Devils' Jake Allen Sensational in 2-1 Win vs. Blue Jackets
Jake Allen made 45/46 saves and helped the New Jersey Devils steal 2 points from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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So...Jake Allen, huh? After Jacob Markström struggled against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 7-3 loss over the weekend, head coach Sheldon Keefe turned back to Allen against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and boy, did he deliver.
The New Jersey Devils played well through the first two periods. You could even argue they were the better team, but the Blue Jackets completely flipped the script in the third. Had it not been for Allen's sensational performance, the Devils would not have come away with the 2-1 win.
Allen's Terrific Night
The Devils have had to change their game because of the injuries to Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler. You're not going to see them get in track meets when they don't have to, and they stuck to that plan before the third period.
I was somewhat surprised that the Blue Jackets didn't begin the game with more urgency, but that's a credit to the Devils. They stuck to their defensive structure and kept the Blue Jackets to the perimeter, allowing just three high-danger changes at five-on-five across the first two periods.
That all unraveled in the third, though, and the Devils had to turn to Allen to save the day. Last night's game followed a similar script to Allen's previous start in a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers last week. The Devils played a tight-checking game across the first two periods but unraveled in the third in each.
Allen was excellent against the Oilers in the final 20, but faced even more work last night. The Blue Jackets generated 14 high-danger chances in the third period alone, but he stopped almost everything and saved 2.75 goals above expected.
Allen made quality saves on Yegor Chinakhov, Mathieu Olivier, Zach Werenski, and Zach Aston-Reese. The save on Reese was particularly excellent, as it came off a rare turnover from Johnathan Kovacevic trying to break out of the defensive zone.
In the third period alone, Allen made 23 saves on 24 shots. He saved 3.91 goals above expected for the game while making 45 saves on 46 shots. I'd probably give Markström the Calgary Flames game on Thursday since that seems like a good opportunity for him to bounce back, but expect Allen to get some run until Markström rounds into form.
Per MoneyPuck, Allen now ranks third in the NHL in goals saved above expected. Only Logan Thompson and Connor Hellebuyck have a better GSAx, and they're Vezina contenders. That's how good Allen has been, especially lately.
Bratt, Glass & Haula Continue to Gel
Even before the third-period onslaught from the Blue Jackets, the Devils were having trouble generating offense. More often than not, it came from the Erik Haula, Cody Glass and Jesper Bratt line, who continue to play well as a trio.
The Devils had one skater finish with an expected goals percentage (xG%) above 50 percent last night. That one player was Glass, who totaled a 52.43 xG% at five-on-five.
That line, in general, was the only one that tilted the ice in the Devils’ favor. The team had a 51.18 xG% and out-chanced the Blue Jackets 10-4 with Haula, Glass and Bratt on the ice. With them on the bench, the Devils got out-chanced 20-5.
Bratt didn't break Scott Stevens' single-season assist record last night, but he scored what eventually was the game-winning goal. He was making some ridiculous passes, and continued to show good chemistry with Glass.
I won't say Jack Hughes' injury is a blessing in disguise. That's insane to say for a player of his caliber, but it has shown that Bratt might be better off on a line away from Hughes. He's taken his game to another level since Hughes' injury, and it seems like it's freed up his offensive game.
Haula and Glass deserve their flowers because they're playing well, too, but the Devils probably wouldn't have gotten positive results last night and against the Oilers without Bratt. He's turned into a difference-maker at the perfect time.
Luke Hughes With Another Solid Outing
Luke Hughes' on-ice metrics weren't great last night (that's true of the whole team), but he was active offensively across the first two periods. What stood out most was he was creating some offense off the rush. He was jumping into the attack at the right time and wasn't getting caught out of position defensively.
He hasn't been getting as much attention as Bratt, but Hughes has stepped up in his brother's absence, totaling seven points in seven games since Jack got hurt.
Keefe is asking plenty of Luke and Brett Pesce, as they're now the team's top pair with Siegenthaler and Hamilton out for the regular season at a minimum. It hasn't always been pretty, but they're getting the job done, and that's what matters.
Quick Hits
Speaking of Pesce, he very quietly had an excellent game. That might be difficult to say when the team got outshot and out-chanced as much as they did, but Pesce did well to defend high-danger areas and kill plays in the defensive zone before they got started. His impacts may not show it, but there's a reason why the eye test loves Pesce. He's a microstat champ, and games like yesterday's show why that's the case.
The Devils' fourth line got absolutely murdered last night. Curtis Lazar finished with an xG% of zero percent, while Nathan Bastian was just above 15 percent. You don't want to break up the Hischier and Bratt lines right now, but Keefe might want to consider playing Daniel Sprong with Dawson Mercer and Ondřej Palát and moving Tomáš Tatar back to the fourth line with Paul Cotter and Lazar. Tatar will at least help the fourth line break even, and Sprong could help the Mercer line find more scoring prowess.
I'm not sure what Keefe should do with Šimon Nemec. He again had the worst game score among Devils skaters and finished with an xG% of 13.88 percent. Is Dennis Cholowski an upgrade? I'm not sure. Could Santeri Hatakka come up and play on his off-hand? Maybe that's an option, but the Devils are essentially playing five defensemen since Nemec isn't even logging ten minutes a game. Keefe needs to figure out what to do with him.
Game Score Chart
Advanced stats from Natural Stat Trick
I would have agreed with you about Luke having a solid game, if it wasn't for that 3rd period. Everyone was bad, and Luke in particular was abysmal. It felt like every single time he'd get possession of the puck in the defensive zone, he'd blindly throw a weak pass up the middle, which would instantly get picked off by CBJ, who would then extend their offensive zone time.
The whole team seemed to be gripping their sticks too tightly, until we got the two goal lead. But then everyone reverted back to handling the puck like a hand grenade in the 3rd - I have never seen so much panic in a team trying to defend a lead. The idea of making them come 200 feet was out the window - it felt like a major victory anytime we were able to get the puck over the blue line.
I hope this team learns from that, and develops a bit more mental fortitude. But my hopes aren't very high.