Devils' 6-2 Loss to the Stars: Humbled

As we've seen a few times this season, a series of miscues snowballed into a humbling experience for the New Jersey Devils.

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Hello, everyone. Here's your regularly scheduled recap of a loss in the second half of a back-to-back. The New Jersey Devils are now 1-8-1 in the second half of back-to-backs this season after a disappointing 6-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Sergei Brylin night. Here are three takeaways from the defeat. 

Devils' Miscues Snowballed 

You wouldn't have guessed it by the final score, but the Devils actually got off to a pretty good start in this one. They generated 1.1 expected goals in the first period but couldn't bury their chances, with Scott Wedgewood looking like prime Martin Brodeur early. 

Unfortunately, the Devils fell down 1-0, thanks to a power-play goal from Joe Pavelski. That was the 31st time in 44 games that they've given up the first goal in a game this season. They were again behind the eight-ball against one of the best teams in the Western Conference. 

Even then, the Devils managed the game pretty well for about the first 30 minutes. Their puck management was solid, and they were playing a simple game while generating quality chances. But a shorthanded goal from Roope Hintz was the turning point. 

Once Hintz scored to make it 2-0, the wheels came off for the Devils. On the Stars' third goal, scored by Matt Duchene, Luke Hughes got chasing his man and pulled himself out of position. Colin Miller deflected the initial pass, but Duchene was all alone in what should've been Hughes' spot when the puck came back to him. 

The Stars' fourth goal was awful defensive coverage from the Devils, while Šimon Nemec did a poor job defending Craig Smith's goal; Nemec also screened Nico Daws, which didn't help. 

We've seen this quite a few times from the Devils this season. They'll give up a goal or two, but instead of giving up one or two, it becomes three or four. Playing two rookies and a still-young Kevin Bahl on defense is part of the reason. But the Devils have to figure out how to prevent a couple of miscues from snowballing into an onslaught of goals. Because last night wasn't the first time it's happened. 

How Hot Should Ruff's Seat Be?

Fans are visibly frustrated, and understandably so. I'd say close to half my mentions on Twitter last night were something along the lines of "Fire Lindy" or "The Devils need to make a coaching change."