The New Jersey Devils continued their road trip against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night in hopes to snap their two-game skid. On the heels of two shorthanded goals from Dawson Mercer, they successfully did so, winning 4-1 and improving to 9-3-0.
Related: Devils Defeat Kings 4-1
Jacob Markström Shines After Extension
The Devils got spectacular goaltending during their eight-game win streak, but the narrative quickly flipped to start the road trip. In the first two games, Jake Allen and Jacob Markström combined to stop minus-6.53 goals above expected, preventing the team from stealing points despite some poor efforts. (via Natural Stat Trick)
Tonight, freshly off a new $12 million contract extension, Markström was energized and rock solid. He stopped an incredible 43 of 44 shots (.977%), including all five high danger chances he faced. In total, his +3.12 goals saved above expected was one of the better individual goaltending performances this season.
“At times we weren’t at our best (…) but he was dialed in, tracking pucks,” head coach Sheldon Keefe told NJD.TV. “Marky was outstanding today. Really happy for him.”
For anyone thinking his performance was an outlier, or still overall discouraged by the contract: coming into the night, he was 13th among 48 goalies in high danger save percentage (.833%). That only went up, which should be what’s most important; it should signal that his confidence/ability is still where it needs to be.
Penalty Kill = Back!?
The Devils came into the night ranked 8th-worst in times shorthanded per game: 3.55. The effects of losing Johnathan Kovacevic, Cody Glass and Brett Pesce had reared its’ ugly head, as their penalty kill converted at an ugly 33.3% clip (2/6) with all three out of the lineup in Colorado.
In San Jose, they only went to the box twice and killed off both penalties. Tonight, the Devils went to the sin bin four times, but it really should’ve been three: the latter of those was a blasphemous tripping call on Timo Meier. Nonetheless, they killed off all four. Mercer had a key shorthanded insurance goal, and later added another during a 6-on-4 with an empty netter.
While their discipline is still a work in progress, any improvement allows the team to continue to thrive off the rush without getting their momentum disrupted. If the Devils are able to continue to improve in that regard, their even strength play — even with some injuries — is well-suited to control the pace of most games.
Devils’ Top Line Dominates Pace of Play
With Connor Brown out and designated as day-to-day with an injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe was tasked to evenly balance the lines. Part of him doing so was moving Stefan Noesen up to the top line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. It’s safe to say it worked:
The trio dominated, leading Los Angeles in shot attempts (19-13) and scoring chances (9-4). While they weren’t able to find the back of the net and actually got caught for a goal, the process should be more important than the results in this instance. They were by far the team’s best line.
Ondrej Palat had struggled to produce on the top line, with just one assist in 11 games despite playing with elite talent. If Noesen — who succeeded in the top six last season — could be a better fit, it could help the Devils maintain consistent offense night-in and night-out.
Moving Forward
The Devils will look to win a second straight on Sunday as they continue their road trip against the Anaheim Ducks (8:00 PM EDT).
