Hurricanes 3, Devils 2: More of the same

The Devils largely played well in Carolina. Unfortunately, recurring problems prevented them from getting any points.

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A few observations from New Jersey vs. Carolina:

More of the same

Does anyone else get deja vu watching Devils games? I have to ask because we’ve seen the same script play out over and over and over and over all season long.

It doesn’t seem to matter who the opponent is, who is in or out of the lineup, or who is in goal…a laundry list of the exact same problems continue to flare up.

The fun started when the Devils conceded first for the league-leading 33rd time in 46 games. That means they’ve fallen behind the 8-ball in 72% of their games. 72%!

They’ve scored the opening goal just 13 times. For perspective of how pathetic that is, the Ducks and Sharks have opened the scoring 19 times. The near talentless Blackhawks have done so 25 times. It’s astonishing.

Moving along! Goaltending has been a little better of late but it clearly remains an issue.

Nico Daws was not on his game, conceding three goals on 12 shots and two vs. just four high-danger opportunities.

Vitek Vanecek did a nice job after stepping in – although he only faced one high-danger opportunity – but the damage was done by that point. The team’s inability to get saves vs. anything remotely dangerous again proved costly.

The Devils also struggled to stop the bleeding, which has been a common theme. Far too often one goal against, or one bad shift, leads to another goal or two in quick succession.

That happened again, with the Hurricanes scoring twice in the span of 25 seconds in the 2nd period. The second tally ended up being the difference in the game.

Quite frankly, I think the Devils largely played well last night. They spent a lot of time in the offensive zone and were able to generate multiple flurries of chances in the slot area, which is very difficult to do against the Hurricanes. It didn’t matter.

What was mostly a strong effort was undone by conceding the opening goal, not being able to stop the bleeding when things went sideways for a short stretch in the 2nd, and not being able to get saves.

How many times has that been the case this season? Too many to count.

Holtz, 4th line excelled