Devils 4, Panthers 1: A goalie steal!

The Devils have seen a lot of strong efforts wasted by putrid goaltending. Nico Daws flipped the script against the Panthers.

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A few observations following New Jersey’s gritty road win in Florida:

Daws stole the show

In David Mudrak’s game preview, he wrote about how the Devils needed to play simple, be opportunistic offensively, and just find ways to survive against a powerhouse Panthers team.

They followed that formula en route to a much-needed win. While clinical finishing certainly helped, the play of Nico Daws was the biggest factor.

The Devils generated a season low 43 shot attempts while posting their worst CF% of the season at 34.96%. They also conceded a season-high 21 Grade A chances, allowing 15 more than they generated.

They didn’t have the puck very often, inviting a lot of pressure from a loaded Panthers team; especially over the final 40 minutes.

It’s a game you’d expect an undermanned team to lose almost every single time. Daws had other ideas.

While Daws benefited from the help of his posts, he more than held up his end of the bargain.

Daws stopped 36 of 37 shots, including 11 of 12 high-danger attempts that hit the target. It wasn’t as if those shots were coming from run of the mill players, either.

Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov, and Matthew Tkachuk ranked No. 1, No. 2, and T-No. 3 in high-danger chances.

A lot of the team’s best opportunities landed on the sticks of the NHL’s second leading goal scorer, a two-way star on pace for 95 points, and a winger coming off back-to-back 100 point campaigns.

Daws was tested by the best the Panthers had to offer and answered the bell time after time.

So often the Devils have been let down by their goaltenders (mostly Vitek Vanecek) outright throwing games away. For Daws to come out and steal one – against an elite team, at that – had to be a breath of fresh air for everybody involved.

Holtz was strong