Ducks 5, Devils 1: Ugly, ugly, ugly

The Devils looked out of sync at both ends of the ice in a disappointing effort vs. one of the league's worst teams.

Follow along on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess

Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey, and everything else, with our writers and subscribers.

---

A few observations from a disappointing loss against the Ducks:

What page are we on?

The Devils have dealt with a lot of annoying inconveniences trough the first 29 games of the season. High-end players have consistently been in and out of the lineup due to what’s felt like a never-ending supply of injuries. The goaltending has been bad most of the year. The team has been plagued by slow starts. And I could go on.

More frustrating to watch than anything, though, is the team’s inability to get on the same page. It feels like whenever one problem is solved with regards to a forward line or defense pairing, another immediately pops up.

Let’s use Dawson Mercer as an example. He played a handful of games with Tyler Toffoli and Jack Hughes and looked legitimately good. Not only that – he was productive!

Lindy Ruff felt he had to break that combination up to get other players going. The end result? Dawson Mercer is now useless and nuking the 3rd line in the process.

Take a look at how Alexander Holtz has fared with and without Mercer.

This has been a constant problem all season long and it was again vs. the Ducks.

I actually thought the Nico Hischier unit was playing fairly well but Jack’s was a bit off and, as usual, Mercer and Holtz struggled together.

Ruff moved some pieces around for the final frame. Mercer ended up back on a line with Hughes, Jesper Bratt shifted to play with Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier found himself on a line with Alexander Holtz (that duo meshed like oil and water).

Suddenly, Meier goes from playing in the best spot Ruff has found for him all season to one where he was useless.

No matter what Ruff does to try and patch one hole, he creates another in the process.

You wouldn’t think this would be so much of a problem – the Devils have so many good forwards on paper – but a lot of guys have been shockingly dependent on who they’re with if they’re going to provide any kind of value.

I know a lot of the blame should fall on the players. There’s no reason for so many of these combinations to be so ineffective. But I don’t think Ruff is completely devoid of blame.

That’s why I wasn’t shocked to see Frank Seravalli bring up a potential coaching change. Don’t get me wrong – I’d be surprised if Ruff’s seat is hot, or even overly warm, but it may now be turned on.

As much as Tom Fitzgerald likes Ruff, it’s his responsibility to make the Devils a winner.

If Ruff can’t find a way to a) win consistently and; b) get reliable contributions from players like Meier, Mercer – which shouldn’t be this much of a chore – then Fitzgerald may be forced to find someone who can.

The Devils didn’t do Schmid any favors