If you asked New Jersey Devils fans what the two biggest problems the team faced in the opening week of the season were, the vast majority of them would say goaltending and the power play. Jacob Markstrom was rocking a save percentage in the mid-.800’s through those first two games, while the man advantage put up a goose egg and generally looked less dangerous than the penalty kills they were facing. Big, big problems. But thanks to Jake Allen, Jacob Markstrom, and some timely snipes, the Devils put those problems behind them for at least one night, edging out the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 3-2 victory.
You might notice I listed both goaltenders in the opening paragraph, and we’ll get to that shortly. But for now, let’s focus on the good. Jake Allen was marvelous tonight. He had to be, as the skaters in front of him got absolutely run over through the first 20 minutes of play. Columbus posted 16 shots on goal in the first period alone. They fired from every direction, from far, from near, from left, from right, and Allen was up to the task every single time. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blue Jackets racked up 2.06 Expected Goals in the opening frame, which means Allen saved over two goals above expected according to their model. The Devils had Allen to thank that they got to the locker room up 1-0.
Well, Allen and Timo Meier. Someone had to score the goal after all, and Meier found the back of the net towards the end of a first period power play:
It was New Jersey’s first power play goal of the season, and while it wasn’t exactly a work of art, it was desperately needed.
Allen continued his dominance in the second period. While he did get beat once, it was off a breakaway by one of the NHL’s premier snipers, Kirill Marchenko. He stripped Jack Hughes of the puck at the Columbus blue line, broke in all alone on Allen, and didn’t miss. Hard to fault Jake the Snake for that one. Aside from that, though, he locked it down, and his teammates got him the lead back thanks to their second power play goal of the night. While I described the Meier tally as not exactly a work of art, this one was:
Ever since the Devils drafted Arseny Gritsyuk, we’ve heard that the kid has an absolutely lethal shot. If he was going to come over to the NHL and succeed, it would be as a sniper, not a playmaker. Well it’s early, but I think everyone underestimated his passing ability. This kid can absolutely dish it, and his brilliant saucer pass to Dawson Mercer, who wired home a terrific one-timer, put the Devils back out in front. New Jersey took that 2-1 edge into the second intermission.
And now we get to the bad.
Allen did not come out for the third period. He was replaced by Markstrom, sending Devils fans everywhere into a panic. We would later find out through the MSG broadcast that Allen was removed due to cramping, which seems like about as “best case scenario” as you can get. Instead of an injury that could keep him out for days, weeks, or even months, Allen should be good to go by next game. He better be, this team has suffered through enough bad injury luck this season.
As for Markstrom, I have to give him a lot of credit. After floundering through the first two games of his season, he was asked to come in cold to protect a one-goal lead. Not an easy task even for the most grizzled of veterans. And while Markstrom did not have to make five-alarm save after five-alarm save, he was tested by a pressing Blue Jackets team, and he answered the call. That 2-1 lead held until the final few minutes when Columbus pulled their goalie, which is when Mercer gave the Devils that all important insurance with an empty-net goal.
Of course, the Devils had to make it interesting. Dmitri Voronkov scored on a net-mouth scramble with about 20 seconds to go with Columbus’ net empty again, and about six seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Dougie Hamilton iced the puck to give the Blue Jackets an offensive zone faceoff with about 14 seconds remaining. Thankfully New Jersey’s defense held, and the Devils skated away with a 3-2 victory over a pesky Columbus squad.
It wasn’t a perfect night, but the Devils got the job done. After seeing their goaltending and power play fail them over their first two contests, those were the two main reasons why New Jersey left Ohio with two points this evening. It doesn’t get much better than celebrating Columbus Day with a win in Columbus.
The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats
The Game Highlights: Courtesy of NHL.com
The Other Special Teams Unit
We’ve spent a lot of taking taking about the man advantage already, but now it’s time to talk about the other special teams group. There’s a reason I used “Special Teams” in the headline and not just “Power Play”.
The Devils penalty kill was flawless tonight. And it wasn’t because they played a disciplined game and stayed out of the box either. Columbus received five power plays this evening (including a four-minute double minor in the first period), and despite the Blue Jackets entering the game eighth in the league with a 25% conversion rate on the PP, New Jersey held them off the scoreboard through all five opportunities.
Perhaps the most notable aspect of the penalty kill to me was the fact that Sheldon Keefe gave Meier a shift on the kill during the double minor in the first. Meier is very much not a penalty killer, so it was interesting to see him out there. And to his credit, he actually made a really nice play in the neutral zone to knock the puck away from a rushing Blue Jacket and deny a zone entry. It was his only penalty kill shift of the game, so I’m assuming this was just Keefe using forwards he doesn’t normally use to keep his regular rotation fresh during an extra long kill. Still, it was sort of nice to see Meier not only get an opportunity to prove himself, but make a nice play while he was out there.
The power play might get most of the headlines tonight, but don’t sleep on the penalty kill. That unit was absolutely critical in securing the win.
Hischier Line Remains Dominant
It’s a good thing the goaltending and special teams were superb tonight, because the 5-on-5 performance of the skaters was anything but. Three of the four Devils lines had xGF% numbers in the teens and twenties according to Natural Stat Trick, which is heinously bad.
The one exception? Ol’ Reliable, AKA the Hischier line.
Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Dawson Mercer played 9:13 together at 5-on-5, and posted a dominant 72.13% xGF%. This was even more impressive considering they drew the Sean Monahan matchup. Monahan is not a superstar, but he is centering Columbus’ top line these days, and him, Marchenko, and Voronkov were no match for the Hischier line this evening.
It was an up and down season-opening road trip for the Devils, but Hischier, Meier, and Mercer were, in my opinion, the most consistently good unit the team had through the first three games. I would include the rest of the forwards lines AND the defensive pairs in that assessment. So far so good for New Jersey’s top line against some really tough competition.
Vibe Check?
Ok, so how are we all feeling now that the season-opening road trip is over? New Jersey is not out of the woods yet, they still have a very tough rest of October ahead of them. This includes playing both Cup finalists from last season on the upcoming homestand, which is both amusing and terrifying.
For me personally, I will absolutely take four out of a possible six points. Carolina and Tampa Bay are elite teams, and while Columbus certainly isn’t in that category, I think most people around the league look at them as a team on the rise. They have a lot of talent, and they played outstanding at home last season, so even the easiest of the three games looked fairly difficult on paper. Despite that, New Jersey secured themselves a winning road trip. The Carolina game was frustrating, but if I had to take a glass half full approach to that contest, I would say that despite the Devils playing fairly poorly overall, it was encouraging that they kept it close all game long until a very late goal against broke it open.
Meanwhile I could also argue that it was impressive New Jersey put together a winning road trip despite the goaltending and power play woes of the first two games, and the fact that their best player, Jack Hughes, hasn’t fully gotten it going yet. To me, the vibes are pretty high. Not through the roof, as there are still areas to work on for sure, but this was a strong opening road trip that can set the team up for success through a tough October.
Next Time Out
It’s the home opener! On Thursday, the Devils return from their season-opening road trip for their first game at Prudential Center. They’ll host none other than the defending champion Florida Panthers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm.
Your Take
What did you make of tonight’s game? Who stood out to you the most? Who are you concerned about? What do you expect in the home opener on Thursday? As always, thanks for reading!