It wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch, but New Jersey got two desperately needed points against the lowly Blackhawks
It’s no secret that the New Jersey Devils have been playing terrible hockey lately. After a modest three-game winning streak from March 9-13, the Devils lost four of their next five and three in a row entering tonight. And that was just the latest in a long string of bad hockey the Devils have been playing since Christmas. But thankfully for New Jersey, tonight’s schedule offered up one of the only teams in the NHL playing worse than them: The Chicago Blackhawks. It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but the Devils did manage to skate away with two points after a 5-3 victory in Chicago.
To me, Luke Hughes was the best Devil on the ice this evening. He registered three points in this game, all assists, and all night long he used his skating to make plays. He didn’t get a ton of ice time, in fact his 18:24 was the second-lowest among defensemen tonight ahead of only Simon Nemec. But when he hopped over the boards, good things usually happened.
Elsewhere, a lot of Devils that have been catching a lot of flak lately produced goals tonight. Nate Bastian scored his first goal since the Coolidge Administration January 29th against the Flyers. Ondrej Palat scored a sweet shorthanded goal thanks to a great play by Jesper Bratt. Dawson Mercer sniped home a power play goal in the second period. And Stefan Noesen potted the empty-netter to secure the victory late in the third. That tally was Noesen’s first since February 23rd against the Predators, and it was also his 20th goal of the season, the first time he’s reached the 20-goal plateau in his career. After a terrific beginning to his season, Noesen has scored only four times since Christmas. It was nice to see him get back on the scoresheet.
Timo Meier also scored tonight (even though his goal was originally credited to Mercer), but he hasn’t been catching a lot of flak lately. As a matter of fact, Meier has gotten a lot of credit for coming alive in the month of March once again. After a torrid March last season, Meier is now up to eight goals and 10 points in 13 games this month. Meier madness continues.
This was another low event game, in which the Devils were perfectly content to make sure no one got a lot of clear looks at the net. After a slew of terrible third periods over the past couple of weeks (as well as one terrible second period against the Senators), New Jersey at least didn’t completely collapse in the final frame tonight. It was more of a nailbiter than it should have been down the stretch of this game, and Frank Nazar scoring with around three minutes left with the Blackhawks’ net pulled to bring his team to within 4-3 was enough to give me flashbacks of the Calgary and Vancouver games. But thankfully New Jersey managed to avoid catastrophe with Noesen’s clincher, and they escaped Chicago with two points.
With the way things have been going for New Jersey, this felt like as close to a must-win as you could get under the current circumstances. The rest of this road trip is brutal, and after losing their last three games, the Devils really needed something to feel good about themselves. Well a win against arguably the worst team in the NHL isn’t exactly a huge confidence booster, but it’s a result the club sorely needed. Two points are two points, take what you can get and move on.
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 the NHL’s website
Off The Mark
Jacob Markstrom got the start tonight, and he was once again pretty bad. He made only 21 saves on 24 shots, good for a save% of .875. The TNT broadcast kept pointing out how terrible his rebound control was this evening, and they were right. I felt like I was watching “prime” Mackenzie Blackwood with how Markstrom was serving rebounds up on a platter for the other team to capitalize on.
At the very least, did Markstrom have to make a bunch of really tough saves? No, not really. In fact New Jersey only allowed 1.43 Expected Goals tonight according to Natural Stat Trick. His team gave him fairly easy work, but Markstorm still allowed 1.57 goals above expected this evening, another completely unacceptable outing from him.
I understand Markstrom is still working himself back from the injury he suffered back in January. And yes, I am fine with starting Markstrom tonight, as the Blackhawks presented a good opportunity for the Devils to get a win while Markstrom received a “get right” game. But while New Jersey did get the win, Markstrom did not get right. His play remains a serious concern.
Broken Glass
Trade deadline acquisition Cody Glass did not play tonight. According to head coach Sheldon Keefe, Glass did not even travel with New Jersey, but he might join the team later in the trip.
In typical Devils fashion, we got absolutely no indication as to what sort of injury Glass suffered. I personally can’t remember anything from last game, so if you do, please let me know in the comments. Either way, add yet another key injury to the list.
I can’t believe I’m referring to Glass’ injury as a “key” one, but that’s how well he was playing for the Devils. Obviously he didn’t entirely make up for the absence of Jack Hughes, and in fact he hasn’t really even come close. But that’s not an insult towards Glass, that’s more a commentary on how important Hughes is to this team. Still, Glass has put up points and played a responsible two-way game for New Jersey since coming over at the trade deadline. I would much rather see him than say Justin Dowling or Curtis Lazar in the lineup. We can only hope Glass recovers from whatever is ailing him soon.
My Kingdom For 30 Shots
In what has become the norm since the Christmas break, New Jersey wasn’t really able to generate a ton of offense tonight. It’s understandable considering they’re missing Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, not to mention Glass missing the game with an undisclosed injury. But then you remember they were playing perhaps the league’s worst team, and all of a sudden it’s much less forgivable.
Once again, the Devils failed to reach 30 shots on goal. Heck, they barely clawed their way to the 20-shot mark, only reaching it when Noesen deposited his empty-netter. Yes they only held Chicago to 24 shots, and even that number was a bit inflated thanks to score effects. But I’m sorry, posting a meager 20 shots on goal against a dismal Blackhawks team is completely unacceptable. I don’t care if they’re missing Hughes, Hamilton, and Glass, this should not be happening. New Jersey has now gone their last 14 games without reaching 30 shots on goal. At this point I’m convinced they won’t reach that mark again this season, the offense is that broken.
Out Of Town Scoreboard
There was only one game on the out of town scoreboard that was relevant to the Devils tonight, but it was a big one. The New York Islanders hosted the Vancouver Canucks tonight, and the Canucks did the Devils a huge solid by defeating the Islanders 5-2. New York actually held a 2-1 lead at one point, but Vancouver scored four unanswered goals to pick up the regulation victory.
The Isles have recently leapfrogged the Columbus Blue Jackets as the team directly behind New Jersey in the Metropolitan Division standings. Thanks to the Devils’ win and the Islanders’ loss tonight, New Jersey is now nine points clear of New York, though the Isles do have two games in hand.
Next Time Out
The Devils continue their Central Division swing on Friday night when they visit the top team in the Western Conference, the Winnipeg Jets. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00pm.
Your Take
What did you make of tonight’s game? Are you as concerned with Markstrom as I am? What are you expecting next time out against the Jets? As always, thanks for reading!