The New Jersey Devils lost 5-3 to the Calgary Flames on Thursday night at the Prudential Center. The Devils controlled the game through the first two periods but crumbled in the third to give away an important two points in the standings. With the loss, the Devils fell to 37-27-6, while the Flames improved to 32-25-11.
Game Recap
Period One
New Jersey had a slight edge in the early going. They had some sustained zone time and were physical, finishing checks at every opportunity. Stefan Noesen had a breakaway attempt, but Dustin Wolf kept it out.
The Devils were tagged with a boarding minor after Timo Meier laid a crunching hit on Joel Hanley. The hit was timed well and not from behind but was penalized, likely due to the proximity to the boards.
New Jersey killed the penalty, and Meier nearly had a breakaway attempt out of the box but ended up drawing a penalty instead. Daniel Sprong had a good look, but the Devils couldn’t cash in with the man advantage.
Martin Pospisil laid a high hit, and Tomas Tatar stepped in with a heavy check of his own but was tagged with an interference penalty. The Devils had a few shorthanded chances and, most importantly, killed off the power play.
The Devils surged after the penalty kill and were rewarded with a wrap-around goal from Nico Hischier at 17:09. Noesen and Johnathan Kovacevic had the assists.
New Jersey outshot the Flames 9-5 in the first 20 minutes.
Period Two
The Devils were on the front foot out of the gate, and Tatar created a great opportunity from in close that Wolf kept out.
New Jersey extended its lead at 5:25 with a shot from the high slot by Erik Haula that deflected off Kevin Bahl and in. Brian Dumoulin had the lone assist. Sprong wasn’t rewarded on the score sheet, but he facilitated the play by driving the net and creating chaos in front.
The Flames responded with an extended shift, but Brenden Dillon helped to relieve pressure with a physical play on Nazem Kadri at the netfront.
Luke Hughes made a fantastic play entering the zone to get the puck to Tatar, but Wolf answered with a great save to keep the deficit to two.
After some deliberation between officials, the Devils were called for delay-of-game for sending the puck over the glass, and the Flames cashed in at 11:58 when Dawson Mercer redirected the puck past Jacob Markstrom from in close. Matt Coronato was credited for the goal with assists from Jonathan Huberdeau and Morgan Frost.
The Devils put the puck over the glass again just minutes later, but they were able to kill off the penalty thanks to some huge saves by Markstrom as the two minutes expired. The puck went the other way, and Wolf made another big save to keep it out.
New Jersey got a power play seconds later but couldn’t regain the two-goal lead.
Paul Cotter didn’t need the man advantage and cashed in with about 30 seconds left in the frame with a beautiful drive to the net and a nice move to maneuver the puck past Wolf. Hischier and Dillon collected the assists.
The Devils outshot the Flames 16-8 in the middle frame.
Period Three
The Flames pushed in the first minute, but Markstrom made a few nice stops to preserve the lead.
Calgary kept the pressure on as the Devils got a bit sloppy with passes and struggled to control the puck.
The Flames pulled within a goal at 6:50 with a shot by Connor Zary that Markstrom appeared to have, but it somehow snuck through his pads. Hanley and Pospisil had the assists.
The Devils took a fifth penalty with just under 13 minutes remaining in the period, but they killed it off. Mercer had a huge, blocked shot, immediately followed by a shorthanded break, but Wolf made another big save to keep him off the board.
Calgary was outshooting the Devils 8-4 at the midway point of the period. The Flames nearly had a breakaway, but Dumoulin made a fantastic play to prevent the grade-A opportunity and allow Markstrom to make the save.
The Devils continued to flounder and eventually, the Flames tied the game with Daniil Miromanov’s second goal of the season at 15:39. Blake Coleman and Joel Farabee had the assists.
New Jersey was extremely sloppy following the goal, and the Flames had an odd-man rush that forced Markstrom to make a huge save. They had another miscue with a puck loosely flung into the slot, and the Flames grabbed their first lead of the game at 16:40 with an unassisted goal by Huberdeau.
The Devils pulled their goalie, and Meier was caught with a high stick that the officials missed. Eventually, the Flames hit the empty net to ice the game.
New Jersey outshot the Flames 29-28 in the contest.
Takeaways
Déjà Vu
The Devils put together a third-period performance that felt eerily similar to their previous third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets. New Jersey was in the driver’s seat for 40 minutes but took their foot off the gas in the final 20, hanging their goaltender out to dry. In Columbus, it took a heroic effort by Jake Allen to hold his team in the game and steal two points. Against the Flames, Markstrom couldn’t bail his team out, as he is still working his way back from injury.
To quantify just how poorly the Devils have played in their past two third periods, look no further than the shots on net. New Jersey was outshot by a shocking 39-7 in their third-period efforts against the Blue Jackets and Flames combined. Needless to say, that can’t happen if they plan on winning many of their remaining games.
The Devils must find a way to play a full 60 minutes of hockey in the final stretch of games. They’ve shown that the “sit back and defend” method is unreliable, so they can’t allow themselves to be outworked, and they must find a way to remove the “panic” from their third periods.
Against the Flames, there were too many occasions where someone would loosely chip the puck toward the blue line in an attempt to clear the zone, only for it to be easily picked off by the opponent. On the Huberdeau goal, for example, instead of getting the puck to the corner or trying to make a deliberate pass to a teammate, Kovacevic threw it right into the slot and onto Huberdeau’s waiting stick. It is those kinds of rushed plays that have gotten the Devils into trouble lately, and that needs to be quickly cleaned up as the season winds down.
In Net
While the loss was not on Markstrom, it was clear that he is not back to his pre-injury form.
When prompted for an update on his recovery, Sheldon Keefe stated, “He’s not there yet.”
As the Devils try to accumulate points down the stretch, Allen should take over the role of starting netminder. He has proven again and again that he is not only capable of providing league-average goaltending, but he can singlehandedly hold his team in games.
Additionally, if Markstrom is truly not ready to go and is fighting through an injury, the Devils should consider recalling Nico Daws from Utica to give him time to completely recover. They can’t afford to have a netminder rehabbing on the fly when every point counts in the tight wildcard race. Daws has also had strong performances this season and has been poised in his starts, and the Devils should feel confident in his abilities if needed.
Up Next
The Devils look to get back in the win column on Saturday night when they take on the Ottawa Senators at the Rock.
The Senators sit fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 36-27-5 record and a 7-2-1 record in their past ten contests. Most recently, they lost 5-1 to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between the Devils and Senators. New Jersey took the first game 3-1 on October 17th, while Ottawa won the second contest 2-1 on January 19th.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on MSGSN and MSGSN2.
ITR 30: Down The Stretch – Inside The Rink
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