Devils 5, Coyotes 4: It's Timo Time

It was far from a perfect game but Timo Meier scored, and the Devils won, in his team debut.

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A few notes following New Jersey’s overtime victory against the Arizona Coyotes:

A mixed bag

Timo Meier’s Devils debut was a mixed bag. We’ll lead with the positives. He scored a goal very early in the game, had a few good looks at net, assisted on three shots, and you could see flashes of the uniquely explosive and powerful game he is going to bring to the Devils team. They have nobody like him; and that’s exciting.

With that being said, there were plenty of hiccups from Meier and his line. They spent more time on their heels than you’d expect given the absurd talent on the unit and the fact – Hughes and Bratt, especially – give up very little when on the ice together.

For the season, the Hughes-Bratt combination has allowed 45 attempts, 2.2 xGA, and 9 high-danger chances per 60 minutes of play. They gave up a lot more than that (per minute) against Arizona.

The trio simply did not look in sync for a lot of the night. Meier passed up a couple good looks at net to try and work the puck back to Hughes. No. 86 did the same thing trying to force it to No. 96. The passes were a bit off. They didn’t know exactly where one another would be. It was just messy.

Now, that is not at all a cause for concern. Meier is normally a right winger; he was playing left wing. He has also never played with guys who possess the same type of speed, and dynamism, as Hughes or Bratt.

Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, etc. were all great linemates for Timo at various points. None of them are anywhere close to the same players stylistically as Meier’s new linemates.

It’s going to take some time for them to gel and for Meier to adjust to new systems, teammates, and everything else that comes with a trade.

If a goal and seven primary shot contributions is a disappointing night at the office, it’s exhilarating to think of what Meier, Hughes, and Bratt can do once they’re all on the same page.

The streak is over