G34 New Jersey Devils @ St. Louis Blues: The Montgomery Effect

The Blues blanked the Devils immediately after hiring Montgomery, which was a sign of things to come. This is a much stingier Blues team.

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The New Jersey Devils return to action against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. Here are a few notes to get you set for the game:

More than meets the eye 👁️

A quick glance at this season’s results would have many thinking the Devils have a relatively easy two points up for grabs tonight.

The Blues rank 27th in goals, bottom-10 on the power play and penalty kill, and sit 20th in points percentage. There’s not much to be scared of on the surface.

Unfortunately for the Devils, this has been a much different Blues team since Jim Montgomery took over behind the bench.

The Blues own a 6-2-2 record with Montgomery at the helm and they’ve conceded a league-low 13 goals at 5v5 in that span.

They’ve done a good job of slowing things down and playing more methodically with better structure. Couple that with strong goaltending and the results are what they are.

The Blues haven’t just gotten results because of a soft schedule. They blanked the Devils, they beat the Winnipeg Jets by three, they beat the Vancouver Canucks, and they took the Dallas Stars to overtime in their building. That’s no small feat given the Stars are 13-3 in Dallas.

I think the Blues, as currently playing under Montgomery, are the kind of team that’d give the Devils fits a season ago.

Luckily, this version of the Devils is much more patient and better suited to play grind-it-out type of games. That’s likely what is coming tonight.

Don’t be surprised if we see another tight, low-scoring affair that leaves you wondering where the offense has gone for much of the game.

Depth scoring is needed 🚨