No Jack Hughes, so you would’ve figured that’d be a problem for the New Jersey Devils, right? At least for one night, it wasn’t. Though they were without their potential Hart Trophy candidate due to an upper-body injury, they found a way to defeat the Seattle Kraken 3-1. Dougie Hamilton was instrumental in helping pull off the win, along with a stellar performance from Mackenzie Blackwood in net. Here are four takeaways and some quick hits.
Blackwood’s Best Start of 2022-23
The Devils have gotten great goaltending from Vitek Vanecek since the calendar flipped to 2023. Blackwood’s had his fair share of solid starts too, but last night was arguably his best outing of 2022-23. The Devils did not come out of the gates sharp, forcing Blackwood to face plenty of work in the opening 15 minutes of the game.
The Devils would settle in after then, though they had some dicey moments at five-on-five in the third period. By the time the final horn sounded, Blackwood had made 33 saves on 34 shots and stopped 2.66 goals above expected at all strengths. He kept the team in it early on when they weren’t in a groove, and he made some big saves after the team took a 2-1 lead in the third period.
While Vanecek has cemented himself as the Devils’ No. 1 netminder, don’t be surprised if Blackwood gets a little more playing time moving forward. He has a .919 save percentage across his last five starts, and with the team’s position in the standings, it doesn’t make sense to overwork Vanecek before the stretch run of the season begins after the trade deadline on March 3. With how Blackwood’s playing lately, head coach Lindy Ruff should feel OK with that approach.
Hamilton Does It Again
Last night was a bit of a rollercoaster for Hamilton. He did not get off to a great start, as he got caught pinching up in the offensive zone a couple of times in the first period. On top of that, he took a couple of careless penalties over the first 25 minutes of the game. Fortunately, the Kraken didn’t score on either of those power plays, but he still needs to cut down on the penalties.
On the flip side, there’s what Hamilton has done so well this season: put up points from the back end. What’s become a bit of a custom at this point, he had two one-time blasts on the power play that found the back of the net for the Devils’ first two goals of the game. His second tally on the man advantage would ultimately be the game-winner, far from the first time one of his power-play goals has proven decisive.
It wasn’t Hamilton’s best game at five-on-five; he had a 24.14 expected goals percentage (xG%). But he still found a way to have a positive impact, which is what good players do. The Devils need better from him at five-on-five than he’s been lately, but it’s hard to argue with the overall results. With the two goals last night, he set a career-high for points (51) in 51 games, putting him on pace to finish with 82 if he stays healthy.
Have the Devils Found Their 3rd Line?
Trying to find a productive third line has been a challenge for the Devils this season, but Ruff may have found something with the trio of Yegor Sharangovich, Erik Haula and Fabian Zetterlund. Of the four main line combinations Ruff used last night, this unit was the only one that finished with an xG% above 50; 89.17 percent, to be exact. Every other combo was below 45 percent.
Related: Devils’ 2022-23 Trade Targets: James van Riemsdyk
All three forwards played their part too. Sharangovich led Devils skaters in xG% at 89.25 percent, while Haula and Zetterlund were right behind him at 82.03 and 73.44 percent. Sharangovich had three shots on goal and three scoring chances, while Haula had two shots on goal and one high-danger chance.
Ruff should consider some line changes elsewhere, but he should stick with this trio for the foreseeable future. It was the best Haula and Sharangovich have looked in a while, and Zetterlund complements both players well as a third-line winger. Even when Hughes returns from his injury, they could stick as the team’s third line if their strong play continues.
Devils’ 3rd Defense Pair Continues To Be a Problem
The Devils have struggled to control play at five-on-five for a month-plus now, and one reason for that has been the struggles of their third defense pair. With Brendan Smith out day-to-day with an injury, Kevin Bahl checked back into the lineup, but it did not go well. The Devils got out-attempted 14-3 and had a 10.36 xG% with him on the ice at five-on-five.
Once John Marino gets back up to speed and moves back into the shutdown role he had before picking up an injury just before Christmas, the Devils’ defense should benefit from having Smith and Damon Severson as their third pair. Still, Smith has had his struggles lately too. And I would not be surprised if general manager Tom Fitzgerald is looking for defensive depth on the trade market ahead of the deadline.
Of course, they could wait until Luke Hughes’ season is over at Michigan, but that could take until early April, depending on how far the Wolverines go in the NCAA tournament. Fitzgerald will not give up top assets for a rental defenseman, especially since it’d only be for depth. But it’s something they should consider shoring up for a playoff run, as the New York Rangers did by acquiring Niko Mikkola in the Vladimir Tarasenko trade.
Devils Quick Hits
- The Devils have had a top line of Ondrej Palát, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt for most of the last month or so, but it’s time to break them up. That trio has just a 48.34 xG% since Jan. 1, and it’s been even worse since Jan. 15, as they have a 45.61 xG%. With Hughes out for the immediate future, their top line can’t get caved in like that as often as they have.
- Even when the Devils don’t play well at five-on-five, Tomáš Tatar seems to buck that trend. He found himself on the wing alongside Dawson Mercer and Alexander Holtz for most of the game and finished with a 70.92 xG%. Tatar also made a great play to retrieve the puck on Hamilton’s first power-play goal, giving him one assist for the game. The counting totals may be down, but he’s had a great season for the Devils, partly because he does a lot of little things well that don’t always show up on the scoresheet.
The Devils are back in action tomorrow night against a reeling Minnesota Wild team that’s lost three in a row and is 4-6 in its last ten games. That will mark the first of a four-game road trip that will conclude on Feb. 18 in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.
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Advanced stats from Natural Stat Trick
