Scott Stevens’ single-season assist record. Bratt has now accrued three points in each of the last three games and has tallied 11 points since Hughes’ injury. He seemed to be flying everywhere on the power plays today and is contributing in his new role on the penalty kill. Bratt will crush the single-season assists record in the games to come. He is a ton of fun to watch, and the man deserves a lot of recognition for the season he is having.

Sprong and Glass

As John mentioned in the game preview, head coach Sheldon Keefe elected to start Daniel Sprong over Erik Haula on Saturday. Haula has had a little success in recent games, so this decision was a small surprise (tiny). Outside of the screen on Cody Glass’ goal, I never really noticed Sprong in today’s game. He was brought in to be a sniper, but Pittsburgh’s forecheck forced the Devils to defend and fight for the puck, which was not his strong suit. The Devils are still trying to find a place and strategy to deploy Sprong.

Cody Glass continues to be a fit. He made a nice shot on an excellent feed from Bratt to start the game the way the Devils wanted to. He seems to have found some good chemistry with Bratt. Bratt and Glass finished Saturday’s game tied for second on the team in Corsi For percentage with 57.14 percent. He finished fourth on the team at 55 percent to Sprong’s credit.

Final Thought

Should the Devils be concerned by Jacob Markstrom’s play after returning from injury? Markstrom allowed five goals in a game where he was expected to allow just under two goals per Natural Stat Trick. The seventh goal was a throwaway that didn’t matter regarding the result, but it’s a save that the Devils’ netminder should make.

Up Next

The Devils have a big matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday at 7:00 PM ET.

Your Thoughts

Should we be concerned about Markstrom’s play? Do you think Sprong has a home or niche on this team? What was the cause of the struggles in today’s game at even strength? Let us know in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...-in-disappointing-loss-to-pittsburgh-penguins

 

[New Jersey Devils]

The Offense Will Struggle to Adapt Without Hughes and Hamilton

Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

The injuries hitting the Devils down the stretch are deadly, and with both Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton gone, the offense is going to struggle to adapt.

The New Jersey Devils have clearly done something to anger the hockey gods, and the injuries have piled on hard as a result. Losing Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, and Jonas Siegenthaler to long-term injured reserve is devastating to a team with aspirations beyond simply a playoff berth. Now, debates will be raging about whether a playoff berth is even worth it, considering the loss of such talent from this roster will likely doom them to an early exit.

Rather than hash out that debate and argue the point of the rest of the season, I wanted to highlight one way that shows the significance of these losses, and that revolves around offensive impact. And when discussing offensive impact, this really comes down to Hughes and Hamilton. Siegenthaler has had a resurgence this season after a down year last season, but he is not an offensive dynamo. The Devils will have trouble replacing his presence on the blue line, but it is less relevant for a discussion about offense.

One way to show the offensive impact of Hughes and Hamilton is a graph comparing Corsi and expected goals. Check out this graph, thanks to MoneyPuck:

The way the graph works, the higher up on the graph, the better the player is at Corsi, and the further right a player is, the better they are at expected goals. So, players at the top right are the pinnacle of offense in terms of possession and expected goals, which is what we want. And when we talk about the Devils this season, that means three guys for sure and a fourth sneaking in there. Jack, Dougie, and Timo Meier have been the offensive gurus in these two areas, with Jesper Bratt lagging a little behind them but still posting very good numbers overall. There are a plethora of Devils who have good expected goal metrics but worse Corsi numbers, which are at the bottom right of the chart. They mostly comprise the rest of the blue line, and includes the aforementioned Jonas Siegenthaler. But for expected goals AND strong possession, it really has been Meier, Hughes, and Hamilton. And now, two of them are out.

It really is difficult to overstate just how much the offense will miss these two. To highlight it another way, here are both of their player cards from Rono at the time of their injuries:

The offensive impact is really apparent. Both are in the mid-90s on their player cards, which is as good as it gets in this league. Hamilton was not playing good defense this year, but he was making up for it with his play in the offensive zone. Jack Hughes was playing at an MVP level, playing quality defense but having some of the best offensive numbers in the league based on these player cards. It really will be impossible to replace the offensive production that both of these players bring to the lineup. They might be fine defensively, or at least as good as they were beforehand if others step up, but the team’s offense will be worse, and not minimally.

It will be really interesting to see how the Devils do on offense for the remainder of the year. They managed 3 goals and a scrappy win against Edmonton on Thursday, so they have shown that they will not be entirely crippled without these two. But will that hold true over more than 1 game? Let’s find out.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...struggle-to-adapt-without-hughes-and-hamilton

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Weekly Metropolitan Division Snapshot: 3/16/2025 - 3/22/2025

“Alas, my fellow Capital, we are about to get the ‘X’“ - Aliaksei Protas, unlikely said this after scoring on March 11. | Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

In the twentieth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the 2024-25 season, the Carolina Hurricanes got hot again and so did the Pittsburgh Penguins. The New York Rangers jumped the Columbus Blue Jackets too. All this and more in this week’s snapshot.

As the middle of March has been met, we have some important movement within the Metropolitan Division. No, not at the top. The Washington Capitals still hold a double-digit lead over the now-hottest-team-in-the-NHL Carolina Hurricanes. The New Jersey Devils maintained their hold on third with a big win in this past week. The move was in the all important middle. The New York Rangers have jumped the Columbus Blue Jackets in the standings. Which means they own a wild card spot over the Jackets for the first time in weeks, if not months. That is big for the wild card watch as well, as Ottawa appears to be running away from their own division opponents plus the Rangers and Blue Jackets. Here is how the standings look as of this morning. (Aside: Yes, I know this is far later than usual for this post. There’s no mystery; I literally forgot to hit a button. That’s why you’re seeing it now.)

Standings via NHL.com, Playoff odds via Moneypuck, First overall draft pick odds via Tankathon
Metropolitan Division Standings as of the morning of March 16, 2025 with Wild Card Watch

The wild card race also took a big turn with Ottawa sweeping their week to take a commanding hold on the first wild card spot. This means the pressure is really on the Rangers with Columbus and Montreal at their heels with several teams not far below them. The weekly schedule coming up has another massive New Jersey-Columbus game with a few more involving the four wild card watch teams in the Atlantic. The games within the Metropolitan remain highlighted and in bold; the games against those four wild card watch teams are in italics.

Schedules via NHL.com
Metropolitan Division Schedule for March 16, 2025 through March 22, 2025 with Wild Card Watch teams

Here is the week that was and week that will be for all eight teams.

---

Washington Capitals​

Sunday vs. Seattle - The Caps could’ve started better against the Kraken but finished just fine. Shane Wright opened the scoring for the Kraken in the first. Washington entered the second down a score. They would hit back quickly. Martin Fehervary tied it up within the first minute. Dylan Strome broke the tie over two minutes later. Seattle would respond; Jordan Eberle tied it up about five minutes later. The 2-2 deadlock was broken within the final five minutes. Connor McMichael tipped in a John Carlson shot to make it 3-2. Seattle pulled their goalie for a late attempt to tie it up. That yielded an ENG for the PutinTeam Leader, Alex Ovechkin, and a 4-2 result. Another day, another win for Washington.

Tuesday at Anaheim - Washington opened up their California trip with a goal fest in Orange County. The Ducks took an early lead. While Dylan Strome struck first for the Caps over two minutes in, Jacob Trouba’s first of the season (yes, really) and Drew Helleson scored less than a minute part to make it 2-1 before six minutes into the period. Aliaksei Protas tied it up late in the first, though. The second period had just the one goal; a tip-in of a Matt Roy shot by Pierre-Luc Dubois to make it 3-2 for the Capitals. Then the scoring ramped up big time in the final frame. Pavel Mintyukov tied it up for Anaheim over four minutes in. Protas scored on a backhander on the next shift for a 4-3 lead. That lasted for over a minute as Frank Vatrano tied it up for the Ducks. That held until Nic Dowd broke the deadlock with over six minutes left in regulation. Anthony Beauvillier added an insurance goal within the final two minutes. Protas completed a hat trick with a last-minute empty netter to close out a six-goal third period. The Capitals won 7-4, continuing their run of just stomping through weeks of their schedule.

Thursday at Los Angeles - That stomping hit a snag in Los Angeles. A former Capital, Darcy Kuemper, shut out Washington on Thursday night. The Caps were even held to just 21 shots. Not a strong game for the visitors. Warren Foegele’s wrister in the first period was all that was needed for the victory in retrospect. The Kings did not keep it there. Kevin Fiala punished a second-period-final-minute Andrew Mangiapane holding call early in the third period for 2-0. Quintin Byfield scored on the next shift for a 3-0 lead. The Caps were frustrated and blanked in this loss to what was then (and still is) a hot Los Angeles team.

Sunday at San Jose - The Capitals took out their frustrations by taking care of business against San Jose. The first period featured Washington out-shooting the Sharks 17-3 and out-scoring them 3-0. Strome, Protas, and Taylor Raddysh saw to those scores to give the Capitals a commanding lead. It may be called the worst lead in hockey but the visitors managed. While Macklin Celebrini scored over six minutes into the third to cut it to 3-1, Trevor van Reimsdyk scored his first of the season on the next shift to ice any hopes of a comeback. The PutinTeam Leader capped off the scoring with a tip-in for what would be a 5-1 beating of the Sharks. Another week, another winning week for the Capitals. California did not slow them down much and nothing really will at this rate.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Capitals have a three game homestand coming up this week. They will host Detroit on Tuesday with a chance at causing more chaos in the wild card race. The Capitals will try to avoid a trap game with Philadelphia on Thursday night. On Saturday evening, they will have a much tougher opponent: the Defending Cup Champions in Florida. An ‘X’ is all but certain for the Capitals at this point. They may even get it this week.

Carolina Hurricanes​

Sunday vs. Winnipeg - The Hurricanes took on the Jets. Their deadline acquisitions shined. Mark Janikowski opened the scoring with a deflection from a Scott Morrow shot, late in the first period. Janikowski made it a brace in the second, giving the Canes a 2-0 lead. Early in the third, Gabe Vilardi hooked Seth Jarvis. This ended with Logan Stankoven tipping in a Shayne Gostisbehere shot for a PPG and 3-0 lead. Winnipeg’s Alex Iafallo scored a consolation goal. Carolina dashed any late comeback by Jarvis scoring an ENG less than a minute later. Adam Lowry added a second consolation goal. All it did was make it a 4-2 win for Carolina instead of 4-1.

Tuesday vs Tampa Bay - The Hurricanes entered this game hot and kept the fire burning against the Bolts. Seth Jarvis opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the first period. The Canes doubled up in the second with goals from Jordan Martinook and Jack Roslovic. Gage Goncalves would claw a goal back for the visitors. But Sean Walker answered that a bit later to ensure there would be no comeback. Carolina won 4-1 for a fifth straight win.

Friday vs. Detroit - Detroit needed a result and Carolina was more than willing to deny them one. The Red Wings did strike first when Alex DeBrincat scored within the final two minutes of the first period. This lasted until 23 seconds into the second period when Taylor Hall tipped in a puck from Jesperi Kotkaniemi to tie it up. Just over five minutes later, Jack Roslovic broke the tie with another helper from Kotkaniemi. About seven minutes after that, Jalen Chatfield snapped in a goal to make it 3-1 for Carolina. The Red Wings made it interesting with an early third period goal by Michael Rasmussen. The Canes held true in the one-shot game until Eric Robinson secured the points with an empty netter. A 4-2 win to extend their winning streak to six.

Saturday at Philadelphia - Carolina took their hot streak to the coldest homestand in the league in Philadelphia. The final game in that homestand. The Hurricanes showed no mercy. The first period featured goals from Sebastian Aho and Mark Jankowski. The second period opened with Taylor Hall punishing Ryan Poehling for a tripping call 10 seconds into the second, and added a second goal for Jankowski. Within the final minute of regulation, Scott Morrow scored his first NHL goal. You may have noticed I did not write anything about the Flyers. That is because Pytor Kochetkov shut them out. Carolina won 5-0 to cap their week at 4-0-0 with seven straight wins in a row.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: After beating some big teams and getting hot, what’s next? A trip to California. The Hurricanes will be able to rest until Thursday night when they are in San Jose. Then they will end their week and start a weekend back to back on Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles. The Hurricanes are safe. They just need to stay sharp for the postseason.

New Jersey Devils​

Sunday at Philadelphia - NJ went into Philly in a battle of three-game losing streaks. Someone was going to make it four in a row for the other side. It turned out to be the Devils. The debut of Cody Glass saw him finish a puck laid for him from the endboards for a 1-0 lead. Later in the second, a puck hit off Sean Couturier in the slot and fell to Erik Haula on the left flank. Haula wasn’t going to miss and he didn’t for his first point in 29 games. Up 2-0 and it seemed 3-0 was incoming. But in the third, Brian Dumoulin got walked by Travis Konecny. He beat an otherwise excellent Allen for a 2-1 lead. The Flyers wanted the equalizer but NJ either repelled it or their lack of discipline hurt it. Dawson Mercer put in an ENG to seal up a big get-right 3-1 win for NJ.

Tuesday vs Columbus - A big 4 point swing in the division was on the table. New Jersey saw to it to start off first. A Dante Fabbro trip on Nathan Bastian in the first period yielded a very cute redirection of a Jesper Bratt pass by Nico Hischier for a 1-0 lead. After, Paul Cotter took a holding call. NJ killed it and Paul Cotter took a loose puck in for a breakaway goal after coming out of the box. Late in the period, Jesper Bratt poached a free puck in front of Elvis Merzlikins for a 3-0 lead. All good? Not quite. Columbus roared back in the second period. Mathieu Olivier tipped in a Denton Mateychuk shot for a 3-1 game. Kirill Marchenko took Brian Dumoulin to school and beat Jacob Markstrom on a backhander at 3-2. The Devils would settle the game and respond. Timo Meier scored off the wing late in the period to make it 4-2. Early in the third, Luke Hughes had a long-ish shot beat Merzlikins for a 5-2 game. The Devils cruised for better or worse. Olivier got a second goal off a blooper midway through the third. But the Devils held on for a massive 5-3 win.

Thursday vs. Edmonton - The Devils followed up their win by hosting Edmonton. In a fast-paced if sloppy game, the Devils got on the board first in the second period. Stuart Skinner mishandled a puck and Brett Pesce punished that for an early score. Leon Draisaitl would respond later on in the second period to tie it up. The third period opened with the Oilers dominating. Evan Bouchard rewarded the effort with a long shot getting through traffic and by Jake Allen. Then the Devils made a comeback happen. Jesper Bratt wheeled around to above the high slot and slid a shot through traffic to make it 2-2. Less than two minutes later, Bratt set up Simon Nemec at the center point for another long shot through traffic to break the tie at 3-2. The Devils had to hold on for dear life against the Edmonton offense - and they did. They won 3-2 to win their week and take a three-game winning streak into Pittsburgh.

Saturday at Pittsburgh - On national television, the Devils had a let-down game. The opening was poor. While Cody Glass finish a feed from Bratt to open the scoring, the Pens hit back hard late in the period. Connor Dewar put in a rebound and Danton Heinan scored on a rush on the next shift to make it a 2-1 game. Rickard Rakell beat Jacob Markstrom - who had a bad game - to make it 3-1 early in the second period. Pittsburgh seemingly had the Devils beat when Philip Tomasino stole a puck from Johnathan Kovacevic and buried it for 4-1 early in the third. But then Noel Acciari high-sticked Brett Pesce and drew blood for four-minutes. Timo Meier punished that for a 4-2 score. On the next shift, Evgeni Malkin high-sticked Brett Pesce and drew blood for four minutes. Nico Hischier tipped in a Luke Hughes shot to make it 4-3. Would there be a comeback after all? No. Pesce was given a minor for cross-checking Kevin Hayes and Erik Karlsson rocketed a shot to score a killer PPGA. (Thank Bastian for the opportunity.) The Devils went down 5-3. An empty netter for Dewar sealed up the loss. And Markstrom gave up another poor goal to Kevin Hayes to make it 7-3. An ugly loss to end the 3-1-0 week on a down note.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Devils will have a lighter week in between the four game week they just have and one more next week. The games still matter. Monday is a rematch with the Columbus Blue Jackets in Ohio. Another four-point swing will make a huge difference as to how likely Columbus will be at catching New Jersey by the end of the season. On Thursday, the Devils will host a Calgary team that has a lot to play for in their conference. Saturday night is another game important for the wild card. The Devils will host Ottawa. Depending on results in the week, the Devils may have some odd supporters for that one. Either way, New Jersey is still in control of their destiny when it comes to making the playoffs. Another winning week would be huge for the cause. Forget winning four in a row, can they just do that again?

New York Rangers​

Sunday vs. Columbus - The Rangers opened the week with a home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team they are directly chasing in the standings. The game went pear-shaped for the Blueshirts. While Justin Danforth struck first, Artemi Panarin tied it up late in the first period for a 1-1 game. The second period was where it went all awry. The Rangers gave up two goals on back-to-back shifts to Adam Fantilli. The Rangers did well to score two shorties to tie it up. Credit Braden Schneider and Chris Kreider for that to make it 3-3. But they conceded two more late goals in short order in the second period. Mathieu Olivier got a tip-in through and Dante Fabbro scored not long after to put the Rangers down 5-3. The third period just had Columbus pull ahead further. Kent Johnson deflected a puck in for 6-3 and Fantilli completed a hat trick for what would be the final score at 7-3. Let me get this straight, Rangers. You’re at home, you’re playing a team directly impacting playoff spots on the line, and this is the result? Man.

Tuesday at Winnipeg - The Rangers hit the road and became the Jets’ latest victims. Vladislav Namestnikov scored first with a deflection of a Cole Perfetti shot in the first period. An uncommon removal of the helmet penalty was called on Nino Neiderreiter from K’Andre Miller. Mika Zibanejad punished that to tie up the game. From then on, Connor Hellebuyck locked it down. A penalty filled second period yielded one a goal: a PPG for Gabe Vilardi. The Rangers went down 2-1 and so that stayed. Another loss for the Rangers. A bad time to get cold.

Thursday at Minnesota - The Rangers would pull it out in Minnesota to warm up on Thursday night, though. Although they almost blew that too. After a goalless first period, Vincent Trocheck opened the scoring in the second period for New York. That held up until the third period. Matt Rempe was called for, let’s just say, a questionable interference call. Marcus Johansson punished thatto tie up the game. Jonny Brodzinski would restore the lead less than three minutes later. But a less-questionable and more-painful high-sticking call on Zac Jones on Johansson led to four minutes - and another PPGA. Frederick Gaudreau converted the situation to make it 2-2. Overtime was necessary. Of all of the plays, Artemi Panarin and J.T. Miller set up Braden Schneider to beat one Wild player and then backhand it clean over Filip Gustavsson for the win. The pretty goal made it a 3-2 OT win for the Rangers. A reason to feel good going into a big rematch.

Saturday at Columbus - After getting waxed for a touchdown with an extra point in Manhattan, the Rangers wanted revenge in Ohio. They got it. Igor Shesterkin was perfect and stopped everything the Blue Jackets put up. Which was not a ton at 21 shots on net, but a 100% save percentage is still 100%. The Rangers went up early thanks to Alexis Lafreniere and some unintentional assistance from Daniil Tarasov. Artemi Panarin made it 2-0 past the halfway mark of the game. Vincent Trocheck scored a brace in the third period. The first with over five minutes left and the second with an empty net in a shorthanded situation. The Rangers won 4-0 to get revenge on the Blue Jackets. And by going 2-2-0 in the week, the Rangers jumped past the Blue Jackets in the standings.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Rangers will stay at home all week, which is a positive. Less of a positive is that it is a four-game week. Their weekend back-to-back set ends tonight with a home game against the mighty offense of Edmonton. On Tuesday, they will face a Calgary team that is also fighting for their playoff lives. Thursday will have a tough Toronto team coming to Manhattan. The week and homestand ends on Saturday afternoon with a Vancouver team that is also battling for a playoff spot.

Columbus Blue Jackets​

Sunday at New York Rangers - This massive game for the wild card race ended up being a rout for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The first period was even. Justin Danforth struck first for Columbus. Artemi Panarin matched it late. Then the goals flowed in the second period. Adam Fantilli started it by scoring on back to back shifts at the 3 minute mark. During a Blue Jacket power play, Braden Schneider and Chris Kreider scored shorthanded goals to tie it up. Late in the period, Mathieu Olivier broke the tie with a tip in. Dante Fabbro scored shortly thereafter for a 5-3 lead. In the third, Columbus pulled away for good. Kent Johnson deflected in a shot for 6-3. Fantilli completed his hat trick shortly after for a 7-3 lead. The scoring stopped. It was a huge win for Columbus and a huge loss for the Rangers.

Tuesday at New Jersey - The Blue Jackets have been closing the gap on the Devils. Winning this game would help them big time. They failed to do so. In fact, they conceded three goals to the Devils in the first period alone. Nico Hischier one-touched a Jesper Bratt pass for a PPG. After failing to convert a power play on a Paul Cotter penalty, Cotter got a breakaway out of the box and scored to make it 2-0. Late in the period, Bratt poached a puck and beat Elvis Merzlikins low for a 3-0 deficit. Columbus would come back in the second period. Mathieu Olivier tipped in a puck for a 3-1 game and Kirill Marchenko schooled Brian Dumoulin to make it 3-2. But the Blue Jackets could not find that third goal. Timo Meier restored the two goal lead late in the second period with a strong shot off the wing. Luke Hughes made it a three-goal game with a long-ish shot beating Merzlikins just 30 seconds into the third period. The Devils cruised, which did open up a goal for Columbus. Olivier got a blooper of a goal in to make the game somewhat possible. But there would be no comeback. The Devils prevailed and Columbus lost a huge opportunity to catch up in the standings with a 5-3 loss.

Thursday vs. Las Vegas - The Blue Jackets returned home to host Las Vegas. A tough opponent but Columbus has been quite good at home this season. The Golden Knights did not abide. Adin Hill weathered an early storm of shots from the Blue Jackets whilst the visitors went up by two. Nic Roy punished a Justin Danforth tripping call to open the scoring and Brandon Saad scored in the final minute of the first to make it 2-0. Past midway through the second, Pavel Dorofeyev made it a 3-0 game. Absent any shots getting by Hill, the Blue Jackets pulled their goalie after killing a Dante Fabbro penalty. That yielded an empty netter for Alex Pietrangelo with over four minutes left in regulation. It was glorious for Las Vegas. It was brutal for Columbus. A 4-0 loss after dropping a big game in New Jersey? What’s next? Dropping a big game in Ohio to a team you beat on this past Sunday?

Saturday vs. New York Rangers - They dropped a big game in Ohio to the same team they beat 7-3 just six days earlier. The Blue Jackets conceded first with a little help from Daniil Tarasov; Alexis Lafreniere was given the backhanded goal. In the second period, Artemi Panarin extended it to a 2-0 deficit. With over five minutes left, Vincent Trocheck provided what was effectively a killing blow in making it 3-0. Columbus did get a late power play when Braden Schneider tripped Kirill Marchenko. They pulled their goalie - only for Trocheck to seal up the game for good with a shorthanded empty net goal. Back-to-back 4-0 losses. A 1-3-0 week. No goals since a blooper for Olivier on Tuesday night. Losing games to teams they are directly competing with. Falling out of the wild card spot to this Rangers team and now behind Montreal. Columbus, what is happening?

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Blue Jackets are not safe in their position in the standings, so they must continue to get results. They will be itching for revenge on New Jersey on Monday night. The Blue Jackets will be at home and will want the points. On Thursday, they will have a tough matchup with Florida. Then they will go to Pittsburgh on Friday. It is a tricky back-to-back. But Columbus needs to make it work. Their playoff lives are on the line. They picked a bad time to get cold.

New York Islanders​

Sunday at Anaheim - The Isles went into Orange County and left with a loss. They couldn’t solve Lukas Dostal for the most part. The performance led head coach Patrick Roy to pull the goalie just over 7 minutes into the third period. Before that, the Isles went down to scores by Sam Coangelo, Drew Helleson, and a PPG from Mason McTavish in each period. Coangelo scored an ENG at the eight minute mark. The Isles got a late third period consolation goal from Anthony DeAngelo. All it meant they lost 4-1 instead of 4-0. A poor follow up to a win in San Jose on its own. Damaging to their fading playoff hopes.

Tuesday at Los Angeles - It was an exercise in frustration for the Islanders. Los Angeles did go up in the first period with a goal by Vladislav Gavrikov. The Isles tied it up in the second with a goal from Anders Lee. Only for Philip Danault to score on the next shift to make it 2-1. The Kings proceeded to take seven straight penalties, three of which were clearances over the glass, for the game. Not only did the Isles not convert a single one of those seven power plays, the Kings scored two shorthanded goals in the process. A broken stick by DeAngelo from receiving a pass yielded a SHG for Quintin Byfield in the second. In the third, Drew Doughty put in an empty net shorty. The Isles lost 4-1. Harsh. And more damage to the playoff hopes.

Friday vs. Edmonton - The Islanders returned home to take on an Edmonton team that played in Newark the night before. They did not really take full advantage. The Oilers out-shot the Isles by 10 and the Isles failed to convert any of their three power plays. At least the goaltending by Ilya Sorokin was strong. But even he was not going to deny Leon Draisaitl. And he did not over eight minutes into the second period in what would be the game’s first goal. The game’s second goal was scored by Bo Horvat over a minute into the third; an individual effort off a takeaway in his own end. The Isles at least made it to overtime. But after a shot, Calvin Pickard fed Connor McDavid to spring Draisaitl for a breakaway from the red line. He finished it to give the Isles a 2-1 overtime loss. Yes, a point was earned but the Isles needed wins. Going 0-2-1 does not help their cause at all. If anything, it may be all but lost by now.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Isles will have four more games to try to salvage something in their season. It will not be simple. Tonight, they will host the defending champions in the Florida Panthers. On Tuesday, they will take a short trip to Pittsburgh to play the Penguins. On Thursday, the Isles return home for a possibly important matchup with Montreal. Their week ends with a late afternoon home game against Calgary on Saturday. It is not simple and it could effectively be the end if its another losing affair.

Pittsburgh Penguins​

Sunday at Minnesota - It was an emotional affair as Marc-Andre Fleury suited up for the last time against his longtime former team in Pittsburgh. There were no goals in the first. Pittsburgh killed a minor and a double minor. Then, in the second, they punished a Zach Bogosian interference call. Evgeni Malkin racked up a PPG for a 1-0 lead. Nearly midway through the third, the Pens went up 2. Sidney Crosby found the back of the net to put the pressure on the Wild. Ryan Hartman would punish a Malkin penalty on him within the last 10 minutes. That made it interesting. But the game was locked up when Crosby put in an empty net goal. Pittsburgh won 3-1.

Tuesday vs. Las Vegas - Pittsburgh returned home to face a contending Las Vegas team and won? Yes. With just 17 shots and Tristan Jarry playing well. And Sidney Crosby. He converted a power play late in the first to make it 1-0. A bit after a Penguin power play to start the second ended, Crosby made it a 2-0 game. Las Vegas needed a comeback. One began with a Pavel Dorofeyev PPG late in the second period. It forced overtime when Noah Hanifin scored with 7 seconds left. OT would not take long. Erik Karlsson finished it just 49 seconds in for Pittsburgh to salvage the victory, 3-2. Well done.

Thursday vs. St. Louis - Pittsburgh continued on to host a playoff-hopeful Blues team. The Pens got off to a surprising 1-0 lead thanks to Ryan Graves’ first goal of the season over two minutes in. The Blues worked hard to respond but Tristan Jarry kept out all 15 shots in the first period. Early in the second period, Connor Timmins doubled the lead for Pittsburgh. However, Timmins would go to the box much later for a high-sticking penalty. Zac Bolduc punished that to make it a 2-1 game. The Pens got a late lift from Connor Dewar’s first of the season to go into the third up 3-1. However again, the Penguins went into the third shorthanded. Kris Letang took a cross-checking call with eight seconds left in the period. St. Louis would convert the power play almost 90 seconds into the third thanks to Dylan Holloway. It was a one-shot game yet again. This meant Bryan Rust’s re-direction of a Rickard Rakell shot to make it 4-2 over five minutes later was important. It was until Alexey Toropchenko scored less than two minutes later to make it 4-3. Jarry would lock it down from then on and the Penguins did limit St. Louis’ offense for the remainder of the third. The home fans could breathe easier when Rakell scored an empty netter by the end of the game. The Penguins won their third straight with a 5-3 result.

Saturday vs. New Jersey - The Penguins and Devils each had a shot to sweep the week. The Penguins looked good early but gave up the first goal when Jesper Bratt found ex-Pen Cody Glass in the left circle for a score. But the Penguins hit back hard late in the first period. Connor Dewar put home a rebound in front to tie it up and Danton Heinan finished a rush play on the next shift for a 2-1 lead. The Pens kept marching forward. Rickard Rakell beat Jacob Markstrom early in the second for a 3-1 lead. Philip Tomasino swiped a puck from Johnathan Kovacevic and buried it in the net for 4-1 over two minutes into the third. It looked like the rout was on. Then Noel Acciari high-sticked Brett Pesce and drew blood for a double-minor. This was punished on the second minor by Timo Meier for a 4-2 score. On the next shift, Evgeni Malkin high-sticked Pesce and drew blood for another double-minor. Seriously, Penguins? Nico Hischier tipped in a Luke Hughes shot to make it a 4-3 game. The Penguins needed a response. They got one during a power play caused by Pesce of all players. A terrible turnover by Nathan Bastian led to a shot by Malkin, a recovery, and a rocket by Erik Karlsson to make it 5-3. An empty netter for Dewar made it 6-3 and Kevin Hayes added a late goal past Markstrom to just add to the vibes. The Penguins won 7-3 to spoil the Devils, sweep their week (4-0-0!), and get ahead of Philly.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Penguins will have a short week coming up of just two games. Both are within the division so there are some stakes involved. The Penguins could put a real dent in any longshot odds the Islanders have at making the playoffs on Tuesday. On Friday, they can take Columbus down a peg. It will be a week to recover amid the five-game homestand. Road games await after this week. They may not have much to play for but they are in a great form to give any opponent a problem.

Philadelphia Flyers​

Sunday vs. New Jersey - The Flyers and Devils entered this game with three-game losing streaks. This would be a get-right game for one team. It would not be the home team. Ex-Penguin and current Devil Cody Glass opened the scoring in the first period when a puck dropped for him off the endboards. The Devils leaned on Jake Allen and doubled their lead in the second period. A puck hit off Sean Couturier in the slot and went out to Erik Haula on the left flank of Sam Ersson. Haula would not miss that and the Flyers went down two. They did have some hope in the third period. Travis Konecny torched Brian Dumoulin and then Allen to make it a 2-1 game. But there would be no equalizer. Flyers discipline and poor management yielded an empty net goal to Dawson Mercer. The Flyers would lose their fourth straight, 3-1.

Tuesday vs Ottawa - The Flyers sought to upset the Senators a bit and finally get that first win at home in their seven game homestand. Just like Sunday, they faltered and didn’t do that. Giving up a goal to Brady Tkachuk 24 seconds into the game didn’t help. Jamie Drysdale would tie it up early in the second period. Only for Tyler Kleven to restore the lead a bit later. Rodrigo Abols made it 2-2. Only for Michael Amadio to restore the lead further on in the second. In the third period, Ottawa never looked back. Dylan Cozens made it 4-2 halfway through the period. Shane Pinto added a late ENG. The Flyers were faded at 5-2 for a fifth straight loss at home.

Thursday vs. Tampa Bay - The Flyers wanted to avoid a sixth straight loss at home. They had to battle with the Lightning to do it. It did not look great when Gage Goncalves punished a delay of game call on Ryan Poehling in the first period. But the Flyers tied it up in the first thanks to Bobby Brink. It did not look great when Zemgus Girgensons scored 15 seconds into the second period for a 2-1 deficit. But the Flyers turned it around. Brink tied it up a second time within the midpoint of the period and Ryan Poehling redeemed his penalty with a last-minute goal to make it 3-2. It did not look great when Cam Atkinson tied it up early in the third. And when the Flyers failed to score. They would get a point by going beyond regulation. Overtime solved nothing. A long shootout was needed. Matvei Michkov and Brayden Point were the lone scorers in the regular three rounds. In the fifth round, Owen Tippett scored while Oliver Bjorkstrand was stuffed. The Flyers finally won a game at home on this seven game homestand! They won 4-3 in a shootout. They will take that!

Saturday vs. Carolina - Philadelphia’s seven game homestand ended against the might of the Carolina Hurricanes. They got crushed by said might. Carolina’s Pytor Kochetkov allowed nothing to go past him. All while the Canes just kept getting goals. Sebastian Aho and Mark Jankowski did it in the first period. A Taylor Hall power play (punishing a Poehling trip on Hall) and a second goal for Jankowski in the second period. A last-minute, first-NHL goal for Scott Morrow in the third period. Carolina crushed the Flyers. The Philly faithful booed their team off the ice for the sixth time out of seven on this homestand. Even if they did beat Tampa Bay, the 1-3-0 week felt more like a 0-4-0 week. They also dropped behind their hated rivals in Pittsburgh.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: Philadelphia begins a five-game road trip. Surely, it cannot go as bad as their homestand? This week is tough, though. The Flyers will go to Tampa Bay on Monday night. Then they are off to play Washington on Thursday night. The Flyers’ week will end with the start of a road back-to-back. The harder of the two games is on Saturday; an afternoon affair with Dallas - now featuring Mikko Rantanen. Good luck, Flyers, you will need it.

---

That was the twentieth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot for this season. Now that you know what happened and what will happen next, it is now your turn. Will this be the week where the Capitals get their ‘X’? How long will the Carolina Hurricanes keep on winning? Can the New Jersey Devils bounce back from their loss in Pittsburgh? Can the Columbus Blue Jackets bounce back at all? Will the New York Rangers be able to hold onto a playoff spot? What will the Islanders, Penguins, and Flyers even do? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about the week that was for all eight teams in the division and the week ahead for them. Thank you for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...o-clinch-new-jersey-devils-third-jackets-drop

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Passivity Is Often A Road to Nowhere

How many times can a defensive team allow wide-open chances for opponents? | Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images

When a team struggles to go on the offensive, they can't be expected to go anywhere.

When I recapped the win over the Edmonton Oilers last week, I pointed to an aspect of the Devils' approach that is worrying me. The Devils have been playing their cards much more defensively than ever this season, and it is starting to limit their offensive chance generation. Yes, I expect the team to suffer without Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton. But when I watch the team try to win by being cautious and defensive, I ask myself: why does the injury to Jonas Siegenthaler not change the team's approach?

The fact of the matter is that Simon Nemec is not playing like a defense-first defenseman, even in Sheldon Keefe's system. Brian Dumoulin, who is a good player, is not a one-to-one fix for Jonas Siegenthaler. Therefore, Keefe's apparent message to the team that, to make the playoffs, they need to play even more cautiously - and that they need to rely on goaltending - is flawed, in my opinion. Siegenthaler has not been given the respect he deserves for handling the role he did, performing to the level he was at prior to his injury. He was even much more in his element than Dougie Hamilton was. I don't think it's a good assumption that Dumoulin and Nemec can boost the team's defensive ability to the extent that they can turn into a total trap team. To be a trap team, they need Siegenthaler.

Then, and probably even worse, is how he has the offense set up. Despite Tom Fitzgerald's trade for Daniel Sprong, who is an offensive upgrade at wing over about half the team, Keefe has refused to shift Erik Haula to fourth-line center duties in order to inject a proven bottom six goalscorer in Sprong into the lineup. This is how the Devils are lined up today.

#NJDevils are using the following workflow…

Meier – Hischier – Noesen
Palat – Mercer – Tatar
Haula – Glass – Bratt
Cotter – Lazar – Bastian

Hughes – Pesce
Dumoulin – Kovacevic
Dillon – Nemec

Allen at the starter’s end.

— Sam Kasan (@samikasan) March 17, 2025​

Sprong has 87 goals in 365 career games. That's more career regular season goals than any two of those fourth liners combined. Mind you, Daniel Sprong is a career plus-player at even strength (+18 at 5v5), so defense is an old and tired excuse for not playing him. So, yes, sit the person who generated the third-most chances against Pittsburgh — a game where the team could not generate shots and still gave up seven goals to the opponents. Sit the person who was one of four to not be an even strength minus against Pittsburgh, sure. That will definitely help the team generate offense. Until Keefe commits to a real, threatening lineup, instead of one where his only move is a binary choice between Erik Haula or Daniel Sprong at third-line left wing, he is going to keep seeing his team play disjointed games.

The greatest flaw plaguing the New Jersey Devils is their inability to handle heavy-forechecking teams. Their breakout passes are too telegraphed, their puck movement is slow, and their passes are still often off the mark entirely. That spells disaster for a team trying to win with a trapping defense and a counter-attacking offense. Johnny Kovacevic might make a nice play on the puck, but if he cannot move it back out to the neutral zone quick enough, Jacob Markstrom or Jake Allen will be dealing with a chance in front of the net. Simon Nemec might be a talented 21-year old, but he’s roving too much in the defensive zone and not getting enough offensive zone opportunities.

There is one player who I think has responded to the injuries at hand perfectly — Brett Pesce. With Hamilton out, Pesce is not playing it as safe in the offensive zone, pushing and pinching to create more offensive opportunities. Pesce might not be the most offensively gifted player in the world, but he has very good instincts of where the puck should be going. That’s why he had two points in the win over Edmonton. On top of this, Pesce has not regressed defensively, even while trying to be more of an offensive creator. Pesce knows that if his pairing isn’t on the ice for offensive chances, the team is probably going to lose. Dumoulin-Kovacevic will rely on forwards to create offense, and Dillon-Nemec is zone-dependent and better off for now as a sheltered pairing.

Now, could forwards come in and help more against forechecking teams to alleviate pressure on the defense? I think that the team’s forwards have occasionally been caught standing and waiting too often in the neutral zone, which contributes to that stilted breakout mentioned earlier. On top of that, Keefe should probably be asking his team to play a harder forecheck in general. If you know that your biggest weakness is pressure on your defensemen when they handle the puck, force the puck down the ice as quickly as possible. Dump it in at the red line — do whatever — but the time of waiting for the perfect pass to Jack Hughes cutting up the seam is over.

The Devils had injuries in all areas — not just on offense. So, when you hear that the Devils will need to rely on defense and goaltending to win, ask yourself if you really trust two goalies in their 30s to bail a leaky trap team out over and over again en route to a Stanley Cup. Given what I have seen this month, I really do not think Jacob Markstrom was ready to return, and Jake Allen was also running out of steam a bit when he was handling the starter’s load before and after the Four Nations break. Adding that the Devils are one of the worst comeback teams in the league — they usually win by holding the lead from early on — and I am increasingly of the thought that the defense-reliant approach is going to be the downfall of the team.

Your Thoughts​

How do you think the team has looked since Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton got hurt? Do you think the defense has improved or worsened? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...evils-shots-netfront-nemec-mercer-meier-keefe

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Devils Survive a Third Period Onslaught From the Blue Jackets to Win 2-1

Jake Allen is congratulated by his teammates after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets. | Photo by Kirk Irwin/NHLI via Getty Images

Columbus unleashed 24 shots in a lopsided third period. However, New Jersey managed to walk away with the much-needed victory. Check out what happened in this game recap.

New Jersey entered the Saint Patrick’s Day matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, holding the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils were six points ahead of Our Hated Rivals, seven points ahead of the Canadiens, and eight points up on the Blue Jackets. Needless to say, the final game of the season series against Columbus held significance.

First Period

Unlike the game against Pittsburgh, New Jersey started the game against Columbus with a much better forecheck. Through the first 13 minutes of play, the Devils were controlling the puck in the Blue Jackets’ zone and winning puck battles after forcing the puck in deep. The line of Erik Haula, Cody Glass, and Jesper Bratt played exceptionally well and threatened on several shifts. The problem was that you would never know that by looking at the shot report.

At 11:56, Denton Mateychuk was penalized for holding Nico Hischier. The Devils won the offensive zone faceoff following the call. They exhibited quick puck movement but could not capitalize on any chances. The second power-play unit’s Tomas Tatar had the best scoring chance on a shot from the slot, but he missed the net like far too many Devils shots in the first period.

Despite controlling the puck in the offensive zone much more often in the first period, the Blue Jackets outshot the Devils eight to five. Per the MSG broadcast, the Devils recorded 18 shot attempts to the Blue Jackets’ 13 in the first frame. Only five of those 18 attempts hit the net and the Devils were outshot eight to five. Several of those missed shots were from high-danger areas, too. Dawson Mercer sent a shot wide from the top of the left circle. Bratt had a puck roll on end, which caused him to shoot it way wide from the slot. On a puck deflected by the referee, Cody Glass received a pass from Erik Haula in front of the net, but he couldn’t find the net.

Defensively, the Devils returned to the simplified strategy that resulted in success before the Penguins game. New Jersey allowed some shots and even allowed two high-danger chances, but they did a good job isolating those chances. After a shot or scoring opportunity, the Devils protected the house and cleared the puck out of the defensive zone. The Blue Jackets’ best scoring chance was on a puck chipped over the Devils’ defensemen by Yegor Chinakhov. Kirill Marchenko recovered the puck behind the Devils’ defense for a breakaway. Marchenko was harried by the closing Devils defensemen. Fortunately, Jake Allen came up with the save. Allen played well and stopped everything in the first period despite looking slightly shaky handling the puck on a couple of opportunities.

Neither team scored in the first period.

Second Period

Columbus tilted the ice back in their favor in the second period. The line of Yegor Chinakhov, Dmitri Voronkov, and Kirill Marchenko gave the Devils problems, forcing Jake Allen to make several big saves. Within the first couple of minutes, Allen made a great save on a Chinakhov shot from the slot. To the Devils’ credit, they forced the Blue Jackets to take shots from the perimeter in the first half of the period.

Play opened up more in the second half of the second frame, and Allen and Columbus netminder Jet Greaves were responsible for keeping the game scoreless for as long as it was. Jesper Bratt hit the post following a fantastic give-and-go with Erik Haula with just over 12 minutes remaining in the period. With just over seven minutes to go, Zach Werenski drove around the Devils’ net and shoveled a pass to Kent Johnston in the slot. Allen made the save on Johnston’s shot and dove on the rebound.

About a minute later, Stefan Noesen made a touch pass to Timo Meier, flying through the neutral zone. Meier dropped his shoulder and made a power move on the Blue Jackets’ defenseman, driving hard to the net and sliding the puck home through the five-hole. 1-0 Devils!

We know who we’re picking to win our bracket. pic.twitter.com/Cl097nYnhn

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 18, 2025​

Less than a minute later, Jesper Bratt benefited from a misplayed puck by Jet Greaves. The Columbus goalie tried to gather a dump-in behind the net, but the puck hit off of his stick and drifted out above the goal line. Bratt read the play and put himself in the right place at the right time to bang the puck home before Greaves could regain the net. 2-0 Devils!

As easy as dotting the ‘i’ pic.twitter.com/G1WH23TD0a

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 18, 2025​

The Blue Jackets’ barn seemed deflated following the second Devils goal, but they continued to push back. According to NHL.com, Columbus recorded 14 shots in the second frame, but Allen stopped them all. New Jersey played smart hockey for the final five minutes with the two-goal advantage, making the conservative play and bleeding time off the clock.

Jake Allen and the execution on high-danger scoring chances were why this period ended with the Devils up by two goals. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Devils recorded five high-danger scoring chances to the Blue Jackets’ one.

Third Period

The third period was an all-out onslaught by the Blue Jackets. The Devils were pinned in their defensive zone for about 18 of the 20 minutes, struggling to eek the puck past their blue line. Per the MSG broadcast, Columbus recorded 12 shots within the first half of the frame. Within the first two minutes, a wide-open Yegor Chinakhov received a pass in the slot, forcing Jake Allen to make a pad save and grab the rebound. Zach Werenski fired a tough shot from the point that Allen blockered away. About four minutes later, Allen slid across the crease to save a shot from Marchenko. Those are just the highlight saves I can remember within the first six minutes of the period.

Curtis Lazar was penalized for holding with just under nine minutes remaining in the period. Like the rest of the frame, New Jersey faced a ton of offensive zone pressure from Columbus, but the Devils escaped without damage. Unfortunately, seconds after the penalty time ended, the Blue Jackets broke through. Mathieu Olivier smacked home a puck from the slot after it deflected off of a skate. 2-1 Devils.

New Jersey had a shift in the offensive zone of Columbus for the first time with about three minutes and 40 seconds left to play. Dawson Mercer’s line pinned the puck in deep and kept it there for about a minute and ten seconds. That was the only relief the Devils had from the Blue Jackets’ barrage.

I lost track of the number of saves Jake Allen made within the last four minutes of play. He was the reason why the Devils won this game. The Devils also had the puck luck on their side. Columbus had pucks deflected just wide and bounces that easily could have been deflected into New Jersey’s net throughout the period. Those bounces and deflections went the Devils’ way tonight. The Devils didn’t muster any counterpunch against the Blue Jackets, only recording three shots in the third period. They did just enough (and I mean just enough) to hold onto a win.

Final Result: New Jersey Devils defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1.

Game Stats: NHL.com Recap, NHL.com Game Summary, NHL.com Event Summary, NHL.com Full Play-by-Play, NHL.com Shot Report, Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

Takeaways

Hit the Net!

New Jersey dominated the first period, but not only did they not have any goals to show for it, they didn’t tally the shots to prove it. The Devils held a significant advantage in offensive zone time and shot attempts (18 to 13 per the MSG broadcast), but only a fraction of those attempts (five per NHL.com) reached the net. You cannot score if you don’t shoot it on net. This was an ugly win, but had Columbus been the beneficiary of another bounce in their favor in the third period, much of the negative attention would have been focused on the lack of shots in the first period.

Jake Allen Was Great

Jake Allen saved 45 of the 46 shots he faced, according to NHL.com. He saved eight of the nine high-danger shots that he faced and recorded a save percentage of 0.975. Per Natural Stat Trick, Allen was expected to allow 3.87 goals in tonight’s game but allowed just one. With Jacob Markstrom stumbling after returning from injury, Allen should be considered the 1A goaltender out of the two in the future…at least for a bit.

Jake Allen made so many great saves tonight that he deserves a highlight.

JAKE. ALLEN. pic.twitter.com/JGlsoSaDKm

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 18, 2025​

Invisible Bottom Six

The third and fourth lines were invisible tonight. Nico Hischier’s line’s statistics aren’t great, recording a Corsi For Percentage (CF%) of 24.24 at five-on-five per Natural Stat Trick. They played much better according to the eye test, particularly Timo Meier. Cody Glass’ line led the way with a CF% of 58.06. Glass’ line was the only line that outshot the Blue Jackets while they were on the ice. Dawson Mercer’s and Curtis Lazar’s lines recorded Corsi For Percentages of 20.00 and 0.00. Yes, Lazar’s line recorded a 0.00. The third and fourth lines were outshot 14 to one at five-on-five. Lazar’s line didn’t tally a single shot. They were just as insignificant as the statistics say. Besides Mercer’s line pinning the puck in the offensive zone for a minute in the third period and maybe a shot in the first period, it is hard to think of a highlight from either line. This was a game with a playoff-like atmosphere, and the Devils need to get better production from the bottom six.

Up Next

The Devils will return home to face the Calgary Flames on Thursday at 7:00 PM ET.

Your Thoughts

Any way you cut it, a win is a win, which still counts for two points. What do you make of that game? What do you make of that third period? How are you feeling as the playoff picture becomes clearer? Let us know in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...od-onslaught-from-the-blue-jackets-to-win-2-1

 

[New Jersey Devils]

New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: Waiting on Gritsyuk

Someday soon ... hopefully. | George Walker IV-USA TODAY Sports

There are reports the Devils are trying to sign Arseni Gritsyuk now, but it’s unlikely to happen before the end of the season, if it happens at all.

Arseni Gritsyuk has come a long way since the Devils drafted him in the 5th round (127th overall) in 2019. The Russian winger celebrated his 24th birthday this weekend and is 12th in the KHL in points per game with 17 goals and 42 points in 47 contests. Devils fans have been excited for the SKA St. Petersburg star to come over to North America for some time and it looks like some more waiting is in order.

For his part, it seems like Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald does not want to wait.

“That’s what we’re trying to do right now,” Fitzgerald explained when asked about Grtisyuk’s status. “We’re trying to get him under contract right now. That’s the goal, to get him over here and give him a chance to show us what he can do.”

Arseni Gritsyuk’s contract ends on May 31st. While there are rules allowing a buyout of a player under contract in the KHL, SKA and Gritsyuk would both have to agree to the terms. Only two points out of first place in the Bobrov Division, SKA is unlikely to do the Devils any favors letting Gritsyuk out of his deal and the KHL and the NHL are not exactly on the best of terms these days. So, while it is theoretically possible Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald could work some magic to get Gritsyuk over during a playoff run, as in it’s also theoretically possible for seas to part (a phenomenon known as wind setdown), it is also not very likely.

So, will Arseni Gritsyuk come over to the Devils next season? Definitely maybe. Gritsyuk has expressed a desire to come over after this contract ends, but as of Sunday morning nothing is written in stone and he would not be the first player to use the NHL as a bargaining chip to leverage for more money to stay with his Russian club. So, on we wait.

Around the Pool:​

• Russian defender Anton Silayev scored his 2nd of the year on this play.

Anton Silayev scored his 2nd of the season!

It's OK, 18-year-old defenseman usually busy with other stuff (94 hits, 79 BKS, 17:26 TOI, 55 GP). pic.twitter.com/Si7vDPLjqe

— KHL (@khl_eng) March 3, 2025​

• Streaky forward Samu Salminen is heating up again as playoffs begin. This season, Salminen had 9 goals, 23 points in 36 games, all collegiate highs. Here’s a look at a crafty assist around the netmouth.

A very nice backhand pass into the slot from Samu Salminen ('21, 3rd Rd) that leads to Denver taking a 3-1 lead. #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/jn5V9GuCqD

— Daniel Rebain (@pvtmcbain) March 9, 2025​

• College hockey has begun its post season and Goaltender Mikhail Yegorov has gotten Boston University off to a good start.

Behind Cole Eiserman's overtime heroics and Mikhail Yegorov's 36 saves, the BU men's hockey team advanced to the Hockey East semifinals with a 3-2 win over UMass.

@BNords03
@tokenalaskan https://t.co/gpwBDE7Ub0 pic.twitter.com/KSP0BxVjkk

— Boston Hockey Blog (@BOShockeyblog) March 16, 2025​

• Newcomer to the Devils prospect pool, forward Shane LaChance potted this goal for Boston University in that game.

Shane Lachance ('21, 6th Rd) opened the scoring on the power play for BU tonight, as the Terriers would go on to win 3-2 in overtime to advance to the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden Thursday night. #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/fbWsm0nGSP

— Daniel Rebain (@pvtmcbain) March 16, 2025​

• Lastly, a nice snipe from defender Daniil Orlov for his fifth of the season.

5th goal of the season for #NJDevils prospect defenseman Daniil Orlov.
5-9--14 PTS #SPR pic.twitter.com/nzcgNjghmj

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) March 12, 2025​

Your Take​

Post your comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...ey-devils-prospect-update-waiting-on-gritsyuk

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2024-25 Gamethread #69: New Jersey Devils at Columbus Blue Jackets

Put a puck or twelve past this man, Elvis. | Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils are back in Ohio for another potentially crucial four-point swing in the standings against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Make it count, Devils. Talk about it here as it happens.

It is another critical four-point swing in the balance. This time, the New Jersey Devils are in Ohio.

The Time: 7:00 PM ET

The Broadcast: TV: MSGSN, FanDuel Sports Network Ohio; Audio: Devils Hockey Radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils at the Columbus Blue Jackets

The Song of the Evening: Johnny Franck, as part of his Bilmuri project, sought to write a song all about Ohio. He did it with his somewhat-heavy country style on the American Motor Sports album with the help of Knox. The song is understandably called “2016 CAVALIERS (Ohio)”

The Rules: The rules remain the same as the Devils are back playing a meaningful game in Ohio. Please keep your language clean (this means no swearing, don’t mask it, it’s not enough, no I don’t care what Tom Fitzgerald said), respect your fellow Devils fan with no personal attacks (play nice or you will not play here), no illegal streams (this means no asking, no hints, no nothing about it), and please keep your comments relevant to this game. Go Devils!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...ckets-marchenko-werenski-hischier-bratt-again

 

[New Jersey Devils]

The Devils Should Play Jake Allen More Down the Stretch

Jake Allen making a stop | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

Between Jacob Markstrom’s recent struggles and the mathematic impossibility of Jake Allen reaching 40 GP at this point, the Devils need to play the best players they can at the moment

Let’s have some fun with blind resumes for a second.

Player A: 5 games, .927 save percentage, 3-2 record

Player B: 5 games, .828 save percentage, 1-4 record

Given that you clicked on this article, you don’t need a PhD to figure out who the two players are.

Player A is Jake Allen since the Devils returned from the Four Nations break.

Player B is Jacob Markstrom since he returned from injury.

Are we talking about relatively small sample sizes? Absolutely. Five games is not a big enough sample size to make sweeping judgments about either player, particularly two well-respected veteran netminders like Allen and Markstrom. Although if you want a larger sample size, there’s this.

Top goalies over their last 20 games https://t.co/RtBkDPbkvW pic.twitter.com/l97sN9mMBP

— MoneyPuck.com (@MoneyPuckdotcom) March 18, 2025​

No goaltender in the league has more goals saved above expected than Jake Allen in the last 20 games. For full disclosure, Markstrom is 29th on that list with 4.0 goals saved above expected.

Regardless, going back to our not-so-blind resumes for a second, five games is enough to at least take a step back and look at what you’re doing as a coaching staff. It’s enough to justify a mental break or reset for a 35 year old goaltender coming off a serious knee injury. And given how Markstrom hasn’t looked quite the same since he returned from said injury, the Devils would be smart to consider playing Jake Allen a little more down the stretch as they try to accumulate as many points as possible and inch closer to clinching a playoff spot.

That’s not to say that Markstrom should be replaced as the starter permanently. That’s not to say that he should be traded this offseason. That’s not to say that he shouldn’t be given an opportunity to try to play his way out of this recent funk (within reason). And I’m not necessarily suggesting that Jake Allen should be the unquestioned starter moving forward.

But if the idea is to try to win as many games as possible down the stretch, and if the idea is for the Devils to accumulate as many points as possible, who gives the Devils a better chance to win a hockey game right now?

Who should the Devils have more confidence in right now given their recent bodies of work?

Who do you think the Devils players have more confidence in between the pipes right now?

Publicly, the Devils will say they have confidence in both players, as they should. In games like Saturday’s against Pittsburgh where Markstrom gets shelled, they’re going to say they need to be better in front of him. And they’re right.....they do need to be better. Simon Nemec needs to clear the puck from the defensive zone when he has a chance. Dawson Mercer needs to not let a bouncing puck get past him for a scoring opportunity. Brian Dumoulin needs to not get beaten as badly as he did on the Rickard Rakell goal. The newly minted $20M defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic needs to not have a turnover that directly leads to a goal. By now, you get the idea though....that’s just 4 of the 6 goals that Markstrom allowed on Saturday (the seventh being an empty netter).

Juxtapose that to a game like what we saw on Monday against Columbus where yes, the skaters made fewer glaring errors in front of the goaltender, but make no mistake. The Devils won that game because of the brilliant play of their goaltender.

At this moment, Allen is clearly the better option.

That doesn’t mean the Devils are going to bury Markstrom, publicly or privately, just because he’s hit a rough patch coming off an injury. But there’s also nothing wrong with giving Markstrom a bit of a breather and letting him gather himself.

Markstrom should get a run of games at some point between now and the end of the regular season to get an opportunity to regain his confidence, regain his swagger, and be in a position to help the Devils win hockey games come a Best-of-Seven series. But you can give him that kind of workload while simultaneously playing the more consistent goaltender now and giving yourself a chance to win now.

The truth of the matter is that the Devils will need BOTH goaltenders to get where they want to go. The Devils aren’t going to be consistent enough offensively to win games in that matter come playoff time, so they’re going to need the guy in net to give them a chance to win more often than not. It’s not ridiculous to suggest the Devils ride the hot hand, especially when we get to the point where we’re in the middle of a playoff series and every game is a must-win. If one guy has it and the other doesn’t, they’d be foolish to continue forcing the guy who doesn’t have it into the lineup.

The Devils haven’t really had a goaltending controversy during the season, in part because Markstrom and Allen have both played well. But the Devils still gave Markstrom a starter’s workload and Allen a backup’s workload. I’m not saying they were wrong to do that because they both gave them a chance to win more often than not, but it’s also easy to remember that the outstanding trade stipulation from last year’s deal with Montreal was a factor to some extent. You know the one, where if Allen appeared in 40 or more regular season games AND if Allen’s team qualified for the playoffs, the 2025 3rd round pick the Devils owe Montreal becomes a 2nd.

With Allen at 26 games played and only 13 regular season games remaining, it is mathematically impossible for Allen to hit 40 games in the regular season.

The Devils have the luxury of having two goaltenders who have had very good seasons this year (three if we count Nico Daws in another relatively small sample size). There’s no reason for them to be stubborn and try to force one when one of them hits a rough patch.

Markstrom will get his opportunity to shine at some point, and I have little doubt that he’ll find his footing and get back into a groove like we saw before his injury. But for now, there’s nothing wrong with getting Jake Allen a little more run.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...-should-play-jake-allen-more-down-the-stretch

 

[New Jersey Devils]

DitD & Open Post - 3/19/25: Rising to The Occasion Edition

New Jersey Devils left wing Jesper Bratt (63) warms up against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 3/19/25

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

Another solid performance in a critical game as the Devils took a 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Monday night. [Devils NHL]

Interesting note from Tom Fitzgerald at the GM meetings: “He’s not just a hockey father and a GM but someone who sits on the cut-resistant equipment committee for the NHL since last year. So really, a trifecta in terms of how this has affected Tom Fitzgerald and how he feels passionately about this issue. He said he knows that the NHLPA won’t be happy about this, but he let the Players’ Association know that he intends to mandate it on his own team in New Jersey. He wants his players wearing neck guards.” [TSN]

Tom Fitzgerald talking about his son Casey’s scary experience in December: “We’re very lucky. But why the players don’t think big picture versus just, it’s about [their] career today? If they ever thought of their parents watching what we watched, they’d think differently.” [ESPN]

“Jack Hughes is a top-five center in the NHL. Anyone who says otherwise is out to lunch. Losing a player of his caliber is a tough pill to swallow for the New Jersey Devils, but his linemate for most of the season — Jesper Bratt — is rising to the occasion.” [Devils on the Rush ($)]

Jake Allen is bringing it lately:

Top goalies over their last 20 games https://t.co/RtBkDPbkvW pic.twitter.com/l97sN9mMBP

— MoneyPuck.com (@MoneyPuckdotcom) March 18, 2025​

Hockey Links​

“Power play opportunities have plummeted year-over-year and teams are on track for the fewest man-advantage chances since the NHL began tracking data in 1963-64, but the league attributes that to player conformance to rules standards rather than missed calls by referees.” [Daily Faceoff]

Which players have been the biggest disappointments so far this season? [The Athletic ($)]

Olympic rosters:

Italy NHL Olympic update:
The plan as of now regarding Olympic rosters is for each country to name 6 players in June and the rest of their rosters end of December.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 18, 2025​

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...etails-3-19-25-rising-to-the-occasion-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2024-25 Gamethread #70: New Jersey Devils vs. Calgary Flames

Vladar and Backlund come to the Rock tonight. | Photo by Gerry Thomas/2024 NHLI via Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils begin their final stretch of the 2024-25 regular season with a home game against Alberta’s other hockey team: the Calgary Flames. Talk about the game as it happens here.

Back home and the final stretch of games is apparent. Alberta’s other team will visit the New Jersey Devils to start off the final 12 games.

The Time: 7:00 PM ET

The Broadcast: TV: MSGSN2; Audio: Devils Hockey Radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils vs. the Calgary Flames

The Song of the Evening: Let us take a quick turn back into death metal. But not the heavy, gory, brutal styles. Instead, the melodic death metal that blew up (relatively) in the scene back in the 1990s. In Flames helped make that sound popular in that scene with songs like “Artifacts of the Black Rain” from their classic album The Jester Race.

The Rules: The rules remain the same as the Devils are hosting Alberta’s other team that is originally from Atlanta. Please keep your language clean (this means no swearing, don’t mask it, it’s not enough, no I don’t care what Tom Fitzgerald said), respect your fellow Devils fan with no personal attacks (play nice or you will not play here), no illegal streams (this means no asking, no hints, no nothing about it), and please keep your comments relevant to this game. Go Devils!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...y-flames-backlund-vladar-meier-hischier-bratt

 

[New Jersey Devils]

DitD & Open Post - 3/21/25: Unraveled Edition

New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) makes a save on Calgary Flames left wing Jonathan Huberdeau (10) during the third period at Prudential Center. | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 3/21/25

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

It all came unraveled. The Flames scored four third-period goals to blow past the Devils and claim a 5-3 win on a thoroughly disappointing Thursday night. [Devils NHL]

“When the New Jersey Devils acquired Jacob Markstrom to pair with Jake Allen, they looked to have assembled one of the league’s best veteran goaltending tandems. While that has proven to be the case, I don’t think anyone expected it would be Allen driving the bus for the team during its most important stretch of the season. He has started more games than Jacob Markstrom in 2025 and is one of the biggest reasons – if not the biggest – they’re still comfortably holding onto a playoff spot.” [Infernal Access ($)]

Hockey Links​

“American billionaire Dan Friedkin has emerged as a strong ownership option to bring the NHL to Houston, sources told ESPN. Attempts to reach The Friedkin Group for comment were unsuccessful, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed in an email that the league has met with the group ‘on a number of occasions about potential interest in a Houston expansion franchise.’” [ESPN]

A look at how the NHL could try to balance the tax question around the league: [Sportsnet]

How could the NHL improve the postseason? A look at some options: [The Athletic ($)]

“The NHL is teasing a potential new era for its annual all-star showcase. Following the runaway success of last month’s 4 Nations Face-Off, which replaced the NHL’s traditional All-Star Game, the league is prepared to roll out something entirely different again in February 2026 when the New York Islanders host the sport’s top skaters at UBS Arena.” [ESPN]

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/3/21/24390756/devils-in-the-details-3-21-25-unraveled-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Missing Siegenthaler or When the New Jersey Devils Defense Began to Stink

Apparently, the most pivotal injury of the 2024-25 New Jersey Devils season happened to Jonas Siegenthaler. | Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images

Apparently, the biggest injury to strike the 2024-25 New Jersey Devils may be the one to Jonas Siegenthaler. Since February 4, the Devils’ defense has been awful. This post shows the numbers and offers some suggestions to fix some of this before the playoffs.

Since the injuries to The Big Deal and Dougie Hamilton, there has been much made about how the New Jersey Devils need to dig in, grind for results, and focus more on defense.

This makes some sense. The Devils did have strong on-ice rates that one would associate with defense for most of this season. Sheldon Keefe was brought in to keep the Devils from rushing up and there has been more patience (in theory and usually in practice) in their own end with the puck for zone exits. The team was intentionally made to be more defensive in addition to being “tougher” from this past offseason. And, thanks to Person Who Matters HughesYourDaddy, even the PDOCast has commented on how the Devils have been more focused on being better defensively than they have been on offense.

However, the results on the ice aren’t matching with these narratives and arguments. Regardless the record, this team has been Bad at defense recently. Really bad, in fact. Whether you want to judge good defense as limiting shot attempts (Corsi), shots on net, or just high danger chances, it has been Bad for the Devils. And it’s been one since one crucial injury: The Jonas Siegenthaler injury.

Yes, that one. Since February 4, the night he was hurt in the Pittsburgh game, New Jersey’s numbers have went in the wrong direction at both ends of the ice in 5 on 5 play, the most common situation in hockey. And not just slightly wrong, very wrong. It was thought that Brian Dumoulin was acquired in part to salvage the loss of Siegenthaler. Again, the results on the ice are not backing that up either. Here’s a breakdown of the numbers from Natural Stat Trick. No, they do not include last night’s meltdown loss to Calgary. Although it is another example of how bad it has been getting for New Jersey.

First, for shot attempts (Corsi) divided up by danger. So if you prefer high-danger over all else, you have that.

Natural Stat Trick
New Jersey Devils Shot Attempts Allowed per 60 minutes by Danger

This is bad! Up until the Siegenthaler injury, the Devils were on the right side of the league when it came to allowing attempts. Since that injury, they have been one of the worst. They are in the bottom ten of the league outside of medium danger chances allowed, which was just barely ahead of 23rd place. The Devils have conceded more than 4 more attempts per 60 minutes total, which is plenty of additional time spent in their own end. They have conceded about 2-3 more low-danger attempts per 60, 1 more medium danger attempt per 60, and 2-3 more high-danger attempts per 60. That is evidence of not good defending. If you care about the apparent fill-in that is Brian Dumoulin, the evidence is showing here that he is not really helping the cause. I know, it is not all on him. But he is not helping.

But that is just attempts. What about the attempts that get on (or in) the net? The ones that make Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom to make some saves? Here is the same breakdown but for shots on net.

Natural Stat Trick
New Jersey Devils Shots Allowed per 60 minutes by Danger

It is not any better! The Devils are giving up now over 30 shots per 60 minutes since the Trade Deadline and they were creeping close to that after Siegenthaler got hurt. Before the injury, they were a top-five team in SA/60! Top five! Not including last night’s games, they were next to last since March 7! More high-danger shots allowed, more medium danger shots allowed (perhaps the opponents are more accurate?), and more low-danger shots allowed. The defense has been getting gashed since #71 left the game early in Pittsburgh. With and without Dumoulin.

What I am still struggling to figure out is whether the lack of offense is helping or hurting this. It is easy to say, “Well, without Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, your offense will suffer and so you will defend more.” The problem is that the offense took a nose dive since the Siegenthaler injury and that included games with The Big Deal and Hamilton on the ice.

New Jersey Devils Shots and Attempts Taken per 60 minutes by Danger

Outside of medium danger shots, the Devils have cratered into the bottom-ten of the NHL for attempts and shots. They were not exactly a prolific low-danger shooting team, but that got worse. The high-danger chances have went down big time. Even though the medium-danger shot rates may still rank well, they have fallen off since the injury to Siegenthaler. The Devils have been worse without Siegenthaler - and even in the brief time with The Big Deal and Hischier together. (Also, not that anyone was really making this asinine point, but having Jack Hughes out has not helped the other Devils play better on offense either.)

It sounds weird to point to a purely defensive defenseman having a fantastic defensive season for a point of where it all went wrong. But the data points to this. While Siegenthaler may not have contributed much to the Devils directly on offense, being able to get stops and kill plays opens up shifts for others to attack. This is hockey. If you’re not attacking, you’re on defense. If you’re not on defense, you’re attacking. The Devils have been doing a lot of the former before Siegenthaler’s injury - disappointing as January was, it was not nearly as awful as February or what we have seen since in March. Since the Siegenthaler injury, it has all went down for the Devils. Acquisitions like Cody Glass, Dumoulin, and deferring salary to Trent Frederic have not stemmed the bleeding.

Sure, the Devils have had some offensive explosions such as a 5-0 win over Nashville or a 5-3 win over Columbus, but they have also had some absolutely miserable losses or wins carried on the back of Jake Allen playing out of his mind. I understand that the population sizes are different, but such is life. There isn’t another 30-40 games for the Devils to play for us to analyze as to whether the team would figure things out. Which is a problem in of itself. The playoffs are looming and a team built to be older and more defensive is struggling with handling third periods either with (see last night’s loss or Monday’s win in Columbus) or without a lead (see the loss in Pittsburgh last Saturday or last Thursday’s win over Edmonton). No, letting the goaltender bail the team out over and over is not “handling a period.” If anything, that’s soft. Which is mystifying when you consider how experienced this team is; something Soft Tom Fitzgerald added to the team with Dumoulin by the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.

What this all means means is that the New Jersey Devils defense has been really bad since Siegenthaler got hurt. The data shows that. Some recent ugly performances help supplant that. No surprise but to the most most ardent cheerleader of the status quo or someone who believes in the MSG broadcast team for analysis. And they are not reading this site anyway. And if you are, forgive me, but it has been that bad. It is OK to admit it. The world will not end if you do.

So what can the Devils do about it now?

The bad news is that with 12 games left in the season and a playoff matchup with Carolina looming in the distance, the Devils really do not have the time to work out and implement a whole new system of playing defense. The good news is that there are adjustments the coaching staff can, and I think, should make fairly quickly.

First, the pairings have to change. Since the trade deadline, head coach Sheldon Keefe finally decided (or was forced by injury) to be more adventurous with the forward lines. With some mixed success, too. The defensive pairings have been mostly the same save for Simon Nemec drawing back in for Dennis Cholowski after Cholowski demonstrated his snail-like pace for this level of hockey. It has been Brett Pesce-Luke Hughes, Brian Dumoulin-Jonathan Kovacevic, and Brenden Dillon-Simon Nemec for recent games. This needs to be broken up because this is not working well.

As far as what should be tried, it could be anything at this point. The next 12 games need to be about figuring out who can work well with who and running with it until they cannot or someone has a miserable game. Like Kovacevic. His performance in Columbus alone should have forced a change with his pairing. His primary assist on Jonathan Huberdeau’s game winning goal should do it for tomorrow.

Second, the forward lines need to get the message that they need to be more active down low. This team is not doing rush offense, yet wingers are flashing out of the zone expecting some kind of lead pass if there is an early stop. Forward three coming into the zone is not able or unaware of who to pick up upon reading the situation. There is a lot looseness from the forwards that only make the defensemen’s issues even worse. There has to be an emphasis from the coaching staff to plant someone - anyone - in the slot to do more than just wait to clean up a puck.

Third, tie up, tie up, tie up. For a team filled with experienced players and apparent toughness, where are the sticks being tied up? Where are the stick lifts? Where is the necessary obstruction in dangerous areas? I am not asking the Devils to hook and hold like it is 1995. I am asking for perfectly legal plays on sticks that keep opponents from getting free shots. Entirely doable and something I would expect from the likes of Dillon, Pesce, and so forth.

Fourth, stop selling out for blocks! While the data in this post did not include last night’s game, allow me to reference one of the killer goals against in last night’s meltdown: The game-tying goal. Daniil Miromanov was sprung in a give-and-go by Blake Coleman that eluded Cody Glass. Brian Dumoulin knew well enough to break from Yegor Sharangovich. Only to get down on one knee to defend a passing lane that was not actually there. Had he remained standing, he could have stick checked, he could have moved in on Miromanov, he could have done something other than just be a pylon for the goal scorer to shoot around. This is an example but Devils defenders selling out for blocks rarely get the results they aim for. This needs to be coached out of them as soon as they can.

Fifth, most of all, you still need to attack. What did I write earlier? If you’re not attacking, then you’re defending. The Devils have been caved in big time in third periods in most of their last four games. It burned them last night against Calgary and it could have been the same in Columbus and against Edmonton. The Devils absolutely need to maintain an offense regardless of the score situation to help out their defense. If all of the team is doing is chipping it out or dumping-and-changing, then the coaching staff has to change a matchup, adjust a line, or give some kind of different instruction. All that does is continue to invite the other team to attack and as they keep firing away, they may get those goals to get back into games or pull games away. Not to mention how much pressure it puts on the defensemen and especially the goaltender. This means the team needs more than a rare possession shift from Cody Glass in the third period. They need something balanced. If they are not getting it, then they need to make in-game adjustments until they do. What Keefe did against Edmonton was like that - until they just stopped after the lead. Of all of the points, this is the most important in my mind.

Look, Jonas Siegenthaler, Jack Hughes, and Dougie Hamilton are not coming off the bench anytime soon for the Devils. It would be great if they did and it would be really interesting if their play would flip the script with these on-ice rates. Whether you have faith in the roster remaining on the Devils or not is beside the point. There are 12 games left to be played and then the playoffs. Even if all five of my suggestions are terrible, Sheldon Keefe and his staff has to do something to fix the team’s defensive struggles. Otherwise, the Devils’ against rates will remain in the bottom ten. More importantly, they will likely blow more games like they did last night as opposed to winning them.

The 2024-25 New Jersey Devils surely miss Jonas Siegenthaler and so do I. Thank you for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...ense-began-stink-fix-it-keefe-soft-tommy-fitz

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Game Preview #71: Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils

Nico Hischier skates against the Calgary Flames. | Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Following a third-period collapse against the Calgary Flames, the New Jersey Devils will try to play a full 60 minutes against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Check out the matchup in this game preview.

The Essentials

Matchup: Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils

Date: March 22nd, 2025

Time: 7:00 PM ET

Broadcast: MSGSN, MSGSN2, SN1, TVAS2, ESPN+

Listen: Devils Hockey Network

The Last Devils Game: The Devils took on the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. In the first period, the Devils killed off a couple of penalties, and Nico Hischier, driving hard to the net, scored with the assistance of Timo Meier whacking away at Calgary’s goaltender. The second period also started fine when Erik Haula’s wayward shot took a favorable bounce off Kevin Bahl and into the net. New Jersey allowed a power-play goal near the midway point of the second, but Paul Cotter tucked one home in the final minute of play for a 3-1 lead. Disaster struck in the third period, however, when the Devils allowed four goals (counting an empty-netter), including two goals within a minute. The Devils got caved in again in the third to lose 5-3. Check out Chris’ recap if you’d like to relive a frustrating game.

The Last Senators Game: Ottawa also had a rough outing Thursday, losing to the Colorado Avalanche 5-1. Unlike the Devils, the Senators got stomped on right out of the gate, allowing four goals in the first period. Ottawa recorded 16 shots during the entire game. Meanwhile, the Avalanche tallied nearly that many in that first period alone. Colorado scored twice on the power play, and newcomer Brock Nelson scored twice on the way to an easy victory. If you’d like to learn more about this game, check out NHL.com’s Gamecenter.

The Last Time: The Devils last played the Sens on January 19th and were defeated 2-1. New Jersey was struggling following the Christmas break and was dealing with an illness making its way through the locker room. The Devils had a solid first period, tallying 16 shots, but had nothing to show for it. The second period, which has typically been a strong period for the Devils this season, was a struggle against the Sens. New Jersey only recorded three measly shots in the third and ten total in the latter two periods. Tomas Tatar scored to tie the game in the second period, but Artem Zub fired home the game-winner against Jacob Markstrom in the third. If you’d like to refresh your memory regarding the last game against the Senators, check out Jackson’s game recap. New Jersey’s season series against Ottawa is tied at one win a piece.

Recent Momentum: The Senators (36-27-5) had been hot, winning six straight games in early to mid-March, but have now lost two in a row. The Sens will be looking to right the ship against the Devils. Outside of a stinker against Pittsburgh and a bad third period against Columbus, New Jersey (37-27-6) had been getting better results, winning four of their last five before Thursday. Another brutal third-period collapse and loss to Calgary, following a bad third period against Columbus, has shown there is a lot to clean up.

Lineups

New Jersey Devils

The Devils sent out the following lines against Calgary. Head coach Sheldon Keefe is still searching for the right line combinations to roll all four lines. More on that below.

The chel lineup is set. pic.twitter.com/hSnDMSP4qe

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 20, 2025​

With Jacob Markstrom still trying to find his game, I’d expect Jake Allen to be the starting goalie on Saturday.

Ottawa Senators

The Senators deployed the following lines and pairings in practice on Friday morning.

Sens practice lines.
(No Zub)

Tkachuk-Stützle -Zetterlund
Perron-Cozens-Batherson
Greig-Pinto-Giroux
Highmore-Gaudette-Amadio

Sanderson-Hamonic
Chabot-Jensen
Kleven-Matinpalo

— TSN 1200 Ottawa (@TSN1200) March 21, 2025​

Linus Ullmark has been the starting goalie in their last four games, so Anton Forsberg is projected to start against the Devils.

What to Watch For

Familiar Additions

At the trade deadline, the Senators added a couple of players that the Devils are familiar with. As the People Who Matter probably noticed in TSN1200’s post on X, former Devil Fabian Zetterlund was acquired by Ottawa and is getting reps on the top line with Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle. Zetterlund has 17 goals this season and has not yet recorded a point with Ottawa.

The Senators also added Dylan Cozens from the Buffalo Sabres. Cozens is slated to center the second line with Drake Batherson and David Perron. Cozens has tallied 14 goals and 37 points this season and has fit in well in Ottawa. Since the trade, Cozens has been one of the hotter Senators, posting six points, including three goals, in the last seven games. Aside from the known threats like Stutzle and Tkachuk, the Devils will need to keep a close eye on the revamped second with Batherson, who is second on the team in points. Batherson has also been racking up points, recording three goals and six points in the last five games. The Devils will have to keep an eye on both forwards and Ottawa’s revamped second line.

Playoff Positioning

Ottawa will be motivated to get back in the win column amid a tight playoff race. The Senators are just three points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. With 77 points, Ottawa is only five points ahead of both the New York teams.

Despite the disastrous loss on Thursday, the Devils playoff position remains essentially the same, trailing the Hurricanes by eight points. New Jersey is still eight points ahead of the Rangers and Islanders for third in the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders will have their turn against the Flames on Saturday, while the Rangers will face the Canucks.

Let’s See a Full 60!

The Devils were up 2-0 against the Blue Jackets and got torched in the third period but held on to win. New Jersey was up 3-1, entering the third against Calgary, and got lit up again. Missing the talent they are, the Devils cannot circle the wagons and hope for the best when they have a lead. New Jersey gave up 14 high-danger chances in the third period against Columbus. 14! They gave up five in the third period versus the Flames. In those two third periods combined, the Devils tallied TWO high-danger chances of their own. They have been outshot 39 to seven in the third periods of those two games. Taking leads into the third is exactly where this team wants to be, but they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas. Let’s see a complete game effort tonight. Please.

Search for the Right Line Combinations

Head coach Sheldon Keefe is still tinkering with the line combinations, particularly where to utilize Jesper Bratt. In the last three games Bratt has been on lines with Cody Glass and Daniel Sprong (against Pittsburgh), Glass and Haula (against Columbus), and Dawson Mercer and Tomas Tatar (against Calgary). Bratt’s lines have had Corsi For Percentages (CF%) of 50 or higher when paired with Glass. During the broadcast on Thursday night, Bill Spaulding and Ken Daneyko spoke about how quickly Glass has picked up Keefe’s system, which explains why he has had success in his short stint with the Devils thus far. Glass and Bratt had good chemistry in the two games they played together and that may be because Glass was reliably in the correct position to work with Bratt. I’d keep those two together.

So, who fills in on the wing? Keefe has said he likes how Mercer plays as a center so that rules him out, leaving Erik Haula and Daniel Sprong - or a new addition. I wouldn’t mind giving Paul Cotter a shot in that role. Cotter has shown he can put the puck in the net (15 goals this season) more so than Haula (7) or someone like Tomas Tatar (6). Cotter would have to play on his off side, but so would Haula or Tatar. Sprong is the only option who shoots from the right side, and if they could get his shot going, it would be great, but that is a lot to ask from a player who hasn’t seen a ton of NHL action this season. It will be interesting to see what moves Keefe implements to optimize all four lines going into Saturday’s game and the playoffs.

Your Thoughts

What adjustments to the lines would you make if you were Sheldon Keefe? Will the Devils play a full 60 minutes? What do you make of the Senators’ additions at the trade deadline compared to the Devils? Let us know in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/3/22/24391466/ottawa-senators-new-jersey-devils

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2024-25 Gamethread #71: New Jersey Devils vs. Ottawa Senators

Zub! Palat! Sanderson! A goalie! Tonight! | Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils will take on their final Eastern Conference opponent of the month of March tonight. Really. They are hosting Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators tonight. Talk about it here as it happens.

Here is a fun fact: this is the final Eastern Conference opponent for the New Jersey Devils this month. The remaining five games in March will finish up the Devils’ schedule against the Western Conference for the regular season. This opponent’s biggest star has a man apparently built for the playoffs, provided you ignore the fact that he has not yet made it to the playoffs.

Back home and the final stretch of games is apparent. Alberta’s other team will visit the New Jersey Devils to start off the final 12 games.

The Time: 7:00 PM ET

The Broadcast: TV: MSGSN2, MSGSN; Audio: Devils Hockey Radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils vs. the Ottawa Senators

The Song of the Evening: Ingrown. The heaviest thing to come out of Idaho. If you’re into hardcore, you either A) know who they are or B) should learn. Their 2025 album Idaho is brisk, heavy, and will definitely end up on a best-of lists by year’s end. A lot of hardcore bands should follow their example. Here is an example from their album, “Hellbound,” featuring Ross Dolan of Immolation.

The Rules: The rules remain the same as the Devils are taking on Ontario’s less annoying team. Please keep your language clean (this means no swearing, don’t mask it, it’s not enough, no I don’t care what Tom Fitzgerald said), respect your fellow Devils fan with no personal attacks (play nice or you will not play here), no illegal streams (this means no asking, no hints, no nothing about it), and please keep your comments relevant to this game. Go Devils!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...rs-tkachuk-giroux-norris-hischier-bratt-meier

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Horrific Second Period Sinks New Jersey Devils in 3-2 Loss to Ottawa Senators

Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Getty Images

One game after an inexcusably bad third period cost the Devils two points, a horrific second period was the key in their second straight loss

The New Jersey Devils have made a habit recently of putting forth terrible efforts in third periods. In the last 10 days, games against the Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Calgary Flames have seen New Jersey seemingly forget how to play hockey after the 40-minute mark. It didn’t cost them against the Oilers or Blue Jackets, but they paid the price in a regulation loss to the Flames last time out. Well this time around, the Devils decided to get a jump on no-showing a period, as they allowed three goals in an embarrassing second period in a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

After the meltdown against the Flames, head coach Sheldon Keefe, captain Nico Hischier, and a slew of other players all seemed bewildered as to what happened to them. It’s as if they believed a wizard came down from the mountains and put a curse on them for the final 20 minutes against Calgary, like they had no agency of their own. It was a little alarming to see them react with confusion and shock, as opposed to confident determination that it was a bad result that they wouldn’t allow to happen again.

Well happen again it did, but one period early this time.

In tonight’s second period, the Devils were outshot 8-6, which really doesn’t tell the story at all considering shots were 8-1 in the frame at one point. Ottawa took their foot off the gas pedal after scoring three. What’s more, it’s not like those cosmetic shots New Jersey put up actually threatened to find the back of the net. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Devils posted a 5-on-5 Expected Goals For% of 19.01%. High Danger Chances in the second were 4-0 in favor of Ottawa, and while New Jersey did manage to score in the second period (a power play goal by Hischier) it was IMMEDIATELY followed by a tripping call on Stefan Noesen and a Senators power play goal of their own to blunt what little momentum the Devils gained from Hischier’s tally.

Brady Tkachuk scored first tonight, a redirection from just outside the crease that beat Jake Allen. Brenden Dillon and Brian Dumoulin were both standing right next to Tkachuk, but for some reason it never occurred to either of them to tie up the stick of a player whose entire game revolves around just standing around the front of the net hoping good things will happen. Goal, 1-0.

Half a minute later (33 seconds to be exact), Dylan Cozens found Drake Batherson completely unmarked on the doorstep, and Batherson tapped in another easy score. To be fair there was some luck involved in that one, as a point shot caromed off Timo Meier and directly to Cozens. But that chaos was brought on by the Devils’ own ineptitude. They failed to win any battles, connect on a pass, and get a clear, and it cost them. Goal, 2-0.

After Hischier ripped home a one-timer off a sweet Jesper Bratt feed (more on that below), Noesen took his aforementioned penalty. It was a mere 32 seconds after Hischier scored. The call was a little ticky tack, but far from a grave injustice. On the ensuing power play, Claude Giroux cranked a slap shot toward the net, and it banked off David Perron’s leg and in. In the blink of an eye, the Devils had all their momentum ripped away. Goal, 3-1.

The two 5-on-5 goals were emblematic of that entire period. New Jersey completely lost their defensive structure, allowing chance after chance the other way. Allen wasn’t all-world tonight, but he did make some strong saves to keep the game from getting completely out of hand. His teammates utterly failed him in the middle frame tonight. And that’s to say nothing of a completely nonexistent offense. I can’t remember the last time I saw a team fail to execute simple passes at the scale New Jersey did in the second period. Really it was a problem all night long, but the second was wear it manifested the most.

And what’s even more alarming to me is that this did not come against one of the elite teams in this league. This came against a solid but far from spectacular Senators team. Yes they have some skill, and yes they like to play a physical game (although that physicality crosses over into just straight up dirty play a lot. The Senators are one of the dirtiest teams in the league in my opinion, which is no surprise considering who their captain is). But this is not a team full of Connor McDavids or Cale Makars. The fact that the Devils couldn’t put up a strong effort against a team as average as this is disturbing.

Anyway, that 3-1 score held until under half a minute to go when Erik Haula scored with the net pulled to bring the Devils to within one. And incredibly, New Jersey came very close to notching the tying goal in the dying seconds of regulation after a few players took shots toward the net in the shift after the Haula goal. But the bounces did not go New Jersey’s way, and they suffered another regulation loss.

Once again, this team fails to show up for a 20-minute interval, and it costs them. I didn’t think they played the best first period, they certainly weren’t crisp with their passes or decision making. But it was a reasonable opening frame. And the third period was pretty much all Devils, but that’s what happens when a team turtles as hard as the Senators did. We’ve seen that plenty over the last 10 days or so from New Jersey, and it’s telling that Ottawa almost suffered a catastrophic fate for their decision to play not to lose. But either way, New Jersey did dominate the third (a 5-on-5 xGF% of 83.15% per NST), and while score effects were a huge factor in that, I will still credit the Devils for generating chances.

But it wasn’t enough, and now all of a sudden after a recent stretch of four wins in five games, New Jersey has lost two in a row and is back into “Less than a lock” territory to make the postseason. I still think it is more likely than not they will get in, but if this trend of forgetting how to play for 20 minutes at a time continues, they might just complete this slow motion collapse that has been going on since late December.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

The Game Highlights: Courtesy of the NHL’s website

Congratulations​

On a night with very little to celebrate, one moment deserves mention.

With his assist on Nico Hischier’s power play goal, Jesper Bratt notched his 61st assist, setting a new franchise record for assists in a single season:

How 'bout them apples? All 61 of them.#NJDevils | #MadeInJersey | @Verizon pic.twitter.com/Cx5gedJs1g

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 23, 2025​

Scott Stevens set the previous mark in 1993-94. Congratulations to Bratt for breaking a 31-year old franchise record, what an amazing accomplishment for a 6th round draft pick. Simply put, Bratt is one of the greatest draft picks in franchise history. Here’s to many more assists in a long and fruitful NHL career.

And while not as noteworthy, I do want to also mention that Hischier’s goal was his 30th on the season. It’s the second time in his career he’s reached the 30-goal plateau, with the other instance being his 31 goals in 2022-23, and with 11 games to go he has a great chance to set a new personal best.

And by the way, according to the MSG Broadcast tonight, Hischier became only the second Swiss-born player in NHL history to post multiple 30-goal campaigns. The only other player to do it? Timo Meier. Congrats to the captain.

Getting His Foote In The Door​

Nolan Foote was recalled from Utica for this game. It was his third game at the NHL level this season, and his first since November 27th against the St. Louis Blues.

How did he do? He played 9:45, mostly on a line with Dawson Mercer and Daniel Sprong. He had one shot on goal, and a 5-on-5 xGF% of 45.27%.

In a word...meh. It’s hard to expect too much out of him, so I thought his game was fine tonight. It would be nice if he could put forth some more noteworthy performances though.

Please Win A Faceoff​

The Devils went 1-for-3 on their power plays tonight. On paper that’s a great mark. But it could’ve been more. Whether it was Nico Hischier or someone else taking the draw for him, the Devils consistently lost faceoffs on the power play tonight, and it cost them anywhere from 15-20 seconds of zone time, not to mention what other time they lost on failed entries.

And while it wasn’t on a power play, when Haula scored late to give the Devils a sliver of hope, New Jersey lost the ensuing faceoff at center ice, costing them about another 10-15 seconds of potential zone time.

At the macro level, I don’t think faceoffs matter all that much. But at the micro level, some situational draws like on power plays or after a goal that pulls you to within one with less than a minute to play are extremely crucial. Who knows, maybe one more faceoff won would’ve tipped the scales tonight.

Wow​

This was Sheldon Keefe after the game:

.@GabeCTrevino: Kovacevic just mentioned to us that the team needs to have a “playoff mindset” going down the stretch —

Sheldon Keefe: Kovacevic just needs to play better. That would help…

*Ends press conference* #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/McuwJqcu4j

— Trey Matthews (@treymatt4) March 23, 2025​

On the one hand, that is an alarming callout of an important player, and I hope it doesn’t fracture the locker room too much. But on the other hand, good for Keefe for tearing into his players when their effort is clearly unacceptable, and is fracturing a locker room that produces efforts like this really the worst thing in the world anyway?

I really am torn on whether I think this was a good move or a bad move on Keefe’s part. I suppose time will tell.

Next Time Out​

The Devils continue their battles against Canadian teams when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. Puck drop is a little later than usual at 7:30pm.

Your Take​

Were you as disgusted at that second period as I was? What do you think of Keefe’s razor sharp criticism of Kovacevic? What do you expect next time out? As always, thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...oss-to-ottawa-senators-tkachuk-hughes-hischer

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Weekly Metropolitan Division Snapshot: 3/23/2025 - 3/29/2025

The ‘X’ is Washington’s. | Photo by Jess Rapfogel/NHLI via Getty Images

In the twenty-first weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the 2024-25 season, the Washington Capitals became the first to clinch their playoff spot. Over in the wild card, the New York Islanders have emerged. Learn about what happened last week and what’s next in this post.

On March 20, 2025, the Washington Capitals finally got what was expected. The ‘X.’ The traditional mark in the standings for a team who has clinched the playoffs. The Capitals became the first team in the 2024-25 NHL season as well as the Metropolitan Division to clinch their spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They also became the first team to hit the 100 point mark as Winnipeg played later that night. With a 14-point lead over the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the division, a ‘Y’ may be given to them soon to secure first for the division. Additionally, with a 15-point lead over the Atlantic Division leaders, a ‘Z’ to mark winning the conference may also be awarded to Washington. Beyond the Capitals and the formerly-super-hot Hurricanes, there is more action within the division as the wild card race remains fierce. A smaller race as Boston is outside of five points from the last wild card spot.

Standings via NHL.com, Playoff odds via Moneypuck, First overall draft pick odds via Tankathon
Metropolitan Division Standings as of the morning of March 23, 2025 with Wild Card Watch

That race appears to be running away by the Atlantic Division teams. The Columbus Blue Jackets fell off after last week’s snapshot. The New York Rangers failed to maintain the second wild card spot; they are now behind Montreal. Suddenly, here are the New York Islanders in the mix once again. All of the games count the same but with time running out in the season, there is increased urgency. With that said, here is the schedule coming up for all eight division teams and the wild card watch. Those games against the wild card watch are in italics. The games within the Metropolitan Division are highlighted and in bold. There are not many this week but the few there are do count.

Schedules via NHL.com
Metropolitan Division Schedule for March 23, 2025 through March 29, 2025 with Wild Card Watch teams

Here is the week that was and week that will be for all eight teams.

---

Washington Capitals​

Tuesday vs. Detroit - The Capitals opened up their week by pouring more misery on the wild card hopefuls in Detroit. It was close for the most part. Until it was not, which not uncommon. The first period saw Dylan Strome open the scoring - only for Dylan Larkin to tie it up about six minutes later. The 1-1 score held all the way until eight minutes into the third period. Just after that mark, Pierre-Luc Dubois broke the tie for Washington. Six minutes later, Tom Wilson boosted the lead to 3-1. Connor McMichael added another one just over a minute later. The Capitals prevailed in the third period to win decisively 4-1.

Thursday vs. Philadelphia - The math worked out that if Washington won this game, then they would clinch the playoffs. The job was completed. Even if Washington was somehow held to just 16 shots on net. The PutinTeam Leader opened the scoring with a slapshot in the first period. The Capitals went up 3-0 in the second period thanks to an early tip-in by Brandon Duhaime and an Andrew Mangiapane goal over 11 minutes into the middle frame. However, the game did get uncomfortable in the third period. Ryan Poehling took the puck to the net and Jakob Chychrun chipped it past Charlie Lindgren to get the Flyers on the board. With the net empty and less than three minutes left, Sean Couturier jammed a puck in. The call on the ice was no goal but after review, it was a good goal. The Flyers had life - but the Capitals would hold on at 3-2. The ‘X’ was earned. As was another winning week for Washington.

Saturday vs. Florida - The first period was a goal-fest before Washington was able to pull away for yet another win. The goals were trade offs. Connor McMichael scored first. That was answered in over three minutes by Sam Bennett. John Carlson scored a slapshot later on. That was answered over a minute later by Seth Jones. Anthony Beauvillier scored a bit after that. That was answered less than a minute later by Jonah Gadjovich. The scoring break in the Capitals’ favor with a quick double in the first minute of the second period. Tom Wilson scored 7 seconds into the middle frame and Dylan Strome deflected in a feed from the PutinTeam Leader 59 seconds into the period. Andrew Mangiapane tipped in another feed from the PutinTeam Leader to make it a 6-3 score not even six minutes into the second period. From that point, the game just cruised to the end. The Capitals dethroned the defending champions. They won their fourth straight. They continue to march on to the ‘Y’ and the ‘Z.’

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Capitals get a lighter week coming up. It is not necessarily an easier one. They will be traveling to Winnipeg on Tuesday night for a matchup of the two conference leaders. On Thursday, they will be in Minneapolis playing a Wild team that are trying to get ready for their second season. The Capitals will surely like just having the two games. Given how they are playing, expect more progress towards clinching the division and the East.

Carolina Hurricanes​

Thursday at San Jose - The Carolina Hurricanes began their California trip after a four day break from their last game (and win). Did the idleness slow down the super-hot Hurricanes? No. They did get a bit of a shock early on. William Eklund opened the scoring in the first period with a shorthanded goal to put the Canes down. But they would tie it up just past halfway through the second period with a roofer from Seth Jarvis. Sebastian Aho would break the tie just before the five-minute mark in the third period. Sean Walker added an insurance goal later on in the third for what would be the 3-1 final score. The Canes’ comeback made it eight in a row.

Saturday at Los Angeles - The Hurricanes went to Los Angeles with their hot streak. The Kings poured water on it early on. Adrian Kempe dragged and ripped a puck past Pytor Kochetkov for a goal over three minutes in. Later in the first, Jesperi Kotkaniemi high-sticked Kempe. Anze Kopitar punished that by tipping in a shot from Andrei Kuzmenko to put Carolina down two. If that was not enough, Kuzmenko finished a rush from the left circle with five seconds left in the period. Down 3-0, would it get worse? Absolutely. The Kings made it rain on the Hurricanes. Trevor Moore, Tanner Jeannot, and Quinton Byfield all scored within three minutes of each other. Carolina finally broke the streak of Los Angeles goals when Dmitry Orlov scored on a slapshot. But it was 6-1. A pure consolation goal. The scoring ceased until there was two minutes left. Kevin Fiala scored for a seventh goal. Mark Jankowski immediately answered back. Regardless, the Hurricanes were routed in a hideous fashion. Their hot streak ended with an ice bath. A 7-2 loss that surely felt humbling.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: Carolina will finish up their time in California tonight when they visit Anaheim. Then they will return home for their next four games. Two of them are in this week coming up. On Tuesday, they have a chance to pour more misery on Nashville’s season. On Friday, they can take a shot at the wild card situation when they host Montreal - who would be coming off a game in Philly the night before. It is a favorable week for the Canes to keep marching on. Who knows, maybe they will get an ‘X’ of their own soon enough. First order is to bounce back from that 7-2 loss to Los Angeles.

New Jersey Devils​

Monday at Columbus - The New Jersey Devils and Blue Jackets opened up their respective weeks with a rematch and another big four-point swing. The first period was goalless. The second period saw the Devils go up by two goals. Timo Meier powered to the net and slid a puck past Jet Greaves for the game’s first goal. Late in the second, Jet Greaves misplayed a puck behind the net and Jesper Bratt was able to take the free puck. He put it into the empty net for a 2-0 lead. Columbus, knowing their playoff situation and the fact they have not scored a goal since the last Devils-Jackets game, turned up the pressure and the Devils wilted. Jake Allen was forced to attempt saves on 24 shots in the third period alone. Out of 53 shooting attempts. Mathieu Olivier would get one by Jake Allen by putting in a free puck in the slot. But Allen was absolutely wonderful. He was expected to concede 3.75 goals from those 53 attempts and he allowed just one. The Devils escaped Columbus with a 2-1 win, another big swing in their favor, and a huge blow to Columbus’ playoff situation. Hopefully they do not have another do-nothing third period. That sure could cost them a game!

Thursday vs. Calgary - The Devils hosted Calgary, a team fighting for their own playoff lives. This game started off well enough. The Devils went up first when Nico Hischier tucked in a wraparound that beat Dustin Wolf for a late 1-0 lead. They got a break in the second period when an Erik Haula shot that was going to miss the net otherwise hit off Kevin Bahl and the puck went past Wolf for a 2-0 lead. Calgary hit back with a PPG by Matt Coronato to punish a delay of game call on Brett Pesce. But the Devils restored the lead late when Paul Cotter took a puck to the net and beat Wolf for a 3-1 lead. Then the Devils just stopped in the third period. It was not as prolific as Monday night but Calgary took the game to the Devils in the third period. Connor Zary got a soft goal past Jacob Markstrom to make it 3-2. Daniil Miromanov got past Cody Glass on a give-and-go and fired a shot past a kneeling Brian Dumoulin and Markstrom for a 3-3 game. Then Jonathan Kovacevic hooked Jonathan Huberdeau with a giveaway that allowed the Flame to make it 4-3 with over three minutes left in the game. Nazem Kadri secured the comeback win with an empty netter. Yes, the Devils did a whole lot of nothing in the third period, expected their goaltender to bail them out, and since it did not work, they lost a game they should have won. Awful. (Utah, Vancouver, and St. Louis also hated this result.)

Saturday vs. Ottawa - The Devils decided to follow up their choke job against Calgary by playing a not-smart game against Ottawa. After a goalless first period, the Devils went out there and got torched by the Senators in the second period. Jake Sanderson’s halfwall shot was tipped in by Brady Tkachuk, getting inside presence on Brian Dumoulin, for the game’s first goal. On the very next shift, no one was on Drake Batherson as he one-touched a feed from Dylan Cozens to make it 2-0 for Ottawa. The Devils did get some life when Nico Hischier punished a high-sticking call on Tkachuk. This life was sapped when Stefan Noesen tripped Tyler Kleven in the offensive zone and Claude Giroux’s shot tipped in by David Perron punished it for a 3-1 deficit. The New Jersey Devils tried to respond and failed in the second period. The third period had a better effort but it was a case of too little, too late, when Erik Haula put in a backdoor feed to make it 3-2 with 24 seconds left. There would be no equalizer, although it was close when a Hischier shot hit off Noesen and the puck stayed out thanks to Noesen’s (or Artem Zub’s) skate. The Devils lost again 3-2 in a game that looked further apart than the score.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Devils will play four games in six nights coming up this week. Tomorrow, they will be hosting Vancouver. The Canucks still have a lot to play for so it will definitely be a difficult matchup. On Wednesday, the Devils begin a three-game trip by visiting Chicago. That should go well because the next two games will be much tougher. They will visit Winnipeg on Friday. The Jets waxed the Devils 6-1 earlier this month so that will be tough. On Saturday, the Devils will be in Minnesota to play a Wild team that has its own issues to sort out ahead of the playoffs. The Devils need to get their acts together, otherwise April could be an overly dramatic month for them.

New York Rangers​

Sunday vs. Edmonton - Fresh off blanking Columbus, the New York Rangers hosted Edmonton. This did not go particularly well for the home team. Late in the first, K’Andre Miller took New York’s third straight penalty of the period. Corey Perry punished it with seconds left to give the Rangers a 1-0 deficit to grouse about in the locker room. They would respond with a goal by Will Cuylle at the five minute mark. The score held at 1-1 until an unlikely player broke it. Viktor Arvidsson finished a feed from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on a rush for a 2-1 lead. Connor McDavid broke the lead wider as he scored with fewer than four minutes left in regulation. The Rangers lost 3-1 to split their weekend. It would be a taste of things to come for the week.

Tuesday vs. Calgary - The Rangers hosted Calgary on Tuesday night. Given how the Rangers were out-shot 35-13 in this one, you can sense it did not go well. The game was tighter than the run of play. All of the scoring happened in the first period too so those attending had to sweat this one out. Artemi Panarin scored over a minute into the game to give those home fans something to cheer about. They were silenced when Nazem Kadri tied it up past the halfway mark. Late in the first, Matt Rempe elbowed Jake Bean. This penalty was punished by Matt Coronato, whom made it 2-1 with less than two minutes left in the first. The Rangers response? Eight shots, two shorthanded situations, and one power play over the next 40 minutes. The Rangers lost a sad game 2-1. What was worse? Calgary was on a losing streak before this game.

Thursday vs. Toronto - Perhaps a home game against Toronto would provide more inspiration? The performance was better in that the Rangers put 30 shots on net. The result remained as the Rangers had to chase the game. After 12 minutes without a goal, Toronto struck first when John Tavares scored. Will Borgen tied it up within the final minute of the first period. However, Bobby McMann tipped in a Jake McCabe shot on the next shift to make it 2-1 before intermission. In the second, Panarin would tie it up early in the period. Only for Tavares to strike again minutes later to make it 3-2 for Toronto. Matthew Knies made it 4-2 later on to make the game further out of reach for New York. The Rangers tried. But the comeback was not going to happen. Yes, Chris Kreider tipped in a goal with 35 seconds left. It was too little, too late. The Rangers lost their third straight, 4-3. At least the effort was more acceptable than the Calgary loss.

Saturday vs. Vancouver - Those losses took the Rangers out of the wild card. On Saturday, they would host a Vancouver team also fighting for their playoff lives. The Rangers saw the matchup, went out there, and took one (1) shot on net in the first period. At home. In a you-better-win situation. Even after Dakota Joshua banged in a rebound after a Quinn Hughes shot (who now owns Matt Rempe’s jockstrap). After what I’m sure was a good talking to at intermission, the Rangers put up a mighty four shots in the second period. But! One of them was a goal. Adam Fox tipped in a Braden Schneider shot to tie it up at 1-1. The Rangers just need to put together one good third period and they could take this game. They would do just that. Jonny Brodzinski became the early hero with an early third period goal to make it 2-1 for New York. It took about 10 minutes for Vancouver to respond and they did when Drew O’Connor scored. Only for K’Andre Miller to fire a sharp angled shot off Quinn Hughes to beat the goalie for a 3-2 score. Brock Boeser took a few minutes to respond to that and he made it 3-3 with fewer than five minutes left. All for Brodzinski to score on the next shift through Kevin Lankinen’s legs to make it 4-3. The Canucks could not respond. J.T. Miller put in an empty net goal. The Rangers were held to 12 shots. 12 shots! 6 shots in the third! And they scored four to win 5-3. They ended their losing streak and gave a jolt of life into their playoff hopes. That’s big. Still, they went 1-3-0 for the week and fell out of the wild card spot they took from Columbus. The win put them back ahead of the Islanders, at least. But they remain behind Montreal. They have a lot of work to do and need plenty of help to move on up.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Rangers will be going to California this week. They will be in need of results and this trip is never an easy one to get them. On Tuesday, they will face the one contender in the Golden State in Los Angeles. The Rangers will have a back-to-back set with the other two teams in California. They will visit Anaheim on Friday night and then visit San Jose on Saturday night. Every point counts and they cannot afford to look past anyone. Not with the week they just had.

New York Islanders​

Sunday vs. Florida - Entering the week with a three-game slide, the Islanders had it all to do when the defending Cup champions, Florida, visited the Island. After a goalless first period, the second period surely made many in Belmont think, “Here we go again.” Sam Reinhart opened the scoring with a snapshot a minute into the middle frame. Aleksander Barkov punished a Kyle MacLean penalty with a PPG not long after to make it 2-0. The Isles even took a too many men on the ice call with 13 seconds left. They were in deep. Somehow, someway, like a phoenix from the ashes, they emerged in the third period. They killed the penalty. Over six minutes in, Marc Gatcomb scored a wraparound to get the Isles on the board. Maxim Tsyplakov tied it up after the twelve minute mark. Noah Dobson scored less than 20 seconds after that to make it 3-2. Florida was stunned and the Isles were rolling. The win was sealed up with a Simon Holmstrom empty netter. The Isles came back big-time in the third period to win 4-2 to end their winless run.

Tuesday at Pittsburgh - The Islanders took that energy into Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. Similar to Sunday’s game, it required a third period comeback of four goals. Only this time the Penguins struck in the first period. Joona Koppanen scored his first off a tip in from a shot by Vladislav Kolyachonok and Sidney Crosby made it 2-0 with 15 seconds left in the first. After a goalless second period, the Isles had to rise up once more. Rise up they did. It took Kyle Palmieri just 17 seconds to get the Isles on the board. Over five minutes later, Dobson tied it up at 2-2. The score held until the thirteenth minute mark. Dobson fired and the puck went in off Pierre Engvall to make it 3-2. Once more, the Isles sealed the win with a Simon Holmstrom empty net goal. Another 4-2 win. It ended Pittsburgh’s winning streak and kept the good times rolling for the Isles.

Thursday vs. Montreal - The Isles took on Montreal in a big game for the wild card. Fortunately, this game followed a different path than the last two. Unfortunately, it was not ideal. First up, the Isles scored first. Anthony Duclair punished a goaltender interference penalty by Brendan Gallagher to put the Isles up in the first period. Montreal equalized with the first goal of the season by Joshua Roy. The score held until late in the second when Michael Matheson held up Kyle Palmieri. On the ensuing power play, Simon Holmstrom scored to make it 2-1. Early in the third, Bo Horvat extended the lead to 3-1. Then the Isles had a reminder of their first half of the season where they could not maintain a lead. A Kyle MacLean tripping call was punished by Patrik Laine. The Isles challenged and failed so it was 3-2. While the Isles killed that call, they could not keep the Canadiens back. Josh Anderson forced a turnover and Gallagher went off on a breakaway later in the third. He scored to make it 3-3. The game was tied and overtime was necessary. A denied Lane Hutson attack sprung a 2-on-1 led by Horvat. He kept the puck and ripped a shot past Sam Montembeault for the win. 4-3 and two more points for the Isles. Not ideal in that they gave Montreal - a team they are chasing - a point. Better than than nothing at least.

Saturday vs. Calgary - The Islanders took their three-game winning streak in their late afternoon game against Calgary. The game started poorly as Matt Coronato scored 36 seconds into the game to give Calgary the early lead. However, the Isles did respond past halfway through the first with a goal by Bo Horvat to tie it up at 1-1. Late in the first, the Isles took the lead with a snapshot from Marc Gatcomb. This did not last as Matt Coronato scored again to make it 2-2 with about 34 minutes left to play in regulation. The 2-2 score lasted until there were 3 minutes left. The Isles got a breakthrough from Kyle MacLean to make it 3-2 late. Then the Islanders remembered how third period leads go again as they did against Montreal. The lead was blown on the very next shift when Jonathan Huberdeau tipped in a Rasmus Andersson shot to tie up the game. Overtime was necessary. It did not go the Islanders’ way. Nazem Kadri rifled a shot from the right circle to end it for Calgary. The Islanders’ winning streak ended with a 4-3 overtime loss. They got one point but they really needed two for what they are trying to do. Such as getting close to Montreal and being ahead of their hated rivals. Still, a 3-0-1 week is absolutely something they can build on. And they are running out of time to do just that.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Isles will have three games to play in this week. They have a huge one with Columbus on Monday. The Jackets have been ice cold and the Isles will need to get the four-point swing in their favor if they want to keep their playoff hopes up. On Wednesday, the Isles will host Vancouver - another team fighting for their playoff lives. On Saturday, the Isles begin a nasty back-to-back on the road in Tampa Bay. Spoiler: Sunday is in Carolina. The Isles have surprised many by being in the mix at this point. They need to keep winning weeks to stay in it, much less move up.

Columbus Blue Jackets​

Monday vs. New Jersey - The rematch from last Tuesday was important. And Columbus failed to score a goal since that game too. There were stakes in this one. It was surely frustrating that they could not beat Jake Allen for two periods. Especially after the second period. That was when Timo Meier opened the scoring by putting a power move to the net and sliding a puck past Jet Greaves. It was also when, within the final minutes of the period, Greaves misplayed a puck behind the net and gifted a goal to Jesper Bratt. Down 2-0, the Blue Jackets knew they had to go all out. Go all out they did with an unbelievable 53 attempts and 24 shots in the third period alone. Mathieu Olivier finally gave Columbus its first score in six days by putting in a free puck in the slot for a 2-1 game. The pressure kept coming. The Devils defense kept breaking down. But Jake Allen was magnificent. There would not be another goal for Columbus. The Devils held on to win 2-1 in spite of everything. The Blue Jackets took their fourth straight loss and they took it hard.

Thursday vs. Florida - Against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Blue Jackets got a great game out of a returning Elvis Merzlikins in the net. The problem: Sergei Bobrovsky also had a great game. Both goalies were in fantastic shape. So much so that both goalies stopped everything in regulation. Power play, shorthanded, even strength, no goals for sixty minutes. If nothing else, Columbus got a point by going into overtime. But there was a cause for concern going into OT. Kirill Marchenko put a puck over the glass with 30 seconds left in regulation. The power play carried over. The Jackets had to kill 90 seconds of a 4-on-3 in overtime. They would fail. Aleksander Barkov ripped a shot from the high slot to make it a 1-0 loss. A fifth straight winless game for Columbus as they fall further in the standings.

Friday at Pittsburgh - The Blue Jackets visited Pittsburgh the next night. The good news: they would score goals. The bad news: So would the Penguins. Specifically, the first two goals. Evegni Malkin opened the scoring. Noel Acciari made it 2-0 later in the first. Boone Jenner finally got one for Columbus with a tip-in of a Denton Mateychuk shot to make it 2-1 on the shift after Acciari’s goal. Only for Rickard Rakell to put Columbus down two on the shift after that. Columbus restored some hope when Justin Danforth made it 3-2 within the first two minutes of the second period. But the game got away from Columbus. Bokondji Imama restored the two-goal lead. Sidney Crosby extended it to three with a tip-in of a Matt Grzelcyk shot. Kent Johnson clawed back one early in the third but there would be no roaring comeback. Bryan Rust ended it with an empty netter. Columbus lost 6-3. They are winless in their last six. They took one out of six points. They are now in sixth place and the playoffs look as far away as ever. March has been a gut punch for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Blue Jackets need a win and need a win badly. They have three opportunities to do that in this week coming up. The first is their most valuable. They will visit the Islanders on Monday. It is another four-point swing within the division. Columbus needs it. After that game, they will have a back-to-back against two Canadian teams. They will host Vancouver on Friday and then visit Ottawa on Saturday. Columbus’ season is on life support. They need points to keep it going. Do not let it end like this.

Pittsburgh Penguins​

Tuesday vs. New York Islanders - The Penguins had a their four-game winning streak going when they hosted the Islanders. If there was going to be any late charge up the standings, then the Penguins would need to win this one. They did not. It seemed like they would. Joona Koppanen scored his first off a tip in from a shot by Vladislav Kolyachonok to open the scoring. Sidney Crosby made it 2-0 with 15 seconds left in the first. The score remained until the third period. Then the Islanders went off on the Penguins. 17 seconds in, Kyle Palmieri scored. 5:34 in, Noah Dobson ties it up with a backhander. 13:08 in, Pierre Engvall deflects in a Dobson shot to make it 3-2. And at 18:28, Simon Holmstrom puts in an ENG. The Isles blew up the Pens with a four-goal third period to tie it up and take the game outright. I know the Pens have little to play for but it was a disaster of a third period that did them in. The winning streak ended with the 4-2 loss.

Friday vs. Columbus - The Penguins hosted Columbus and made it rain more goals to make them suffer. The key point was in the first period. Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring. Then there was a three-goal swing within just over a minute that meant Columbus would chase the Pens for the remainder of the game. Noel Acciari made it 2-0 at the 13:51 mark. On the next shift, at 14:07, Boone Jenner tipped in a Denton Mateychuk shot to make it 2-1. On the following shift, Rickard Rakell responded to make it 3-1 at 14:53. Columbus could only claw back only for the Pens to pull away further. In the second period, Justin Danforth made it a one-goal game for about six minutes. Then Bokondji Imama scored to make it 4-2. Sidney Crosby extended things to 5-2 with a tip-in later in the period. Kent Johnson’s early goal in the third period was ultimately for consolation. The Pens were safe. They secured the victory with a Bryan Rust empty net goal. The 6-3 win meant the Penguins split the week and locked up seventh place over what has been a flailing Flyers team.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Penguins are on the road all week for three games. Tonight, they are in Sunrise to take on the defending Cup champions, the Panthers. On Tuesday, they will head to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning. On Thursday, they will head further North to New York state to take on the Sabres. The Penguins may know their season is done but they will try to compete regardless.

Philadelphia Flyers​

Monday at Tampa Bay - After a terrible homestand, a road game may have seemed desirable. The Tampa Bay Lightning dashed that thought. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all of the shots the Flyers put on him. Which was not very much at 21 but he did stop them all. The Lightning just needed one to win and they got it late in the first period thanks to Nikita Kucherov. Jake Guentzel scored a power play empty net goal for insurance with 90 seconds to go. The Flyers fell 2-0 to start their five-game road trip. It was also their second straight shutout loss.

Thursday at Washington - The Flyers moved onto Washington D.C. in search of a goal and a better result. It looked grim early on. PutinTeam Leader Ovechkin scored in the first period. The Flyers went down deeper in the second period thanks to a tip-in goal from Brandon Duhaime and another score from Andrew Mangiapane. Down 3-0, the Flyers needed something. Apparently, that something would come from Jakob Chychrun. Ryan Poehling took a puck to the net and the defender poked at his stick to try to deny him. It ended up chipping the puck into the net past Charlie Lindgren. The Flyers finally scored. They would get another late in the third. With the goalie pulled, Sean Couturier jammed a puck in. After a review, the goal was given and the Flyers were a shot away from dragging the game into overtime. But they would not get that one goal to tie it up. They lost 3-2 for their third in a row.

Saturday at Dallas - The Flyers started off in Dallas and, in one sense, did well to start. They kept the Stars to three shots in the first period. The problem was that two of them were goals. Thomas Harley scored over six minutes in and Esa Lindell made it 2-0 over two minutes after that. Down in a hole, the Flyers had to battle back. Which they did in the second half of the second period. Travis Konecny and Ryan Poehling (with no help of a defender) each scored to tie up the game at 2-2. An impressive effort given the three unpunished penalties the Flyers took in the second. The third period featured a total of 19 shots, more than the 11 and 12 shots in the previous two periods. It also had no goals. Overtime was needed. It was quick and it went in favor of Dallas. Thomas Harley only needed 9 seconds to torch Sam Ersson for the win. Who, uh, helped create the situation that led to Harley’s goal by giving up a puck to Jason Robertson. The Flyers get a point, which does not do them a whole lot of anything. Going 0-2-1 in a week never feels good regardless of the circumstances.

What’s Coming Up in This Week: Philadelphia continues their trip. Today, they will be visiting Chicago in a battle of bottom teams in their respective divisions. It may be the best chance for the Flyers to win. Their final game on the trip is on Tuesday in Toronto. Given how tight it is at the top of the Atlantic Division as well as how good the Maple Leafs are, the game could be a struggle. The Flyers will have a chance to spoil the wild card situation a bit when they return home on Thursday to host Montreal. Then they have another eighth-vs-eighth matchup on Saturday afternoon against Buffalo. The season is thankfully winding down for Philadelphia but this week could still make it feel long.

---

That was the twenty-first weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot for this season. Now that you know what happened and what will happen next, it is now your turn. Now that Washington has the ‘X,’ when will they get the ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ for the division? Who can stop Carolina? Will New Jersey continue to hold off their competition just by doing just enough to stay ahead of the New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Islanders? Are the Pennsylvanian teams satisfied being spoilers? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about the week that was for all eight teams in the division and the week ahead for them. Thank you for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...washington-capitals-x-new-jersey-devils-third

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Game Preview #72: New Jersey Devils vs. Vancouver Canucks

Get ready for a lot of this man. | Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images

It is the Hughes Bowl: Luke versus Quinn. The New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks are each coming off losses and should have a point to prove on the ice tonight. Learn more about the matchup with this game preview.

Welcome to the second Hughes Bowl of the season. Only this time it is Quinn versus Luke. Plus, both teams have their own reasons as to want to take this game.

The Time: 7:30 PM ET

The Broadcast: Streaming Only: ESPN+, HULU, Disney+; Audio: Devils Hockey Radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils vs. the Vancouver Canucks

The Last Devils Game: On Saturday night, the Devils hosted Ottawa. The Devils went out there and showed how bad their execution could be. Ottawa figured it out much faster and they eventually figured out Jake Allen. In the second period, Jake Sanderson sent a shot from the halfwall and Brady Tkachuk, after getting inside of Brian Dumoulin, tipped in that shot for the game’s first goal. On the very next shift, no one had Drake Batherson so he redirected a puck from Dylan Cozens to make it 0-2. The Devils got some life a bit after. Tkachuk high-sticked Timo Meier and Nico Hischier punished it with a one-timer to make it 1-2. All for the veteran presence of Stefan Noesen to trip Tyler Kleven in the offensive zone. That was punished when Claude Giroux shot and David Perron tipped in that shot for a 1-3 score. The Devils’ response was a whole lot of not much for the rest of the second period. The Devils tried a bit more in the third. They would eventually get a goal. Erik Haula put in one of the many attempted but unrealized backdoor attempts of the game. The problem was that it happened with 24 seconds left to play. There would be no miracle equalizer. Even though one was close when a Hischier shot hit off Noesen and the puck stayed out thanks to Noesen’s (or Artem Zub’s) skates. The Devils lost 2-3. Jackson recapped the game here.

The Last Canucks Game: On Saturday afternoon, Vancouver went to the World’s Most Overrated Arena to take on Our Hated Rivals. The Canucks either clamped down on them hard or the home team just did not show up. The Canucks out-shot them 11-1 in the first period. Yes, eleven to one. One of those 11 went in. Quinn Hughes deked Matt Rempe out of his skates and put a shot on net; Dakota Joshua banged in the rebound to make it 1-0. All went well as Our Hated Rivals only put up five shots in the second period. One of those did go in. A rare tip-in by Adam Fox on a Braden Schenider shot tied it up at 1-1. The third period came and all of the sudden, both teams found the net. Jonny Brodzinski found the back of the net early in the third to make it 2-1. After 10 minutes of Vancouver scrambling to get in the game, they did when Drew O’Connor scored to tie it up. That lasted for just over a minute when K’Andre Miller put in a go-ahead goal. Brock Boeser tied it up with just under five minutes left to play. Only for Brodzinski to score on the next shift. J.T. Miller secured the loss for Vancouver with an empty net goal. Here’s the kicker: Our Hated Rivals scored four goals in the third period on just six shots. Vancouver had 16 in the third alone. An absolutely brutal loss for Vancouver.

The Last Devils-Canucks Game: These two faced off in Vancouver way, way, way back on October 30. It was an absolutely dominating performance by the Devils. Nico Hischier set the tone with a goal 53 seconds into the first. With seconds left in the period, Jonas Siegenthaler tripped Conor Garland. That set up an early second period goal for New Jersey; a shorthanded dandy from Dawson Mercer. Timo Meier scored shortly after that penalty was killed to make it 3-0. Later on in the first, Ondrej Palat scored his first of the season to make it 4-0. Close to midway through the third, The Big Deal punished a Teddy Blueger penalty to make it 5-0. Over four minutes after that, Tomas Tatar put in a sixth goal for the touchdown. The Canucks just had 20 shots and none went past Jacob Markstrom. It was a commanding 6-0 win by the Devils. Chris recapped the victory here.

The Goal: Once again: puck management is going to be a deciding factor in this game. Whichever team is going to be able to make reads and execute passes better will have an edge. The Canucks can be thought to have this edge ahead of time since they demonstrated that in a big way against Our Hated Rivals. Were it not for Igor Shesterkin, they blow them out of their building on Saturday. But they put the pressure on and I doubt either Jake Allen or Jacob Markstrom will put in a similar performance to bail out a beaten team. Especially since when Ottawa figured it out against the Devils on Saturday, the Devils looked hapless and could only chase the game instead of imposing any kind of will in response until it was too late. The biggest reason why the Devils could not attack as they wished was because their passing, decisions, and puck movement were awful. With Vancouver coming into Newark presumably frustrated and hopefully a Devils team being given the harsh verbals after a pathetic choke against Calgary and Saturday’s stupidness against the Senators, how the puck movement goes will likely tip the scales as to who will take tonight’s game.

The Stakes: Before getting into what Vancouver has been all about as an opponent, let us consider the stakes for this game.

For the New Jersey Devils, they need the points to continue their hold on third in the division. The past two weeks have been favorable with the Devils getting results to pull ahead - beating Columbus twice in regulation - and their direct competition flailing. The Blue Jackets and Our Hated Rivals have fallen off. The Pennsylvanian teams are just spoilers. The New York Islanders, confusing as ever to figure out, are in the mix but not so much for the Devils at this moment. Winning this game will help keep the Devils away from that nonsense and make April more about playoff preparations instead of playoff seeding.

For the Vancouver Canucks, they need the points for their own playoff race. They are going back-and-forth with a pesky St. Louis team for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. Calgary and Utah are within one and three points of them as of this writing. In other words, four teams are competing for one playoff spot. Vancouver needs points in the worst way because a bad week could doom them entirely.

This also means that the outside rooting interests are clear. The other Metropolitan teams want the Canucks to win in regulation. The Blues, Flames, and HC faithful want the Devils to win in regulation.

Who Are These Canucks Again?: Great question. The shortest answer I can give is a team being largely carried by future 2027 free agent target Quinn Hughes.

Among the other narratives, that is the most positive and the one to impact this game the most. The big drama between J.T. Miller and forward Elias Pettersson sent Miller out to Manhattan and Pettersson is still not producing at his once stunning pace. Injuries have limited Thatcher Demko from performing. Brock Boeser was not traded by the deadline and GM Patrik Allvin claimed the deals were not good enough. Among all of the issues, Quinn Hughes is having an utterly fantastic season.

If you wonder what Luke Hughes could be one day, Quinn is a fantastic model for him to follow. He does all of the puck handling and skating Luke does but more often and more effectively. Likely a result of his experience since Quinn is 25. Quinn leads his team in scoring with 16 goals and 66 points in 55 games, which also places him third in the entire NHL for scoring by defensemen. When he takes a shift in 5-on-5 hockey, the Canucks out-attempt their opponents 57% of the time, out-shoot them 56% of the time, out-expectedly and out-actually scoring them 56-57% of the time. Quinn Hughes either leads the Canucks or is close to leading the team in those categories. In short: Quinn Hughes is their best player and putting in a near-Hart like effort.

If you know nothing else about Vancouver, then know that Quinn Hughes is their ace and he is absolutely an ace. Pray the New Jersey Devils sign him on July 1, 2027 and let the glory days begin.

The Vancouver Offense: The Canucks offense on paper is a mish-mash of some talented guys with a system that just does not generate much at all. As a result, the team is not exactly an offensive wagon. Check out these team stats from Natural Stat Trick for their 5-on-5 play as of Sunday morning:

• Corsi For (shot attempts for) per 60 minutes: 54.49, 29th in the NHL (Devils are 14th)
• Shots For per 60 minutes: 25.01, 31st in the NHL (Devils are 20th)
• Scoring Chances For per 60 minutes: 23.25, 31st in the NHL (Devils are 8th)
• High Danger Chances For per 60 minutes: 9.29, 31st in the NHL (Devils are 14th)
• Expected Goals For per 60 minutes: 2.28, tied with St. Louis for 27th in the NHL (Devils are 12th)
• Actual Goals For per 60 minutes: 2.26, 24th in the NHL (Devils are tied for 22nd)
• Shooting Percentage: 9.21%, 11th in the NHL (Devils are 21st)

The Canucks have been one of the least prolific offenses in the NHL this season. They do not generate a lot of attempts, shots, or chances. Their otherwise good shooting percentage is held back by their significant lack of volume. Sure, they can go off if the opponent comes out with a terrible effort such as Saturday’s game against Our Hated Rivals. Show up and the Canucks can be defended in the most common situation in hockey.

Their 5-on-5 offense is supplemented by their power play. Their conversion rate of 22.6% (43 for 190) is the 14th best in the NHL. A power play where Quinn Hughes is the straw that stirs the drink (25 power play points) and Jake DeBrusk (11 power play goals), Brock Boeser (8 PPGs), and forward Elias Pettersson (7 PPGs) finishes those milkshakes. All the more reason for the Devils to stay out of the box as much as they can.

In terms of personnel, Quinn Hughes unsurprisingly is the most offensive threat on the scoresheet and in the run of play. There are some other names to be aware of just for how much they have produced and gone forward in 5-on-5.

• Brock Boeser has the shot and the offensive moves to punish teams. He sits third behind Quinn Hughes in total points with 44 and he has 23 goals.
• Jake DeBrusk leads in goals with 24 and leads Vancouver with 55 high danger chances. That suggests he could be a problem around the net.
• Elias Pettersson is certainly not playing up to his massive contract. He’s barely averaging a shot per game in 5-on-5 play. Still, he has the skill to slice and dice defenses, he sits second on the team in total points with 45, he has been on a 6-game point streak, and he still has over 20 5-on-5 points on the team. He also has 44 high danger chances, which is not nothing either. I will add that he was injured in the loss to Our Hated Rivals. So the Devils may not have to contend with him this evening.
• Conor Garland has been a statistical darling. He has the most shots on the team in 5-on-5 play at 110 and his 216 shooting attempts are second only to Quinn Hughes. His quickness on the wing has been a problem for slower defenders. With 17 total goals, he is not someone to ignore.
• Pius Suter has a been a pleasant surprise. His 15 goals in 5-on-5 play is most on the team and he has 20 total goals to join Boeser and DeBrusk at that plateau.
• Most surprising is Keifer Sherwood. He has been absolutely dominating the hit counts with over 383 made. He could very well top 400 by the time the season ends. Has that helped Vancouver much? His on-ice rates suggest not really. But he sits second on the team in 5-on-5 points behind Quinn Hughes. Expect him to be a problem on the forecheck should Vancouver get to have one.

There are pieces here on the Canucks to have a varied attack in theory. In practice, it has been a community effort without much results given the low on-ice rates. What this means for this game is that the Devils do have to be mindful about giving one of these players too much time and space because they can punish it. They can relax a bit that they are not likely going to go out there and dominate unless New Jersey allows it. And again, stay out of the box and do not give DeBrusk, Boeser, Pettersson (if available), etc. chances in 5-on-4 that they may otherwise not get in 5-on-5.

I would add that they may be extra salty tonight. They did just put up 39 shots on net in Manhattan and lost 5-3 to a team they kept to 12 shots. They may want to prove a point in response. Of course, if the Devils can frustrate them early, then they may find it easier to limit them. This is cautionary for the Devils if nothing else. They should also be aware of how good the Canucks have been on defense.

The Vancouver Defense: The Canucks defense has been quite strong this season in 5-on-5 play. Here are their on-ice against rates as a team this season as per Natural Stat Trick:

• Corsi Against (shot attempts for) per 60 minutes: 56.29, 7th in the NHL (Devils are 12th)
• Shots Against per 60 minutes: 25.01, 4th in the NHL (Devils are 11th)
• Scoring Chances Against per 60 minutes: 23.74, 2nd in the NHL (Devils are 10th)
• High Danger Chances Against per 60 minutes: 10.14, 11th in the NHL (Devils are 15th)
• Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes: 2.28, tied for 4th in the NHL with Philadelphia (Devils are 17th)
• Actual Goals Against per 60 minutes: 2.40, tied for 18th in the NHL with Carolina and Anaheim (Devils are 11th)
• Save Percentage: 90.40%, 23rd in the NHL (Devils are 11th)

When the team’s best player is a defenseman having a monster season, then that helps the defense. The unit is greater than just Quinn Hughes. Injuries and trades have forced a lot of changes, but the Canucks have held true to defending their blueline very well relative to the rest of the league. Filip Hronek has been a common partner to Quinn Hughes and an excellent defensive defenseman in his own right. Derek Forbort has been a solid third pairing defender. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson has been a fit. Tyler Myers has seen a lot of attempts but not a lot of shots or expected goals his way when he is on the ice. The unit may have undergone many changes and it may not wow anyone on paper. The blueline also just held a NHL team to 12 shots on net in a game.

As much as their defensemen have been solid, their forwards have seemingly helped too. Drew O’Connor has been a solid fit in 5-on-5 for them. Conor Garland, Suter, and Nils Hoglander have very low on-ice rates for expected goals against, which speaks to how the Canucks defend with them. Hoglander may be out for this game as he was also injured in the loss to Our Hated Rivals. That may lighten some of the defense. Forward Pettersson, DeBrusk, hit machine Sherwood, and Dakota Joshua also boast low values themselves. This all suggests that the 2024-25 Vancouver Canucks may not attack a lot as a team (Saturday afternoon notwithstanding) but they are not getting gashed on a nightly basis. I would not expect it even with Hoglander and forward Pettersson end up being out because the team structure will remain. Credit head coach Rick Tocchet and his staff for making that happen.

This defensiveness is also supported by how they handle shorthanded situations. The Canucks have an 82.8% success rate on the penalty kill. That is a bit better than the Devils’ own PK units as well as the fourth best success rate in the NHL as of Sunday morning. They have allowed just 33 goals out of 192 situations. This is further evidence that the Canucks can defend quite well.

What this all means for the Devils is that their own offense could struggle in breaking Vancouver down. Ever since the Jonas Siegnethaler injury, the Devils have been rather bad at generating offense. That plays into the collective hands of the Canucks. If there was ever a night for someone unexpected to step up to win an unexpected matchup, then it is this one. Either that or whatever Jesper Bratt’s line or Nico Hischier’s line manages to finish whatever chances they can create. Based on what Vancouver has done this season, it may not be all that much. Of course, if they can break through the defensive effort, then they may be able to score a heap of goals. After all, the Canucks did just lose 5-3 to a team they held to just 12 shots.

The Vancouver Goaltending: With the 24th best team save percentage in 5-on-5, it may not surprise you to learn that Vancouver’s goaltenders have not been that good. Thatcher Demko was expected to be the man but his season was beset by injuries. As such, the Canucks have been leaning on Kevin Lankinen and Arturs Silovs. Neither has been that good. Here are their numbers at Natural Stat Trick for 5-on-5 play:

• Lankinen, 46 GP, 90.5% 5-on-5 save percentage, (tied for 57th out of 95), -5.80 goals saved above average (78th), 79.5% high-danger save percentage (69th)
• Silovs, 10 GP, 87.8% 5-on-5 save percentage (tied for 83rd), -6.63 goals saved above average (tied for 79th), 84% high-danger save percentage (29th)

Ugly. And for all situations:

• Lankinen, 46 GP, 90.1% all situations save percentage, (40th out of 95), -0.38 goals saved above average (42nd), 80.5% high-danger save percentage (50th)
• Silovs, 10 GP, 86.1% all situations save percentage (85th), -9.40 goals saved above average (85th), 76.2% high-danger save percentage (82nd)

Also ugly. The takeaway here is that no one should fear Kevin Lankinen or Arturs Silovs based on how they have performed this season. Especially not Lankinen, who gave up four goals out of eleven shots on this past Saturday afternoon. Demko has not done well when he was available but this team badly misses his superior performances from the past. Should the Devils get through to the net, then they just need to finish. They should have the confidence to do so. I would not expect either goalie to have a particularly great night based on their seasons or recent play. Neither should you.

Guesses at Changes for the Devils: Per James Nichols, the Devils were off on Sunday. On the one hand, that makes sense. The team will be playing four games in six nights this week including three out of four days on the road. Rest has value. On the other hand, after their losses to Calgary and Ottawa, I think they’ve earned a bag skate. But they did not skate at all. What this means is that any morning skate or afternoon discussions with the coaching staff will yield actual lineup decisions for this game on the Devils’ side.

Against the Senators, the Devils scratched Tomas Tatar, Simon Nemec, and Kurtis MacDermid with Ondrej Palat being out for a potential injury. I can see Tatar and Nemec drawing back in. For who? Take your pick, really. I would think it is high time for Nathan Bastian to get a game off because he has been a whole lot of not much out there for the Devils. While the Devils out-attempted the Sens 5-2 when Bastian took a shift, the shots were just 1-2 in favor of the Sens with a combined expected goal value of 0.15. Again: not much. With 7:16 played, he is not crucial to this lineup. Tatar will at least hustle as he is the embodiment of the phrase “hard work can beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard but not so much when the talent does work hard.” Of course, it may be just as likely that Daniel Sprong also sits for Tatar as Sprong also had a do-next-to-nothing game. Nolan Foote is a darkhorse candidate for the scratch suite since he also contributed very little.

When Dennis Cholowski took a shift against Ottawa, the Devils were out-attempted 6-7, out-shot 2-5, and out-xG’ed 0.16-0.53. Fine if you are fine with a Nothing Much Happens defender, not so fine if you think the Devils need something like an offense. Nemec can at least provide that provided he is given the chance. This would require Sheldon Keefe and his staff to let it happen as well as Nemec to play like he has earned it. If we are going to go by performances against Ottawa to make the decision, Brenden Dillon absolutely earned a night off. The Devils were out-shot 2-7 with him on the ice as well as out-chanced 2-6. But that will not happen as he is a Veteran with Experience and that has helped the Devils oh so much in recent weeks. If there is no switch, then so it goes and Cholowski will amble about there for another evening.

As for the net, I think Markstrom gets another chance. Allen conceding three goals on 19 shots does cool him off a bit. I do not think he had a real chance at any of them. But he also put himself out of position a few times and was about to be beaten twice only for the post or Curtis Lazar to deny an easy score for Ottawa. I think we’ll continue to see a trade off until one goalie really locks it down.

As ever, these are guesses and I could be wrong.

Other Devils I Want Better From: All of them? I am only half-joking. There are a number I specifically want to see better from.

• Jonathan Kovacevic. Sure, he ended up having great 5-on-5 numbers against Ottawa. All you have to do is ignore his rock-stupid delay of game penalty and the fact that he did not really contribute much himself to those 5-on-5 numbers with two shooting attempts and none on net. Not that you look to Kovacevic for offense but if we’re going to praise him for the Devils out-attempting and out-shooting the Sens 14-5 and 7-1, respectively, when he was out there, then we need to point out that it was not really from him. You also would have to ignore that Kovacevic has been not been locking it down on defense in his last 7 games given his 5-on-5 xGA/60 of 2.94 - third highest to his partner Mr. Second and Traff, Brian Dumoulin and Nemec.
• Timo Meier. I understand its March and he scores in March and he had one (1) shot on net out of four (4) attempts against Ottawa. With the offensive talent being limited on this roster, it is imperative that he brings it night in, night out.
• Brenden Dillon. The most experienced man on the roster in terms of games played and he continues to be a guy who ends up being in his own end a lot because he fails to help the team go forward. Ottawa was another such night given the 5-on-5 on-ice results of 7-10 attempts in favor of Ottawa and shots being 2-7. Oh, and a GA too. Since questioning leadership is now a thing among the People Who Matter, let me ask: Why does this guy have a letter?
• Stefan Noesen. Another player who got out-performed in 5-on-5 and took a rock-stupid offensive zone penalty that turned a 1-2 situation into a 1-3 situation on the scoreboard. For what in response? 2 shots on net with little chance of going in? He is a complementary forward and that is fine but he needs to complement his teammates well. Perhaps that explains why he is not on PP1 anymore. Without being carried by others, he cannot do so much.
• Luke Hughes. Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce are getting the hardest matchups since trusting Kovacevic-Dumoulin is foolish and the third pairing is whatever is left. It has not gone great! And while Luke Hughes is a generator of offense, his reads have been all over the place. It is like he is emulating Damon Severson more than his older brother Quinn with some his giveaways or misses. I need him to be more decisive, more aware, and, most of all, more willing to take in breakouts instead of that rock-stupid slingshot pass.
• Dawson Mercer. Mercer, on the surface, looked like he had a very fine game. But he remains with zero points in six games on a team that badly needs offensive production outside of Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier. Devils need more than just two shots on net out of three attempts in 18 minutes of ice time from him. It would also be great if he stopped getting in his own teammates’ way on plays, which undercut his game against Ottawa over and over.
• Sheldon Keefe and Coaching Staff. The last three games have featured the Devils getting rocked in the third period, the third period, and the second period, respectively. This is not to say that the first period has been great in those games either. It is on the coaching staff to prepare the players and make adjustments as the games go on. Whatever he is saying at intermission and whatever he is doing is not working so well. And the responses certainly were not there when goals against do happen. He is right to criticize his own players. He is also worthy of criticism too. Going out and not getting out-coached by Tocchet would be a start.

I am sure there are many others that deserve a call out. These are just the names that stuck out to me since the last game and other recent games.

One Final Note: Here is Ottawa’s roster by games played and age. I’m using Stein’s lines from the start of that game.

28, 611 GP - 26, 517 GP - 32, 435 GP

34, 748 GP - 25, 245 GP - 26, 542 GP

24, 26 GP - 23, 317 GP - 28, 367 GP

25, 205 GP - 30, 567 GP - 27, 270 GP

21, 146 GP - 30, 689 GP

27, 214 GP - 33, 695 GP

34, 963 GP - 27, 153 GP

34, 456 GP

35, 527 GP

And if Tatar draws in, add a 34 year old with 917 games played for whomever he goes in for.

I really, really, really do not want to read or hear about how the Devils need to learn how to play or get experience or get mature. This team has plenty of age and experience. Soft Tom made this team older and more experience on purpose. They should know better than how they have been playing as of late.

Your Take: The Devils will have a game to get right before they hit the road. The Vancouver Canucks have every reason to go hard between their playoff situation and what happened on Saturday. I expect a tough matchup. What do you expect? Will the Devils be able to get out in front and not lose the lead? Will the effort be smarter tonight? Can the Devils generate more offense more often? Will Jonathan Kovacevic have a good game? Who will win this game? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about this game in the comments. Thank you for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...inn-luke-hughes-boeser-hischier-meier-debrusk

 

[New Jersey Devils]

2024-25 Gamethread #72: New Jersey Devils vs. Vancouver Canucks

More, please. | Photo by Derek Cain/netty Images

Welcome to the second Hughes Bowl. This one may have Quinn against Luke as the Vancouver Canucks visit the Rock to play the New Jersey Devils. Talk about it as it happens here in this Gamethread.

It’s the Hughes Bowl! Quinn, maybe, versus Luke! The Big Deal remains sorely missed. The New Jersey Devils should try to win anyway. Also, this is also a streaming-only broadcast. Thanks, Disney.

The Time: 7:30 PM ET

The Broadcast: Streaming: ESPN+, HULU, Disney+; Audio: Devils Hockey Radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils vs. the Vancouver Canucks

The Song of the Evening: The title of this one is not subtle: “Blueprints for Future Homes” by the mighty Norma Jean from the mighty album, Redeemer. Lots of great places to live in New Jersey for a mid-20s hockey star. Just saying.

The Rules: The rules remain the same as the Devils are hosting Quinn Hughes and his potentially former team tonight. Please keep your language clean (this means no swearing, don’t mask it, it’s not enough, no I don’t care what Tom Fitzgerald said), respect your fellow Devils fan with no personal attacks (play nice or you will not play here), no illegal streams (this means no asking, no hints, no nothing about it), and please keep your comments relevant to this game. Go Devils!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...s-quinn-hughes-luke-hughes-project-2027-is-on

 

[New Jersey Devils]

New Jersey Devils Prospects Update: Strong in the Q Edition

Cam Squires will join the Utica Comets next season. | Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

As the postseason begins across multiple leagues, we look at two Devils prospects who finished in the Top 10 in PPG in the QMJHL.

Two in the Q​

A lot has been written on this page about forwards Matyas Melovsky and Cam Squires and for good reason. Now that the QMJHL’s regular season has ended, it’s worth taking a look at the seasons of the top two point-getters in the New Jersey Devils prospect pool.

Matyas Melovsky​

Matyas Melovsky broke out this season in a big way. In fact, if it were not for Mikhail Yegorov’s meteoric rise after taking over the starter’s net for Boston University, Melovsky would likely be the Devils the most-improved player in their pool. Melovsky finished fourth in points per game in the QMJHL (8th in total points) this year with 1.46, more than highly-touted linemate Justin Poirier. The physical two-way forward’s 26 goals was second amongst all Devils prospects and his 83 points led the pool by eight over Cam Squires.

Not surprisingly, Melovsky led his team, Baie-Comeau Drakkar in points, assists, and points per game. Baie-Comeau will play the Cape Breton Eagles in the first round of the playoffs this year starting on March 28th.

Cam Squires​

Leading those Cape Breton Eagles in offense this year again was Cam Squires, who finished the season with 75 points in 58 games, earning him 10th place in the entire QMJHL in points per game. It was only three points more than Squires put up last season, but impressively, these totals were in eight less games, as Squires lost some time due to suspension. Squires is already signed by the Devils and will likely be a staple for the Utica Comets next season.

The Devils had two stars of the QMJHL this year, one already signed, the other hopefully to be inked this summer. While success in the Q, especially in a D+2 season, is not guaranteed success in the NHL, it is something to built from. Melovsky plays a physical two-way game, which should also translate in the higher levels, and Cam Squires has the motor of a high-energy forward. If either player is able to maintain some of their scoring touch from juniors, they could have very solid careers.

Around the Pool:​

• The NCAA Men’s Hockey bracket has been officially announced. The biggest match-up to watch for Devils fans is Boston University (Yegorov, LaChance) taking on Ohio State on March 27th.
• KHL playoffs begin March 26th. Here’s a look at that bracket. Most notably, Arseni Gritsyuk and SKA St. Petersburg will play Dynamo Moscow in the first round.
• The Finnish Liiga has their playoffs in full swing and it looks like things are about to get interesting.

Lenni with a second primary assist of the game. It looks like Ässät will sweep #10 seed Hameenlinna and play Jakub Málek & #2 seed Ilves. #NJDevilspic.twitter.com/ez7FYKTO5U

— Daniel Rebain (@pvtmcbain) March 21, 2025​

• Goaltender Jakub Malek finished the season top of the Liiga with a 2.09 GAA to go along with a 15-11-6 record, four shutouts and a top five in the league .910 SV%. It will be interesting to see what he does in North America next season.
• Forward Josh Filmon is 2nd on the Adirondack Thunder with 32 points in 56 games after a horrendous start to the season. Still, it would be nice to see him perform to this level with the Comets.
• Lastly, Devils defensive prospect, Anton Silayev is a beast.

#NJDevils Anton Silayev is like a foot taller than everyone else on the ice, lol.

pic.twitter.com/Cs6dZXGQsa

— Daniel Amoia (@daniel_amoia) March 1, 2025​

FINAL THOUGHTS​

Post them if you got them.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...vils-prospects-update-strong-in-the-q-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

New Jersey Devils Blow Late Lead, Lose In Shootout, 4-3, To Vancouver Canucks

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

In a season full of gut punch losses, the Devils added another one to the list tonight

In recent times, the New Jersey Devils have made a habit of losing in the most brutal fashion possible. There was the devastating last-second loss to the Dallas Stars a few weeks back, a game that also cost them Dougie Hamilton, possibly for the season. There was the shocking third period collapse against the Calgary Flames last week. There was the near epic comeback that fell heartbreakingly short against the Ottawa Senators last time out. And tonight, the Devils allowed a tying goal with under a minute to play in regulation, and eventually lost in a shootout to the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3.

To me, the theme of this game was poor fundamentals. You could talk about an offense that was nonexistent for about 80% of this contest. You could talk about Jacob Markstrom looking better but still putting up a shaky effort. You could talk about the Devils once again coming up small in the shootout. All of those are perfectly valid topics to focus on. But to me, when I think of how the Devils lost this game, I think of poor fundamentals.

Simon Nemec’s shockingly bad sophomore season has really kneecapped the Devils, because it has forced them to play Dennis Cholowski far too much. Cholowski utterly failed to make a simple breakout pass time after time after time, and those failures usually led to a turnover and more time spent in the defensive zone. Whenever he had the puck on his stick in the defensive zone, I just expected bad things to happen, and they usually did. In his brief time with the club, I usually haven’t noticed Cholowski, which I considered a good thing. Sort of like an offensive lineman in football, if Cholowski’s name is being called a lot, it’s usually a problem. Well tonight was the first time I noticed him a lot, and it was for all the wrong reasons.

There were also a slew of totally unnecessary icings committed by New Jersey tonight. A part of this was Cholowski (and others) not being able to make those simple breakout passes, but there were also miscommunications and lazy clearances that led to more and more offensive zone time for the Canucks.

Speaking of lazy, that’s the word I’d use to describe Johnny Kovacevic’s two high sticking penalties tonight. Yes, Kovacevic managed to commit multiple high sticking infractions. Both of them were on plays where Kovacevic was turning to skate back for a puck, and he just kept his stick shoulder high and it clipped a Canuck attacker. Perhaps dumb would be a better word, but I’ll go with lazy.

To Kovacevic’s credit, he did save a goal against tonight when he got his stick in the way of a rebound chance that absolutely would’ve gone in had Kovacevic not intervened. So it wasn’t all bad tonight for number 8 in red and black. But one game after he was called out by his head coach Sheldon Keefe (which the ESPN broadcast could not stop talking about), even saving a goal might not make up for taking two lazy high sticking penalties. Thankfully neither of those led to goals against.

Then there was Brett Pesce’s decision making in the final minute of regulation. I think Pesce has had a solid first season in New Jersey. With the injuries to Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler, Pesce has served as the de facto number one blueliner on the club. He’s not wholly out of place in that role, but if Pesce is your top defenseman, it’s not a great sign, as he fits best on a second pair. But overall I’ve liked what I’ve seen out of Pesce this season, which is why it was so disappointing watching him hold onto a puck FAR too long with about 40 seconds to play, letting a couple of Vancouver forecheckers steal the puck, leading to the tying goal. On the ESPN broadcast, P.K. Subban felt as though Pesce was let down by his forwards not supporting him more on the play. But I’m sorry, a simple flip out of the zone would’ve sufficed there. Heck, I would’ve even taken an icing instead of what we got. I complained about unnecessary icings earlier, but that would have been a completely necessary one.

Finally in the overtime period, the Devils just flung shots at Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko from every angle, seemingly with no plan at all. Everyone knows that possession is the most important thing in the 3-on-3 frame. Vancouver understood this, which is why their attack was deliberate and precise. Markstrom made a few tough stops in overtime, while Demko made exactly one difficult save (speaking of bad fundamentals, Paul Cotter really needed to lift the puck on his OT chance). All those hopeless Devils shots were easily steered aside, and the Canucks swooped in for every rebound to kickstart their calculated attack.

And by the way, all of this came against a Canucks team that was without their #1 center, Elias Pettersson. He was apparently injured on Saturday in Vancouver’s game against the New York Rangers, and he did not suit up tonight. The fact that the Devils played this poorly against a team that was playing without their second best player is completely unacceptable.

Failed breakout passes. Needless icings. Lazy penalties. Situational unawareness. Bad overtime gameplan. The Devils played some really bad hockey tonight. I guess I should be grateful we didn’t see an entire period where the Devils got their teeth bashed in like we’ve seen so often lately (the third period against the Oilers, Blue Jackets, and Flames, and the second period against the Senators). But it spoiled what should’ve been a big night for Timo Meier, who continues tearing it up in the month of March with two more goals this evening. It spoiled Erik Haula’s clutch go-ahead goal in the third period, and while I still have my issues with Haula’s game, credit to him for coming alive offensively over the last month or so. It spoiled Markstrom having his best game in a while, although the numbers still weren’t good at the end of the day. But that’s how low the bar currently is for Markstrom.

New Jersey got a point out of tonight’s game. Every little bit counts. But it’s another loss, their third in a row, and they continue to trip over their own two feet night after night. At this moment in time, despite the Devils looking broken for a while now, despite a pitiful 14 wins in 35 games since the Christmas break, I still think New Jersey will make the postseason. But games like tonight have become the norm for the Devils in the second half of the season, and it’s costing them dearly.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

The Game Highlights: Courtesy of the NHL’s website

The Unstoppable Force​

Much like Sheldon Keefe’s barbs toward Johnny Kovacevic after Saturday’s loss to Ottawa, the ESPN broadcast would not shut up about Quinn Hughes. That one I understand though, as the eldest Hughes brother is having yet another fabulous season.

Quinn played completely absurd 31:38 tonight. Yes the extra time played a role in that, but over 31 minutes of ice time is still silly. He had one assist, six shots on goal(!), and two hits just for good measure.

As far as his advanced numbers go, according to Natural Stat Trick, at 5-on-5 Hughes posted an Expected Goals For% of 55.66%. Nico Hischier and his line drew the Quinn Hughes assignment tonight, and they were caved in whenever they all shared the ice together. There’s no shame in losing the possession battle to Quinn Hughes, he’s a terrifyingly effective player. But the fact that the Devils could not win the Hughes matchup was a big reason why they lost the game.

Utter Dominance​

Sometimes a team has another team’s number. There might not be a specific reason why, but it happens. Not too long ago, teams like the Capitals and Blue Jackets always seemed to beat the Devils. Today, it seems like the Maple Leafs and Jets are the new random matchup nightmares for New Jersey. Well it goes both ways, and for whatever reason, the Devils have been the Canucks’ kryptonite for a while now.

Entering tonight’s game, the Devils had won 16 of the last 19 meetings between these two squads. This included a ridiculous 12-game winning streak that stretched from 2014-15 to 2021-22. The last time Vancouver won both games against New Jersey in the season series was 2013-14.

But with the loss to the Canucks tonight, the Devils have now split the season series with them in three of the last four seasons. Perhaps the dominance has run its course.

The Drought Continues​

We all know the Devils are a fundamentally broken team, particularly on offense. In fact it’s so bad that I would consider reaching 30 shots on goal to be a win at this point. New Jersey failed to get there tonight, even with the extra five minutes of overtime. In fact they didn’t even come close, finishing with 25 shots in 65 minutes of play.

The last time New Jersey posted 30 or more shots in a game was all the way back on February 23rd against the Nashville Predators. That means that it has now been 13 consecutive games in which the Devils failed to crack the 30-shot barrier. That is offensive ineptitude on a level that is hard to fathom. If New Jersey can’t muster up 30 shots against anyone other than one of the worst teams in the NHL in Nashville, they don’t deserve to win games.

Out Of Town Scoreboard​

On a light night across the league, the only major game of importance elsewhere in the NHL was the Blue Jackets vs. the Islanders on Long Island. Unfortunately it was about the worst case scenario for New Jersey: a three point game. Much like the Canucks, the Blue Jackets made a third period comeback to send the game past regulation, where they eventually took a 4-3 win in a shootout.

It was a mere couple of weeks ago that the Blue Jackets were the main threat to the Devils’ grip on the third slot in the Metropolitan Division. But New Jersey beating them 5-3 at The Rock on March 11th kicked off a devastating six-game losing streak entering tonight, with only one of those wins coming post-regulation. They finally got back in the win column tonight, but their magic carpet ride might finally be over, as they now stand at 73 points through 70 games played. They are currently behind Ottawa, Montreal, and both New York teams in the chase for a playoff spot.

Meanwhile the Islanders, the undisputed champs of the loser point, have been making a hard charge for the playoffs. New York collected eight points over their last five games (3-0-2) coming into their match against the Blue Jackets this evening, and tonight’s shootout loss makes it 9 out of a possible last 12 points.

So the Devils managed to hold serve against the Isles, who have replaced the Blue Jackets as the biggest threat to New Jersey in the Metro. The Devils now have 81 points in 72 games, while the Islanders have 74 points in 70 games. It doesn’t help New Jersey that the Islanders’ last three losses have come post-regulation. That’s three additional points that have helped them a lot in the standings. Like I said: undisputed champs of the loser point.

The Devils and Islanders have one more head-to-head showdown this season, a matinee game on April 13th. That will be New Jersey’s third to last game of the regular season. A lot can change between now and then, but that’s shaping up to be an absolutely massive clash down the road.

Next Time Out​

The Devils will now hit the road for a three-game trip through the Central Division. Their first stop will be in Chicago to take on the Blackhawks on Wednesday. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00pm.

Your Take​

What did you make of tonight’s game? Were you as frustrated with New Jersey’s attention to detail as I was? What are you expecting on this upcoming road trip? As always, thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...ut-to-vancouver-canucks-hughes-hischier-meier