Devils 1, Bruins 0: Wedgewood steals the show
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Five observations from New Jersey vs Boston:
Scott Wedgewood stole the show
Wedgewood was somewhat of a surprise starter, getting the nod in goal for the first time in more than a month. You certainly wouldn’t have known it from watching him play; he was nothing short of spectacular.
Now, the Devils did tighten up in front of them. They were always on top of the Bruins and made everything difficult.
Boston piled up a ton of shots but they were only credited with only four high-danger opportunities at 5v5. For the most part, the Devils didn’t let them into the most dangerous areas of the ice.
Even so, 40 shots is 40 shots. That’s a difficult workload in terms of volume and it’s not like none of them were threatening.
I mean, David Pastrnak is one of the game’s best one-shot scorers and he had 10 shots on target. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand combined for seven. The big guns got their looks and they couldn’t beat Wedgewood.
Even if every single shot was from a distance, conceding zero on 17 shots from one of the best line’s in the NHL is an achievement; especially when you have no wiggle room.
In the preview, I noted the importance of a fantastic start to stop the bleeding (the Devils simply don’t have the guns offensively to out-score their problems right now). They got it.
I would think Wedgewood will remain the No. 2 for the next little while. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets the nod again Tuesday vs Washington.
Miles Wood lives for Boston
If the only time you watched the Devils was against the Bruins, you’d think Miles Wood is one of the best players in the NHL. Jack Edwards certainly seems to and, honestly, I can understand why he gushes about him so constantly; Wood makes an impact each and every time against the Bruins.
Perhaps his best game – outside of the ultra productive effort in Buffalo – was Sunday afternoon. From the get go Wood had a little extra pep in his step.
He took the top off of the defense countless times with his straight line speed. He took the puck to the net with authority. He won a ton of puck battles. And he created a bunch of shots?
No, I don’t mean attempted them (he did that too). He facilitated shots in bulk for his teammates. Wood finished with a game-high six shot assists at 5v5. Six!
He had created only 29 shots in 19 games prior (1.53 per) so that was a big step up. Wood’s highs seem to be more impactful this season, and the floor of his lows has risen. He’s turned into a really valuable depth piece.
The ‘top’ pairing shined
No, not Ty Smith and Damon Severson; Dmitry Kulikov and P.K. Subban.
I thought they played one of their best games of the season. They played a lot of minutes and, put simply, not much bad happened.
The Devils conceded only one high-danger opportunity. One! They generated six, and controlled nearly 76% of the Expected Goals.
They were very sound in the defensive zone and the team’s most involved pairing in the offensive zone. Not only that, but both guys hit on a few stretch passes.
Kulikov was able to thread the needle and complete a couple passes I didn’t know he had in him. Subban did, too, and connected on some flip plays to Wood that led to shooting opportunities.
If they could put forth that kind of effort with any consistency, the team’s top-4 could be decent. We know Smith and Severson can, at the very least, be a top offensive pairing.
Kyle Palmieri stepped up
He had not picked up a point in seven consecutive games prior to yesterday. He looked off in a bunch of them, too.
With Nico Hischier out, and guys like Nikita Gusev also struggling, the Devils *really* needed their big guns to, well, be big guns.
Palmieri was.
He got lucky on the game-winning-goal, but tied Wood for the team lead in shot attempts, and led the way with four scoring chances (three high-danger).
Palmieri had strong on-ice numbers to go with his production. I liked the feistiness he played with as well. While he wasn’t flattening guys all over the ice, he got on top of them and made Bruins fight through contract while trying to get to their spots.
Now he needs to build on that.
What the heck
Brad Marchand, as usual, was a bit of a shit disturber against the Devils. Most of it didn’t bother Devils players (or me). It’s just stuff you battle through and ignore while focusing on the larger goal.
The one thing that didn’t sit well was Marchand’s treatment of rookie Ty Smith in front of the net.
Smith is a 20-year-old kid who plays a finesse game. He’s not going to defend himself against Marchand.
It would have been nice to see somebody else do something. I’m not saying you have to fight Marchand or take a stupid penalty. But how about, you know, acknowledging it at least? Maybe give Marchand a push and show him, to some extent, he can’t just do that and get away with it.
Andreas Johnsson watched it all happen. Scott Wedgewood caught the end of it. They couldn’t have given Marchand a face wash?
I don’t know, maybe I’m making too much of it. I just don’t love seeing a potential Calder candidate getting pushed around and absolutely nobody sticking up for him in any way, shape, or form.
Shot Contributions
numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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1000% noticed the same thing. Andreas just watch Marchand taking a liberty on Ty and do absolutely nothing. Lindy should have benched Andreas. I certainly know Torts would have
Totally agree with you on the Marchand incident. I dont fault wedge bc his focus needs to be 100 percent on the puck and its usually not the goalie who jumps into those situations but Johnson watching the whole thing happen is not a good look. I wouldn't mind him getting traded at the deadline if a team thinks his contract is a decent deal. He looks like he's out there for a paycheck and not playing for the team.