After a tight, panic-inducing 6-5 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (Dec. 5), the Devils entered Thursday night’s bout against the Seattle Kraken looking to continue their recent stretch of success. It was ugly, but thanks to a strong goaltending performance — something the Devils have been desperately in need of this season — from Akira Schmid, they were able to stave off a fierce third period from the Kraken and bring home the win.
The Devils have now won five of their last six, and each in different ways. The first win came in blowout fashion, annihilating the Sabres through and through. In their following game, they pulled out a miraculous comeback against the New York Islanders, coming back from a 4-2 deficit to win in regulation. Against the Philadelphia Flyers, they blew a lead of their own with one minute remaining in regulation, only to win in the first 30 seconds of overtime — and it was a similar story against Vancouver, just ending in regulation instead of OT. Last night, they relied heavily on their goaltender to bail them out after being outplayed. That is what good teams do.
Simon Nemec Builds on Strong Start
After a sublime first two NHL games, many thought that Brendan Smith’s return from suspension would result in Simon Nemec‘s return to the American Hockey League (AHL). That wasn’t the case, though, as Smith lined up on the fourth line as he has done a few times this season. Thank goodness for that, as Nemec was one of the Devils’ best players once again last night.
Nemec scored his first NHL goal — the game-winner — in the middle of the second period, capitalizing in the slot off of a patient feed from Jesper Bratt. At 5v5, Nemec logged the second most ice time of any New Jersey player, solely trailing defense partner Jonas Siegenthaler. In that time, he held the second-best expected goals share (xGF%) of any Devils’ defenseman. He was once again featured on the first penalty kill unit, already proving that he’d gained the trust of Lindy Ruff despite his complete lack of NHL experience.
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Honestly, Nemec is an astounding player to watch, truly unlike any other defenseman in the NHL. You’d be hard-pressed to find any other blueliner so active in the offensive zone, and whereas players like Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes are active in the offensive zone, they at least position themselves as a regular defenseman would. Nemec is a wanderer, floating around the ice where he pleases and using his high offensive IQ to engage in plays that you’d scarcely see a defenseman take part in. This was exemplified in his goal last night, too, as he crept up into the slot to make his shot — if it hadn’t panned out, the Kraken were well on their way to an odd-man rush. He’s a unicorn; perhaps the NHL’s first true rover.
Schmid Bails Out Devils’ Poor Play
For the first time this season, the goaltender stole a win for the Devils. It was a refreshing, albeit scary, win for New Jersey, who have been painfully held back by goaltending since the beginning of the season. Schmid was undoubtedly the savior of the night, and very well may have solidified himself as the team’s number-one goaltender after his stellar performance.
Right from the beginning of the game, Schmid was locked in. He was calm, cool, and collected, and never let sustained pressure affect his ability to maintain being in good position to make a save. Unlike what his goalie partner Vitek Vanecek has been doing all season, Schmid swallowed up seemingly every rebound, scarcely giving any chances to the Kraken that weren’t the fault of the defense. His best work came in the third period on the penalty kill, where the Kraken generated an unbelievable five high-danger chances totaling an astounding 0.82 expected goals. Despite their continued pressure and generation of near-goals, Schmid stood on his head and bailed out a tired and weak penalty kill shot after shot. On the night, he saved 2.53 goals above expected and ended with a save percentage of .974. Winning the first star of the game was well deserved.
Third Line Needs a Change
I wrote that the Devils needed to make a change to their third line of Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer, and Alex Holtz after Tuesday’s victory over Vancouver, and that point absolutely stands. After posting an xGF% of 20.26% on Tuesday, they followed it up with an xGF% of 24.92% last night.
On an individual level, Meier has struggled all season long, and despite his history of slow starts and picking up the pace and then some over the course of the season, simply doesn’t look like himself. He needs to turn it around soon, and I think he will — he’s just too talented to continue looking this unwatchable for an entire season. He’s had some bad injury luck since joining the Devils late last season, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was still feeling the bumps and bruises he’s gained during his short tenure in New Jersey.
The story has been much of the same for Mercer — he hasn’t looked quite right since the get-go. He picked up some steam while playing on Jack Hughes’ wing, as anyone would, but since being moved to the third-line center role has looked atrocious. Holtz, who has been dynamite this season playing next to play drivers, hasn’t found the same success, which is unsurprising considering how off Meier and Mercer have looked. Even though the results haven’t been there for this line, I thought Holtz has unequivocally been the best of the three. Still, head coach Lindy Ruff needs to make a change to this line come Saturday, or the team will suffer for it. They have yet to be scored against in the two games they’ve been together, but it’s only a matter of time with how poorly they’ve meshed.
Quick Hits
- Jack Hughes had easily the worst game of his season — he was held off the scoresheet for just the fifth time this season and had a xGF% of just 23.77% at 5v5. He’ll look to bounce back in a big way next game.
- Luke Hughes, on the other hand, was excellent once again. He logged just over 20 minutes and held a 5v5 xGF% of 58.10%.
- The Devils’ top line, consisting of Ondrej Palat, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt, was easily the team’s best line. At 5v5, the Devils controlled almost 75% of the expected goal share, and they ended up tallying the Devils’ first goal as a result of some hard work. Palat drew a late penalty call to give the Devils’ defense a bit of a respite from being hemmed in like they were for the majority of the period, too.
The Devils have been on their first real stretch of continued success all season, and they’ve taken home the win in a different way every time. As I said earlier, that right there is what good — elite — teams do during the course of a long, 82-game season. They win when they aren’t supposed to, and that’s exactly what went down last night. They have a tough back-to-back stretch beginning tomorrow (Dec. 9) where they take on a Calgary Flames team that has figured things out of late, and a surging Edmonton Oilers team that has won five in a row and dominated in each of those wins. At the very least, the Devils need to win one of those games if they want to maintain the momentum that they’ve gained recently.
