The New Jersey Devils lost 3-0 to the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night at the Prudential Center. A disjointed first period, combined with some bad breaks, put the Devils in an early hole that proved too much to overcome. With the loss, New Jersey fell to 15-8-2, while the Blues improved to 11-12-1.
Game Recap
Period One
The Blues got on the board almost immediately after Nico Hischier was tripped without a call, creating a two-on-one break that Robert Thomas buried behind Jacob Markstrom at 00:09. Pavel Buchnevich and Justin Faulk had the assists.
The Devils found themselves on an early penalty kill after a questionable too many men on the ice call. Head Coach Sheldon Keefe was, again, visibly unhappy with the officiating.
The Blues scored at 6:23 just after the successful penalty kill. Dylan Holloway scored from the net front with an assist from Brandon Saad.
Brett Pesce was upset with the officials after he was interfered with in front of the net, leaving Holloway wide open.
St. Louis grabbed a three-goal lead at 16:05 with Holloway’s second of the period from Jake Neighbours. Markstrom made the initial stop, but Jonas Siegenthaler’s clearing attempt got deflected in front and bounced to Holloway.
Thomas took a late slashing penalty that sent the Devils to a power play, but they couldn’t beat Binnington in net.
Neighbours took another slashing penalty as the buzzer sounded to end the period.
New Jersey was outshot 10-7 in the period.
Period Two
The Devils pinned St. Louis in their zone and put four shots on Binnington during the power play, but they couldn’t light the lamp.
New Jersey kept the pressure on and was outshooting the Blues 10-1 at the halfway point of the second. Binnington made some big saves to keep the Devils off the board.
New Jersey spent almost the entirety of the period in St. Louis’ zone, but they couldn’t get anything in the net.
New Jersey outshot St. Louis 11-1 in the middle frame.
Period Three
The Devils got an early power play but didn’t get much going.
Nearly halfway through the period, New Jersey ended up shorthanded after a scrum but successfully killed the penalty.
The Blues got their first shot on goal in roughly 25 minutes and Markstrom made a great save to keep it out.
The Devils went right back to the penalty kill and generated some shorthanded chances, but still couldn’t find the back of the net.
New Jersey outshot the Blues 31-20 in the loss.
Takeaways
All or Nothing
In their last 14 games, the Devils are 10-4-0. All four of their losses came in the form of a shutout.
It’s a baffling stat for a team averaging over three goals per game. In their victories, they score, and they score a lot. In their losses, they simply don’t score at all.
It’s hard to point to something that should be “fixed” to end the shutout loss streak. It is seemingly just an odd trend that has emerged where a game comes along, and the Devils, for one reason or another, can’t hit the back of the net regardless of how good or bad they play.
Additionally, it isn’t necessarily a pressing issue to be corrected as much as it’s just a strange quirk of the season. From a fan’s perspective, the shutout losses, especially at home, are undoubtedly less enjoyable to watch. Still, ultimately, a loss is a loss, no matter the score, and it’s hard to complain when New Jersey has only lost four of their past 14 contests.
The First 20
The Devils lost the game in the first period. Despite not getting a goal, they were far and away the better team in the final 40 minutes.
New Jersey was a step behind right out of the gate. The officiating certainly didn’t help, but nothing was as crisp as usual, including the goaltending. Particularly in the first 10 minutes, the Devils struggled to even get the puck out of their zone, let alone complete a clean pass or register a shot on net. While they eventually found their game, it goes to show that even a brief lapse can be enough to cost a team two points.
Removing the first period, New Jersey outshot the Blues 24-10. In the second period, they allowed just one shot and generated 11. Ultimately, they just couldn’t beat Binnington, who registered his first shutout of the season.
As disconnected as the Devils were in the first, they also suffered at the hands of a few poor calls, or lack thereof, that directly led to goals against.
In the first seconds of the game, Hischier was tripped down, creating the two-on-one opportunity. Hischier had favorable positioning on the play and would have been the first skater to the puck, thus eliminating a shot attempt, had he not been taken down.
On the second goal, Pesce was cross-checked from behind and taken out of the play, leaving Holloway open in front of the net with time to pick his spot. Again, if the defenseman can do his job, the puck never makes it to Markstrom.
That isn’t to say the Devils would have won had the calls been made. Taking two off the board doesn’t help when New Jersey couldn’t score any of their own. However, it is fair to say a one-goal game is played much differently than a three-goal game.
With a comfortable lead, St. Louis was content to sit back and defend the rest of the night without worrying about offense, a much more dangerous strategy in a tight contest. They effectively clogged the neutral zone and protected the house, giving New Jersey a lot of puck possession and zone time but primarily holding them to the outside.
It’s difficult to entirely blame officials when the Devils failed to score a goal, but their impact in the early going was undeniable.
Up Next
The Devils look to bounce back on Friday afternoon when they take on the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.
The Red Wings sit 6th in the Atlantic Division with a 10-10-2 record. They are coming off a 2-1 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.
This is the second of three meetings between the Devils and Red Wings this season, and the Devils look to even the series with a win. New Jersey lost 5-3 to Detroit on October 24.
Despite their excellent penalty kill, the Devils must be more disciplined against a Red Wings team whose offense relies heavily on its power play.
Puck drop is set for 3:00 p.m. on MSGSN and FDSNDET.
ITR 35: Round One – Inside The Rink
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