Devils 5, Sabres 3: 4th line steals the show
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Five observations from New Jersey’s bounce-back win over the Buffalo Sabres:
The Devils showed fight
They were without Nico Hischier, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac and Mackenzie Blackwood due to injuries and/or COVID-protocols. As such, New Jersey – a young team to begin with – was forced to build half of their lineup around youngsters most people haven’t heard of; or at least seen play. And, no, I’m not exaggerating.
Look at the names in the lineup: Mikhail Maltsev, Yegor Sharangovich, Michael McLeod, Nathan Bastian, Jesper Boqvist, Janne Kuokkanen, Matt Tennyson, Ty Smith, Eric Comrie. That is nine players – nine! – who weren’t full-time NHLers a season ago or locks to make the team (Smith less so, but you get the point).
Half(!) of the gameday roster was made from guys who, as of this time last month, we didn’t know – at least not for sure – would be holding jobs in the NHL.
New Jersey not only won with a lineup you’d expect to get beat up on. They legitimately out-played their opponents.
At full-strength shots were 34-27 in New Jersey’s favor. The chances were much more lop-sided, with the Devils winning the high-danger battle 22-11. As a byproduct of out-shooting, and out-chancing, the Sabres they posted a 67.42 xGF% at 5v5.
On the road with that lineup? Nothing short of remarkable.
What I especially loved is the fight the Devils showed. They blew a 2-0 lead. On the road and missing several key players, it would have been easy to fold. But the Devils didn’t do that. They continued to play with confidence, and aggressiveness, and were ultimately rewarded for it.
I’m not exaggerating when I say the last time I can remember that kind of impressive pushback from the Devils is when they made it to the Stanley Cup back in 2012. So often this team has played to its talent level or buckled when things turned difficult. This team isn’t like that. No matter the score, no matter the lineup, this team is going to fight.
Are they overly good? Perhaps not, although we can’t say for sure given they’ve never had all hands on deck. But this team is not going to roll over and give a free two points to anybody; regardless of the circumstances.
Super Smash Bros.
What can I say about Miles Wood, Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian? They were shockingly good against the Sabres; even considering how largely impressive each player has been thus far.
That trio was noticeable every time they touched the ice. They were absolutely flying and separating Sabres from the puck left, right, and center. Their forechecking led to poor breakouts, turnovers, and extra possessions. NJ4 made the most of them, too, taking the puck right to the paint and piling up the shots from the net-front.
It felt like Buffalo had no answer and that showed in the numbers; NJ4 posted a ~65 xGF% and scored a pair of goals at 5v5.
We’re still dealing with small samples but that line certainly looks like a keeper. They own a 70 xGF% together and put an insane amount of pressure on opponents with their tenacity.
I never thought I’d see the day Wood – a player most wanted to trade for peanuts in the off-season – and a couple of prospects that looked like fringe NHLers would be driving the team to wins.
I’m running out of words
Jack Hughes impresses me each and every time out. It felt like the Sabres paid special attention to everything he did on Sunday. They were on top of him in the neutral zone and funnelling multiple players his direction whenever he touched the puck. There was barely any room to breathe throughout the game.
Even so, Hughes found a way to be successful. It wasn’t always smooth. But he did what he was supposed to do.
Hughes – once again – led the team (tied with Wood) in 5v5 shot contributions with nine. He had three individual chances and ranked 2nd to McLeod in shot assists. The Sabres couldn’t stop him from facilitating quality shots; for himself or teammates.
Hughes’ on-ice numbers were strong as well. He posted an xGF% above 80%, and played a part in the team’s 2nd goal of the game.
The consistency he has shown this year is, quite honestly, insane. Nico Hischier hasn’t played a single game, for goodness sake. Hughes, a 19-year-old kid, has been thrown into the 1C role without any star help and he continues to create shots in bulk on a nightly basis. Forget ‘going to be’; he is already a star.
Offense, offense, offense
I love, love, love, that Lindy Ruff continues to use an offense-first pairing of Ty Smith and Damon Severson. I feel most coaches would be adamant about keeping the two separate and using a ‘reliable presence’ with each. Some coaches might damn well go a year without giving the two any run together (beyond perhaps the final couple minutes if trailing). Ruff isn’t doing that. He’s letting his skilled blueliners go out there and create. Boy, are they ever.
They played 8:30 together at 5v5 vs Buffalo. 8:30. In that time, attempts were 16-4 New Jersey. Chances were 9-0. High-danger chances were 8-0. The Devils had all the quantity and quality with that duo on the ice.
There were a couple near slip-ups and uneasy moments. But they were largely spectacular and helped the Devils create opportunities in bulk.
Small sample size, alert, but New Jersey is absolutely pounding opponents into the ground when that pairing is on the ice.
I think they deserve to stick together but, if not anything else, Ruff has a rabbit to pull out of his hat when the Devils need offense moving forward.
The power play sucks
There were a ton of positives from that game. It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, though. The biggest sticking point – by far – continues to be the power play.
I get the Devils are missing some personnel. But they’re not helping things with some of their decision making.
Saturday, for example, the Devils had a two-man advantage for two minutes. They didn’t generate a single shot.
A big reason for that was because their most most willing, and dangerous, top-6 shooter (Kyle Palmieri) was stationed IN FRONT OF THE NET. Doing that 5-on-4 is one thing (I still hate it). Doing that on a 5-on-3, when defenders can’t really challenge and you can open up a shooting gallery, is unfathomable.
Palmieri is a very good goal scorer; his bread and butter is smashing pucks from the Ovechkin spot. The Devils not only elected not to use his shot, but they set things up in a way where it wasn’t even a threat. Buffalo didn’t even have to worry about New Jersey’s most consistent goal scorer taking a shot.
Ovechkin is on a much different level than Palmieri, of course, but imagine Washington just throwing him in front on a 5-on-3 so the opposing defense doesn’t even have to think about his shot? You can’t. It is mind boggling.
But back to G2 of the back-to-back because, well, that’s what this blog is about. New Jersey spent more than five minutes on the power play. They created .11 xG worth of offense and didn’t record a single Grade A opportunity.
For the most part, the Devils trotted out five pass-first players on the top unit (Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Janne Kuokkanen, Nikita Gusev, Damon Severson) and whipped the puck around the outside until they bobbled it away or settled for a soft, low-percentage shot with Sabres defenders directly in front of them. It was so bad; they were legitimately a bigger threat shorthanded (the Devils generated one HD chance in 4:59).
They have to switch things up.
Quick Hits
• Yegor Sharangovich recorded 11 shot contributions (5v5) in his first seven games of the season. He recorded eight yesterday alone. He was much more involved and aggressive, which was nice to see. Hopefully he can build on it.
• Hats off to P.K. Subban for his beautiful stretch pass to create the team’s opening goal. Janne Kuokkanen deserves a lot of praise for his diving effort to get Miles Wood the puck on his 3-2 marker, too.
• Buffalo recorded 16 HD chances and 3.15 xG. Eric Comrie conceded three times. You take that every time from a waiver claim who hasn’t played a game in 50 years.
• Nikita Gusev…woof, he looks bad. I continue to hold out hope he can get going once the Devils have a healthy batch of centers.
Shot Contributions
Game Score
Nine of the 10 highest Game Scores posted came from Devils players.
numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and HockeyStatCards.com
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I hope to see some of you over there!
Kulikov has also been excellent. That is the reply.
Hey Todd, I’m no longer on Twitter so I don’t get the insight on day to day transaction or updates by all the “insiders”. Can you please have a section or list in your game previews and/or game summaries for player updates that are out of the lineup, like Palms, what’s his story, etc. would be much appreciated. So out of the loop now. Thanks. Best wishes. Appreciate all your work. Hope this young team keeps surprising, would be great to have a full healthy lineup for an accurate read overall in competition to all in the division.