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Five observations from New Jersey vs Vegas:
1. The defense is a disaster
The Devils are dressing several fringe NHLers/below replacement level defenders on a nightly basis. It shows.
This team can not defend a lick right now. They lose assignments in-zone. They take bad angles. They just look lost.
Unfortunately, things are no better with the puck. So many possessions are wasted by the inability to make a simple outlet pass. There are also an abundance of careless turnovers, which is a big problem when transition defense is non-existent and you're going up against William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty, et all.
This has been a massive issue in recent weeks and I don’t see it changing throughout the rest of the season. The Devils don’t have the personnel, or team structure, to right the ship.
2. Mackenzie Blackwood did all he could
This team sure likes to make life as difficult as possible on this poor kid. It’s one thing for Blackwood to make quality saves if he can see the danger coming. It’s another if the Devils have possession and two seconds later a Vegas player has the puck in a high-danger area. The Devils are giving him absolutely no time to prepare or adjust and, somehow, it doesn’t really matter.
The Devils were bleeding 10-bell chances in the opening frame. Vegas easily could have scored two or three times. They scored zero.
Blackwood made a few highlight reel saves, as per usual, and kept the Devils in a game they didn’t have much business being in.
Realistically speaking, the Devils played 5-10 good minutes on the road against one of the better teams in the league and it took ~50 minutes before the game was really over.
Blackwood’s numbers didn’t pop off the page for once (29-32, .906 SV%) but I thought he did a good job with damage control. This kid is special.
3. Lack of depth shining through
You know what makes good teams, well, good? Star players are necessary, of course, but almost every team has a couple. Arguably the biggest thing is depth. That may sound crazy but it doesn’t much matter what Pacioretty and Mark Stone (I know he is injured) accomplish when on the ice if the other lines give it all back. That doesn’t happen in Vegas. It does in New Jersey.
I know the top two lines didn’t score but they both had positive shot shares and five of the six top-6ers had multiple chances. They at least held their own.
It was a much different story when the bottom-6 groupings were on the ice. Simply put, the Travis Zajac and Michael McLeod lines were completely cratered on the shot clock.
4. Jesper Boqvist’s return did not go well
I know playing with Miles Wood and Travis Zajac isn’t exactly ideal for him. There aren’t really any better spots to play, though, unless you’re breaking up a hot 2nd line or moving Jack Hughes down and making him play wing on the 3rd line (pass on that). That said, Boqvist had a tough night even considering the circumstances. He finished with a 22.40 xGF%, good for dead last in the game, and had only one shot attempt in more than 14 minutes of work. Boqvist did make a slick pass from the boards to create an opportunity early on but, besides that, really didn’t get to showcase the skill we know he has.
5. The tank is on
If you were worried about New Jersey winning too many games and ruining their chances of grabbing another top-end pick...do I have good news for you.
The Devils have 16 games to go. Only one of them (vs Buffalo) is against a bottom-10 team. One! Every game is against a playoff team, or one in the thick of a race to try and grab hold of a Wild Card spot.
There is real potential for things to get ugly and the losses to pile up. As frustrating as it is in the moment, that may not be such a bad thing. Yes, the Devils need depth. But it sure would be great to add another potential star who can play, and help, as soon as October.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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