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New Jersey Devils On The Losing End Of Heated Game Against St. Louis Blues |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
The New Jersey Devils were in St. Louis last night looking to pick up consecutive wins on the road against Western Conference playoff teams.
They were unable to do that, though, as they allowed four unanswered goals after they took a 2-1 lead.
Notes:
1) I thought the Devils actually played well in the first two periods. The shots and chances were pretty even and the Devils had the advantage in shot attempts.
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For my money things went south when the Devils took a pair of penalties late in the 2nd period; one of which St. Louis capitalized on. That gave the Blues the lead entering the 3rd and the Devils were completely flat from that point on. I mean, the Blues were defending the lead in the 3rd period and they still out chanced the Devils 6-1 at even-strength and out shot them 13-6 in all game situations. It's pretty hard to come from behind when you're giving up more than double the shots you get.
2) There was no bigger positive than the play of Joseph Blandisi. He was all over the ice from start to finish and was undoubtedly New Jersey's biggest threat offensively.
He finished the game with a game-high seven shot attempts (all at even-strength) and a game-high three high-danger chances. He also recorded an assist and set up several great scoring opportunities for teammates. Oh, and Lee Stempniak is the only player (including both teams) that had a better shot attempt differential at evens than Blandisi's plus-8.
3) Adam Larsson also played a strong game. He played primarily against Vladimir Tarasenko's line at evens and managed to keep him off the scoresheet.
He was also very involved on the offensive side of the puck. He distributed it very efficiently throughout the night and it was a nice two-zone outlet that led to New Jersey's first goal of the game.
Larsson finished with two assists and a shot despite spending more than six of his 21 minutes killing penalties.
4) Jon Merrill had another pretty solid game for the Devils. There were a couple miscues in the defensive zone but for the most part he was good. He also jumped into the rush a couple times to help create offense which was nice to see.
5) The game-tying goal Keith Kinkaid allowed was pretty weak but he can't be blamed for the loss. I don't think it's reasonable to expect a win against a team like the Blues when you're out shot 37-24. As a whole the Devils' wheels came off in the 3rd period and they paid for it.
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