The New Jersey Devils completed a four-game road trip through the Pacific Northwest and Alberta on Sunday (Dec. 10) in Edmonton. They could not come away with a win but head home, winning three of four games on the trip and six of eight overall, having reset their season and looking like the team they expected to be at the end of training camp. They played a solid game in Edmonton despite playing in the second game of afternoon back-to-backs at the end of a week-long road trip. They had a difficult time finishing, scoring more than a full goal below expected against journeyman goaltender Calvin Pickard. The lack of finishing, coupled with a few mistakes, ended the team’s hopes of sweeping the road trip.
Devils Couldn’t Overcome Mistakes
The margin for error when you play Edmonton on the road, especially in the defensive zone, is slim. Couple that with an Edmonton team that is the hottest in the league, having won seven in a row, and there is no room for error. The Devils could not play a clean game and ended up paying for their mistakes. The major culprits were Curtis Lazar, whose uncharacteristic offensive zone tripping penalty led directly to a game-winning power play goal by Evan Bouchard, and Akira Schmid, whose solid performance was marred by a poor choice to try to handle a puck behind his net, leaving the cage unguarded resulting in an easy tap in for Connor McDavid.
It was kind of a slow rolling puck out there, I tried to play it over, it kinda got stuck and all the sudden there’s two guys on me. I tried to block it in so it didn’t get in front of the net but it still ending up getting in front and obviously in the goal.
Akira Schmid on the third Edmonton goal
Schmid did not deflect blame for the error saying, “I think tonight we did a lot of things good, just too many mistakes by me.” The Swiss-born rookie played well, other than the error, and kept the Devils in the game. Were it not for the one mistake, he likely is net positive on goals saved above expected. Schmid robbed Zach Hyman to keep the Devils in the game and made several strong saves in the face of a barrage on the Oilers’ power plays. He twice robbed Leon Draisaitl on clear shots from the slot early in the game. Schmid can chalk this one up to a learning experience and should be no worse for wear moving forward.
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After the game, head coach Lindy Ruff was quick to praise Schmid, saying, “He made some good saves, that play behind the net, the shot on the short side snuck in, but he made a huge save on Draisaitl in the first period.” The goalie dilemma has not been solved, but the trip showed that when the team gets average to above-average play in the net, they are difficult to beat.
Top Line Stays Hot
The Devils’ top line of Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Ondrej Palat carried the team, leading to the only goal scored. Bratt’s goal, his 12th of the season, extended his point streak to five games, Hischier’s assist extended his point streak to four games, and Palat now has three points in his last five games. Defensively, the group did not have the best night, having been on ice for both of the Oilers 5v5 goals, but one was the result of Schmid’s misplay, and the other was a short-side shot by Derek Ryan that both Ruff and Schmid acknowledged the goalie would want back.
In just over 85 minutes together over the last eight games, the line of Hischier, Bratt, and Palat has dominated. They have played to 64 percent of the expected goals for (xGF), have outscored (9-4), outshot (53-34), out-chanced (61-36), and played to a 17 percent shooting percentage. Unsurprisingly, the team is 6-2 in that stretch. They have been able to weather injuries to Timo Meier, Erik Haula, Dougie Hamilton, and others because of the dominance of this line, especially when pitted against the top lines of their opponent. The Devils have won two of the last three games despite Jack Hughes being held pointless. Much of the reason for that success is Hischier, Bratt, and Palat.
Power Play Needs Recharging
The Devils and Oilers comprise two of the top four power play units in the NHL. Last season, the Oilers, with much of the same personnel, set an NHL record for best power play percentage in a season. This season, the Devils are first in the league and hovering around the mark set by Edmonton last season. Knowing this, the team that could better capitalize on the power play would have a distinct advantage in the game.
They took advantage with theirs, we couldn’t with ours and that’s (the power play) something that’s really been good for us. You have a chance to set some tone and momentum and they did, with ours I think we took some energy out of the team.
Lindy Ruff
The Devils could not convert on four chances, and the Oilers scored once in three opportunities off of a rocket slap shot from Evan Bouchard. His goal doubled the Edmonton lead and became the game-winning goal. After the game, Ruff pointed to fatigue from the trip as one reason the power play did not look as sharp.
“Some of our execution (was lacking due to fatigue), even our power play, I think the biggest difference in the game is that our power play could have really helped us out.”
Ruff was encouraged by the improvements in the penalty kill and the team’s attention to detail, though he was disappointed that they allowed a clear lane for Bouchard’s shot. Bratt summed it up simply, “Their power play was better than ours. We didn’t take advantage of ours; we had some opportunities.” This game marked the third straight outing where they failed to score a power play goal.
The Devils will look to get their power play back on track Wednesday night (Dec. 13) against the first-place Boston Bruins at the Prudential Center.
