Devils' 6-3 Loss to Oilers: Disaster Class
Familiar miscues doomed the New Jersey Devils in a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers to extend their losing streak to three games
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From bad to worse. After losing in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 19, the New Jersey Devils put up a terrible performance in a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers last night. Here are three takeaways from the defeat.
Devils Got Off to a Slow Start Again
From the get-go, the Devils were playing behind the eight-ball. On the opening shift of the game, Luke Hughes coughed up the puck when trying to reverse it to Brendan Smith behind the net. From there, the Devils got scrambly in their own end, leaving Ryan McLeod wide open on the back door for an easy goal.
The Oilers' second goal was more about Akira Schmid leaving a poor rebound, leading to Devils coach Lindy Ruff pulling him in favor of Vitek Vaněček. And while Vaněček did unravel in the third period, the Devils didn't help him.
Jonas Siegenthaler bowled over Vaněček, leaving the net wide open for Connor McDavid to tie the game at 3-3. Seconds later, Kevin Bahl made an ill-advised pass to the center of the ice toward Michael McLeod. That resulted in a turnover to Leon Draisaitl, who roofed a backhander to give the Oilers a 4-3 lead.
On the Oilers' sixth goal, Luke Hughes couldn't corral the puck on a dump-in. That resulted in a turnover to Ryan McLeod, who potted his second goal of the game. The Devils were done for the night at that point anyway, but the careless puck management was problematic all night.
Not only did the Devils manage the puck poorly, but they got outworked all game. They lost all the 50/50 battles, and even though they did lead 3-2 after two periods, it's not like they deserved it. The Oilers were the better team from the opening puck drop, and they got the deserved result.
Ruff Needs to Adjust to Cover Up Roster Flaws
Now, onto the goaltending. Sure, the Devils played a poor game, but Schmid and Vaněček did not help matters. Schmid getting pulled almost five minutes into the game should tell you all you need to know about his play, though I think part of it was Ruff sending a message to his team about their terrible start.
The goalie change did work for a while, with Vaněček having saved every shot he faced heading into the third period. But bad Vaněček reared its ugly head in the final frame. Siegenthaler knocking his goaltender out of position is not on the goaltender. It's hard to stop Draisaitl's backhander, too, but Adam Erne's goal to make it a 5-3 game was a real backbreaker.
Vaněček pulled himself well out of position by getting his left pad outside the post. Any goalie playing well would have made the save by kicking the puck away, but he pulled himself so far out of position that Erne had almost an empty net to slide the puck into the back of the net.
Vaněček finished the game giving up 1.18 goals above expected, while Schmid gave up 1.19 goals above expected. Obviously, goaltending like that is almost impossible to overcome. But last night's loss was not all on goaltending.
This is where I have a problem with Ruff. We know the Devils' defense is young, with Luke Hughes, Bahl, and now Šimon Nemec filling in for an injured Dougie Hamilton. But from the looks of it, Ruff has not tweaked how the team plays to 1) adjust for the young defense and 2) adjust for their poor goaltending.
Games like last night's are where you can easily argue it's not just on the goalies. The Devils were sloppy with their puck management. They continually have blown assignments in the defensive zone, and they struggle to break out of the defensive zone.
Yes, some of this is a player problem. You have inexperienced defensemen on the back end, but the coaching staff's job is to adjust for some of these flaws. The Pittsburgh Penguins may be struggling, but there's a reason Mike Sullivan is one of the longest-tenured coaches in the NHL. He knows how to adjust for his rosters.
It doesn't feel like Ruff is doing a good enough job of that, and his seat may be getting hot. The Devils have Travis Green on their staff, and Jay Woodcroft and Dean Evason are available. They can't throw a season away when they're in win-now mode, so a coaching change could be on the table at some point if things don't improve.
Nemec Continues to Impress
There wasn't much good to come out of that game, but I thought Nemec was solid once again. He made a risky pass at the blue line on Siegenthaler's goal but threaded it to perfection. Not many 19-year-old defensemen can make plays like that, but Nemec has the smarts, confidence and poise to do so.
Nemec was also solid defensively. His rush defense was a concern coming into this season, and it still will be for a 19-year-old defender, but he has shown a bit of improvement in that regard.
There was one rush chance from Evander Kane in the second period that Nemec played perfectly. He had good gap control and forced Kane to the outside and behind the net without allowing a high-danger chance.
Nemec has only played ten NHL games to date, but you can tell there's the makings of a very good NHL defenseman. For a 19-year-old, he's been quite impressive, and we're only seeing the beginnings of a potential top-pair blueliner.
Quick Hits
After last night, I'm assuming we will get line changes at practice today. But I think Ruff needs to break up Tyler Toffoli, Jack Hughes and Erik Haula. Having one of them (Toffoli) there is fine, but there's not enough speed on that line for Hughes. Holtz may not be the fastest skater, but he's improved from where he was. I'd like to see Ruff give Holtz a shot with Jack and Toffoli against the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow.
In a similar vein, Ruff should give Timo Meier a look alongside Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt. Ondřej Palát has played well this season, but the production isn't there to justify a top-six role. A third line of Palát, Haula and Dawson Mercer, which played well together in the preseason, should improve the Devils' depth, especially with the fourth line playing well right now.
Game Score Chart
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