Golden Knights 3, Devils 1: One man army

Jake Allen was exceptional once again. Unfortunately, he couldn't do it all himself.

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A few notes following New Jersey’s 3-1 loss in Vegas:

One man band

Jake Allen was nothing short of spectacular against the Golden Knights, almost single-handedly earning the Devils a desperately needed point (or two).

The Devils were quite shaky at both ends of the ice. They were sloppy with the puck, giving it away far too often and far too easily. This led to very little sustained pressure in the offensive zone, few quality chances, and plenty of transition opportunities going the other way.

The Golden Knights had multiple shorthanded breakaways and a handful of odd-man rushes at evens. They did a great job of pressuring the Devils into mistakes all game long. Luckily, Allen was consistently able to clean them up.

He didn’t bite on breakaway chances, made some excellent post-to-post stops, and tracked pucks very well when shop was setup in-zone.

The Golden Knights continued to get better as the game progressed, dominating more of the puck and increasing the volume of chances generated.

It didn’t really fell like the Devils came close to matching the Knights. There were so many stretches where it felt like the bottom was going to fall out, and things were going to get ugly, but Allen never allowed the game to get to that point.

He did all he could for 59 minutes, stopping 34 of 36 (.944 SV%) while again shaving off more than a goal from the opponent’s expected total.

He was the Devils’ best player by a country mile and the only reason the game was remotely close.

It really is too bad a) the Devils couldn’t land Allen until they did and; b) the Devils continue to lay eggs because a playoff spot was right there for the taking even after months of underwhelming hockey.

If they were even 5-5 over the last 10 games – let’s say they beat Anaheim, Arizona, and every other result is the same – we’re looking at a team two points out of the playoffs with 14 games to go. So disappointing.

Power play struggles continue

There wasn’t a ton of special teams play in this game, with both teams getting two power play opportunities a piece.

The Devils didn’t threaten anybody except Jake Allen during theirs. The puck movement was very slow and sloppy, particularly when in the offensive zone. The Golden Knights kept everything to the outside and swarmed the Devils after seemingly every pass.

Whether the receiver bobbled a pass, or couldn’t quickly/accurately relay it to the next guy while pressured, there was simply no flow in their movement.

Being predictable and telegraphing your passes is one thing. Couple it with the level of sloppiness we saw and there is just no way to execute.

Scoring chances were 3-2 Golden Knights while the Devils were on the man advantage and William Karlsson had a pair of breakaway chances.

It is not an exaggeration to say the team with fewer players came closest to scoring on multiple different occasions. That is never a good sign.

I know the loss of Dougie Hamilton really hurt. I know Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, and several the team’s top players have dealt with injuries or are currently doing so.

But it is unfathomable the Devils rank dead last in power play goals per 60 since December 1st and have scored half a goal less per 60 than the closest team to them (the Flyers).

There is no excuse for sitting 32nd, nor is there an excuse for lagging well behind a collection of the worst and least talented teams in the NHL.

Note: this isn’t bottom 5 PP scoring rates, but rather how the Devils (32nd) compare to the bottom teams in the NHL standings.

It’s close to that time