The very depleted New Jersey Devils headed into Sunday’s matinee contest against the Vancouver Canucks in hopes of winning a second straight contest for the first time in 10 games. A slow start proved too much to overcome as they fell 2-1.
After the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe coined the loss as “disappointing.” Defenseman Luke Hughes called it “aggravating.”
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Penalty Kill Costs the Game
Prior to Saturday’s contest, since Oct. 26 (Brett Pesce’s injury), the Devils’ PK% of 66.7% ranked 31st in the NHL, barely ahead of the Seattle Kraken (65.5%). In their previous two games, they were 1-for-6 (16.6%).
But against Anaheim, they bounced back with a 3-for-3 performance, potentially indicating there were better days to come. Unfortunately for the Devils, that seemed to be a false alarm.
Just 43 seconds into the game, Dougie Hamilton took a hooking penalty. The Canucks’ power play came through 18 seconds later.
Later in the period, Stefan Noesen unnecessarily boarded new Canuck Liam Ohgren. The Canucks also scored on that man advantage. In total, the Devils’ PK went 1-for-3, moving their total percentage since the Pesce injury to 68.4%. For reference, the worst season on the PK in NHL history was the 1979-80 Los Angeles Kings at 68.2%. While the Devils’ PK likely won’t be that bad for that long, that’s about the pace they’re playing to right now.
“The PK is just really, really frustrating right now,” said Devils’ defenseman Brenden Dillon. “It’s losing us hockey games like it did tonight.”
Not to necessarily fault Devils’ netminders — since the PK has struggled to execute — but since that Oct. 26 date, the team’s netminders have stopped 3.65 goals below expected on the PK. Sometimes, you need your goaltender to be the best penalty killer. The Devils haven’t gotten that benefit much.
Slow Start/Back-to-Back Woes Plague Them
For a seventh straight game, the Devils conceded the first goal. Their loss moves them to 7-12-0 when doing so. When they do get the first tally, they’re 11-2-1. Conceding first isn’t a new issue for this team; it’s dated back to the 2023-24 season.
The frustration is about more than just giving up the first goal; it’s the process/execution behind the starts as a whole, which head coach Sheldon Keefe seemed very unhappy about postgame. “When you wait, you lose,” he said, before later adding, “I thought we were slow and hesitant. [We] really had to talk ourselves into skating and working today, and it took too long.”
In a similar notion, playing the second half of back-to-backs has also plagued the Devils in recent seasons. Today, they moved to 1-4-0 in those situations.
“We’ve got to find a way to play in back-to-backs. It’s inexcusable. Got to find a way,” Keefe said. He later admitted that the struggles in these areas are part mental and physical.
An Inability to Finish
For the entire season, the Devils’ 2.09 goals per 60 minutes (GF/60) at 5v5 ranks 27th in the league. While they’ve mostly struggled to generate chances in Jack Hughes’ absence, their finishing on the chances they do generate could use a lot of work as well.
Including today, they’ve scored 10.32 goals below expected at 5v5, according to Natural Stat Trick. Despite their even strength play faltering, they had three power play opportunities — including a 5-on-3 for over a minute — and similarly failed to capitalize.
The power play is clicking at 6.3% since Dec. 3. That’s the worst mark in the league (Toronto Maple Leafs: 9.1%).
To summarize: the power play has struggled, the penalty kill has struggled, goaltending has struggled, and even strength chance generation (and finishing) has struggled. That doesn’t sound like a recipe to consistently churn out victories.
Moving Forward
The Devils — now 18-14-1 — will aim to bounce back on Wednesday night as they fly west to take on the Vegas Golden Knights (10:00 PM EST).
