Devils' 4-3 Loss to Ducks: a Blown Opportunity

The New Jersey Devils blew a golden opportunity to get back in the playoff race with a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

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The New Jersey Devils and catastrophic goaltending performances. Name a better duo. In a must-have game, Nico Daws had an absolute clunker in a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. It was a blown opportunity for the Devils since the Philadelphia Flyers lost earlier in the evening. Now, the clock is getting close to striking midnight. Here are three takeaways from the loss. 

Familiar Woes Doomed Devils 

Daws played well in San Jose in the 7-2 win versus the Sharks, especially early on, but he could not have been worse yesterday. When Adam Henrique scored to make it a 2-1 game, it was clear then that Daws did not have it. 

Coach Lindy Ruff even pulled Daws in favor of Akira Schmid, who fared well in relief during the third period, but the damage was already done. Daws gave up four goals on 0.84 expected goals while facing just 14 shots on goal. The Devils have asked plenty of him with Vitek Vaněček out with a lower-body injury, and it may be catching up to him. 

At the same time, the Devils' defense doesn't get a pass here. Luke Hughes could have made a harder play behind the net on Henrique's goal, and he failed to tie up Max Jones' stick on the tally that made it 3-1 for the Ducks. 

It only got worse from there, too. The Ducks' fourth goal may have been the worst offender defensively. We've seen that the Devils have had trouble defending the rush this season, which was the case on Frank Vatrano's second goal that made it 4-2. 

The Ducks faced no pressure in the neutral zone. Radko Gudas made a strong cross-ice pass to Troy Terry, who faced zero resistance from Kevin Bahl at the blue line. That allowed Terry to feed Vatrano, who got in behind John Marino and alone on Daws.