PITTSBURGH — With tensions high, the New Jersey Devils headed west to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a pivotal matchup after getting annihilated 9-0 on Long Island. With a chance to make a massive statement, they instead fell entirely flat, falling by a score of 4-1.
Related: Malkin Scores in First Game Back From Injury as Penguins Take Down Devils 4-1
The Response…Or Lack Thereof.
Following the ugly loss on Tuesday, captain Nico Hischier said, “I’m expecting myself to have a big response game [in Pittsburgh], and I’m expecting my team to have the same thing.”
At Wednesday’s practice, head coach Sheldon Keefe (reasonably) labeled his team’s situation as a “crisis”. “It’s not my first crisis in my coaching career, and I don’t plan on wasting it,” he said.
Thus, it was imperative that the Devils had an adequate response. Instead, the first period was a microcosm of everything that has went wrong. First, an Erik Karlsson shot — from 26.9 feet out at a 58.7-degree angle — went past Jake Allen. Per Moneypuck, that shot had just a 2.4% chance of being a goal.
EK65 goes top cheese ???? pic.twitter.com/wYYo5afHIf
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 9, 2026
Jesper Bratt was then denied on a breakaway. So was Dawson Mercer on a partial break. With 10.6 seconds to go, Hischier was stopped on a point-blank, Grade A high danger chance in the slot. At the first horn, the Devils led in scoring chances 12-7 but once again found themselves in a hole. (via Natural Stat Trick)
They got an early power play in the second with a chance to tie. But they couldn’t finish any chances, and then Connor Dewar was sprung out of the box for a breakaway goal. From there, much like the Islanders game: they felt almost entirely lifeless.
Things Getting Are Dire…
Prior to the game, Devils’ MSG analyst Bryce Salvador claimed the team hit “rock bottom”. He then questioned: Where does the team go from here!?
“With all the noise about Fitzy and Sheldon’s jobs on the line, multiple players in trade talks, fans booing players, etc., I won’t sit here and pretend I know where you go from here, as there are multiple levels to this. In the end, you hate to see people losing their jobs or being traded. However, from a former player’s perspective, it would be very dicey going back home next week and facing the disgruntled fans if the team doesn’t win these next few games on this trip.
– Bryce Salvador (via brycesalvador.com)
If they were already at rock bottom, where are they now? Between Luke Hughes getting booed, the awful response on Long Island, and another extremely poor response, this can’t go on any longer for the Devils. A major shake-up needs to come.
Typically, in situations like these, attention goes to the general manager (GM) or head coach. While GM Tom Fitzgerald has not spoken to media since Training Camp, Keefe addressed whether he was concerned about his job security: “That’s out of my hands. It’s out of my control … I know what this team needs but I’m also well aware of the reality of the business and how it works. But I’ve got to focus on getting our team ready for the next game and keep building … Part of coaching is you’ve gotta deal with crisis and challenges … I believe I can be part of the solution here, and doing my job is to find the answers.”
Stars Nowhere to be Found
It’s clear, based on roster construction, that this Devils team is currently nowhere near contender level. Their forward group isn’t deep enough.
With that being said, their stars are all capable of way more. Since Dec. 1, not one of Bratt, Hischier, Timo Meier or Jack Hughes are above half a point-per-game. They’re way too talented for that to be the case, which only further signals that something massive needs to change. They’re playing without any confidence. It’s truly baffling.
“Confidence is gonna come when you know you work hard and you’re doing the right things over and over … so we’ve got to do that as a team, and then we’re going to get rewarded,” said Meier.
Keefe added, “These guys know how to score. When you’re not feeling it, instead of the puck kind of going post and in, you end up kind of overthinking it and hitting the goalie in the chest. Bratter on his breakaway, he had the goalie beat pretty clean if he just takes it to his backhand, but you overdo it a little bit … That’s kind of where we’re at right now. So it doesn’t mean you still can’t win. You got to be able to take care of the game in other ways while we find our way through it … When we’re not scoring, I think it’s exposing other areas of our game that are fundamental issues, that even if we are scoring, whether it’s now or in the bigger picture, they’re going to hurt us.”
Collectively, the Devils’ shooting percentage of 8.6% is the very worst in the NHL. Since Nov. 1, their 101.94 ‘expected goals’ is ninth-best in the NHL. Their 66 actual goals — the only thing that actually matters — is the worst mark in the NHL. It’s well beyond poor luck; it’s either a complete lack of confidence or a general lack of shooting talent…or both.
Moving Forward
The Devils — now 22-20-2 — will head to Winnipeg to face the last-place Jets on Sunday (2:00 PM EST).
