Devils' 6-4 Loss to Canucks: Comeback Falls Just Short

The New Jersey Devils couldn't overcome a slow start in a 6-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, as their comeback fell just short.

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The New Jersey Devils just can't seem to figure out the second half of back-to-backs. Last night was no exception, but they also had the odds stacked against them with no Jack Hughes, Ondřej Palát and Timo Meier. Here are three takeaways from the 6-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. 

Daws Gave the Devils a Chance

Slow starts have been a problem for the Devils this season, and last night was no exception. Sure, they were without a few of their key players, but the Canucks still caved them in the first period.

Goaltender Nico Daws stood tall to the task, making 17/17 saves and saving 2.13 goals above expected in the first period. The Canucks were consistently hemming in the Devils in their own end, but Daws turned away everything. 

He faced plenty of high-danger chances in the opening frame, with the Canucks totaling ten at all strengths. Unfortunately, things began to unravel in the second period. The Canucks scored three quick goals to go up 3-0, though it's hard to fault Daws on any of them. 

Even after the Canucks went up 3-0, Daws was battling and helping keep his team in the game. After Colin Miller scored to make it 3-1, Daws made a couple of timely saves on Andrei Kuzmenko and Nils Aman to keep the contest at 3-1. 

Erik Haula scored to make it 3-2 with 22 seconds left in the second frame, but that's when Daws had his first real clunker. Conor Garland scored 11 seconds later on a wraparound when Daws cheated too far to his glove side, exposing the net for Garland on the wraparound. 

Still, that wasn't entirely Daws' fault. The Devils got caught sleeping on the faceoff. Kevin Bahl and John Marino were nowhere to be found to support Daws, and by the time Marino got to his spot, the puck was in the back of the net. 

The good news is that despite giving up five goals, Daws only allowed 0.72 goals above expected. If you round up, that's one goal he should've saved, which you could easily chalk up to Garland's wraparound. 

Devils coach Lindy Ruff should be encouraged by what he saw from Daws, and he said as much in his post-game press conference. The Devils have four days off before playing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. That gives Daws plenty of time to recover and start on Thursday, as should be the case. 

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