G58 New Jersey Devils vs Los Angeles Kings: An offensive struggle

The Kings' stout defensive play has caused the Devils real problems in recent meetings. Can the Devils find a way to jumpstart their offense this time around?

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 notes to get you set for New Jersey vs Los Angeles:

An offensive struggle

The Devils have a tendency to play high-pace, high-event hockey that keeps you glued to the screen on a shift-to-shift basis; except against the Los Angeles Kings.

They are one of the very few teams that has managed to bottle up New Jersey’s speed and suck the life out of their attack on a routine basis.

Although they don’t face each other often as out of conference opponents, they have met three times since the beginning of last season.

New Jersey’s shot and high-danger totals in those games:

• G1 —> 23 shots, 7 high-danger chances

• G2 —> 25 shots, 7 high-danger chances

• G3 —> 28 shots, 12 high-danger chances

For a little perspective, the Devils have averaged 33.9 shots and a hair under 14 high-danger chances per 60 minutes this season. Clearly, the Kings have managed to make the Devils’ attack noticeably less threatening than it is on a nightly basis.

While the Kings’ structure and ability to keep play in front of them is a big factor, I think the biggest thing is that they’re so good at taking the middle of the ice away. They force everything to the outside, which is not ideal when you’re built through the middle.

Hughes is a scoring chance machine; he has eight shots and zero goals the past three meetings against LA. Hischier hasn’t fared any better, generating only five shots (1, 4, 0) and failing to score in any of those matchups.

If the Kings can continue to neutralize New Jersey’s top pivots, it’s going to be very difficult to muster up more than a couple of goals in this game.

LA’s secret weapon