Devils' 6-5 Win vs. Canucks: Jack Hughes Shines

Jack Hughes' 3 points helped the New Jersey Devils to a wild 6-5 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the first matchup featuring all 3 Hughes brothers.

Phew, OK. Where do we start here? The New Jersey Devils certainly don't lack excitement these days. It may lead to some wild games, but they are finding ways to win. With a 6-5 victory over the Vancouver Canucks, the Devils have won four of their last five contests. Here are three takeaways from the win. 

Vanecek's Struggles Continues

Let's get the bad out of the way first. By no means did the Devils play a perfect game defensively, but Vitek Vanecek struggled mightily once again, specifically in the third period when the Canucks scored three goals to tie the game at 5-5. 

Vanecek's rebound control was legitimately awful last night. He gave up two not-so-great rebounds on the Canucks' first two goals, and the rebound on the Canucks' tying goal in the third period just can't happen. He needs to do better there. 

Vanecek did make more than a few quality saves in the game and did face his fair share of grade-A opportunities. The Canucks generated 4.22 expected goals at all strengths, which is a lot for a single game.

On the surface, giving up five goals doesn't look bad. But the same concerns that have been there with Vanecek this season showed up yesterday. Even Ray Ferraro was making note of it on the Canucks' broadcast for Sportsnet, saying, "when you play Vanecek, there are always rebounds" after the Canucks made it 5-5. 

Vanecek made only eight saves on 13 high-danger shots, which has also been a problem for him this season. Obviously, not every high-danger shot needs to be a save. Most average goalies have a high-danger SV% between .800 and .850, but Vanecek is at .709. Lindy Ruff talked about getting timely saves after the Sharks game, and while Vanecek did make some timely stops against the Canucks, he broke down in the third period. 

At this point, the Devils don't have many options in net. Vanecek is unplayable, but they can't have him ride the bench. Akira Schmid should be their 1A; he had looked solid in his two starts before the Sharks game. But they need to figure out a way to get Vanecek going. 

Hughes Brothers Lead the Way