The New Jersey Devils began their homestand with a win, and it would have been nice to keep that momentum rolling. Unfortunately, they were shut out on Dec. 8 against the Colorado Avalanche, 4-0.
Devils Unable to Keep Their Goals
In the first period, the Devils scored two goals, however, the final score did not reflect this. Sadly, they were both waved off.
The first goal was scored by Jesper Bratt. He swooped in by the net, and shot the puck into the back of the net. The referees immediately called the goal off due to a high stick. They didn’t even take a second to watch the replay, the referee behind the net quickly made the call.
The second goal was scored by Timo Meier. This time, the refs made a point to watch the replay back. However, it was called off due to goaltender interference.
While the end result was a 4-0 shutout, the Devils did make several shot attempts, including two goals that were unfortunately called off. Luck was not on the side of the Devils this night.
Close Performance
While the Avalanche’s brilliant performance was shown through their score, the Devils had very similar statistics to them. The Devils had 23 shots on goal compared to the Avalanche’s 25. The opposing team only had two more than the Devils, showing relatively equal puck possession throughout the night.
It’s when the shots are broken down by period that it truly shows the performance gap. In the first period, the Devils had ten shots on goal to the Avalanche’s eight. After the two shots that were disqualified for the Devils in the first period, this shows that they had the better scoring chances in the first, they were just unable to make anything come from it. Once the second period came around though, the Avalanche had the clear edge, with ten shots on goal against the Devils measly two. Although the Avs only scored one goal this period, they had the better chance of making shots happen, compared to the Devils. The third period came around, and this time it was the Devils outshooting the Avalanche, 13 to five. The home team had more opportunities during this period, they just were unable to benefit from them.
On top of this, the Avalanche won 55.6% of the faceoffs compared to the Devils at 44.4%. Clearly, it was the visiting team who had more faceoff wins. However, the Devils held their own against the opposition, trying to make plays that just wouldn’t land.
Defense Needs Work
The last line of defense is the goalie, although the first line is in fact the defensive players on the ice. The Devils relied too heavily on the goalie last night.
Related: Devils’ Keefe & Luke Hughes Give Insight Into the Importance of Defensive Depth
The Artturi Lehkonen goal in the second period was a great example of this. He received the pass from across the ice, and skated the puck up on a breakaway to put it into the back of Jacob Markstrom’s net. Although Brendan Dillon and Jack Hughes flanked him, Lehkonen was able to outskate the two and score the third goal of the game. Jack is not even a defenseman, but he tried to play the part during this goal since no one else was.
The defensemen looked sloppy last night, making some questionable play choices. After a strong win against the Seattle Kraken on Friday (Dec. 6) this is surprising. Hopefully, the single-day break in between games will be cause for some extra practice for the defensive lines, because they could use it.
Another Chance
The Devils look to shake off the loss and earn two points when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 10.
