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Devils 2, Sharks 1: Blackwood steals the show...again

February 21, 2020, 10:47 AM ET [68 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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Five observations from New Jersey vs San Jose:

1. Mackenzie Blackwood stole the show

San Jose is not a good team. They are bad, in fact. They’re missing a ton of key players right now – Evander Kane, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson come to mind – but they were well out of the playoff race even when those guys were healthy. They’re a team the Devils should beat, even with the watered down version of the roster we saw last night. Ultimately they did come through but it was almost entirely on the back of the team’s super rookie.

The Devils came out flat as a pancake. They didn’t register a single Grade A chance in the opening frame and, well, they gave up several. This led to the Sharks controlling ~80% of the expected goals.

While the Devils did grow into the game over the final 40 minutes, the Sharks recorded twice as many high-danger opportunities and finished with an xGF of 61.42%. They were largely the better team.

That was irrelevant because the Devils had Blackwood between the pipes. He made all the saves he should have – and plenty that he *shouldn’t* have – en route to a 36-save performance, which rightfully earned him 1st star.

Blackwood is on an almost unbelievable run right now. He has stopped 197 of 202 (.975 SV%) over the last five starts and won all of them.

He has helped the Devils get at least a point in seven consecutive games, and has just two regulation losses to his name since December 21st (10-2-3 run).

I know it has been a tough year for the Devils but there are still a few bright spots to get excited about, and Blackwood is certainly one of them.

2. Jesper Bratt answered the bell

I don’t think Bratt should have been scratched vs St. Louis. At all. Not only do I disagree with the assessment he hasn’t played well/needs to bring it more consistently, but the Blues are an elite defensive team and by sitting Bratt you’re only neutering an offense that would have trouble creating as is. At any rate, Bratt responded in the best way possible: with an awesome performance.

Bratt put Martin Jones’ jock in the rafters when deking him out of the crease on a breakaway to get the Devils on the board. It wasn’t a one hit wonder performance, though. Bratt also led the Devils in Corsi (66.67 CF%), Expected Goals (54.57 xGF%), and he recorded seven shot attempts at 5v5 alone. He was awesome.

3. The top line was not good enough

I was expecting a big game from Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri. The talent is there, obviously, and it’s hard to ask for a better matchup than a bad, injury plagued San Jose team with Martin Jones, and his sub .900 save percentage, between the pipes. The top line largely disappointed.



I thought they did a much better job of creating looks in the 3rd period (it’d be hard not to). Jack Hughes was making plays in the offensive zone and Kyle Palmieri had a few dangerous shots. In aggregate, the line’s performance left a lot to be desired.

I won’t be surprised if they’re split up for the Washington game, although a) home ice, allowing the Devils to put them in favorable situations and; b) the fact the Bratt line was good might prevent that from happening.

4. A tough night for the 3rd pair

The Devils spent way too much time on their heels in the defensive zone, and no line or pairing was a better example of that than Colton White and Connor Carrick. Despite seeing a lot of the Dylan Gambrell line, and Tim Heed pairing, they were absolutely caved in at 5v5.



Carrick landed a really nice hit on Barclay Goodrow. That was about the only positive to come from that duo.

5. Quick hitters

a) I thought Miles Wood played a strong game. Nobody on the Devils recorded more scoring chances and, for a while, it looked like he scored a goal. He also mixed it up around the net on a few occasions and really battled for every inch. I know he is a frustrating player to watch sometimes but you can’t question his effort. I’ll miss him if he gets dealt.

b) If Bratt is as willing to shoot as he was last night, Pavel Zacha and Nikita Gusev might not be bad linemates for him. They were feeding him quality passes all game long and he didn’t hesitate to use ‘em. Hopefully we see more of that if they stick together.

c) I’m not going to say John Hayden doesn’t work hard or care – he clearly does – but he’s just not an NHL player. He finished with a ~14 xGF%, was on for a goal against, and recorded one shot for an expected goal output of .01. I know the Devils want the kids to stay in Binghamton playing important games but, if the B-Devs slow down, or the big club gets back a project in any deadline deal, Hayden should probably be the guy coming out of the lineup.

numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com

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