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Lightning Struck Five Times, Jack Hughes Is Mr. Turnover |
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When the New Jersey Devils were ahead 3-1, it was just a matter of time before the Tampa Bay Lightning would wake up and show you why they are back to back Stanley Cup champions.
“We were not ready,” said Lightning forward Pierre-Édouard Bellemare to the Associated Press. “I think, even though despite the fact that we talked nothing about the break, we were way too slow. And unfortunately, we had to get a kick in the butt and finally we woke up, so I would put that in the unacceptable category.”
And the Lightning would produce five unanswered goals during the second half of the game. It completely change the narrative and the Dawson Mercer and Jack Hughes multi-point game is now long forgotten. And this has been the common theme for the Devils all season long.
It is not surprising that the Devils on the scoresheet had 15 giveaways. Hughes has become Mr. Turnover despite his brilliant performance at times. Time and time again, we see him turn the puck over in the neutral zone instead of making the simple discipline plays. It seems like for every Hughes highlight goal or assist is a bad turnover. And it has cost the Devils some games or at the very least, the momentum within the game. The good news is this can be corrected and he is still young. These are the growing pains that Devils fans have to endure. If Hughes wants to become the NHL's elite, he has to learn how to make better decisions with the puck.
The Devils have an eight day layoff to address their issues before they resume back in action in Pittsburgh on Thursday February 24th. The Devils would need to go 30-1-1 the rest of the way for any chance of making the playoffs. Barring any historic miraculous comeback, it is simply not going to happen.
What would you like to see the Devils accomplish in the next 32 games?
For me, I’d like to see them be more consistent and play a full sixty minutes game. Build on their upward trend with their special teams, both power play and penalty kill. And protect the puck better and limit the amount of costly giveaways. When Dougie Hamilton comes back, maybe we’ll see the Devils have better result and build confidence towards the 2022-23 NHL season.
Good Positive Way Of Looking At Things
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Sam Woo is co-host and executive producer of the Let's Go Devils Podcast which can be heard live every Sunday at 9pm ET and Wednesday at 8:30pm ET. You can follow Sam on Twitter: @PrimetimeSamWoo
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