New Jersey Devils notes: On Hischier's comments, an improving PK, and splitting up Nemec and Bahl

Nico Hischier made his voice heard after a poor showing in Tampa. Plus, thoughts on recent PK success and changing things up on defense.

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A few New Jersey Devils notes as they begin a lengthy break:

Nico’s had enough

I liked Nico Hischier’s comments following another disappointing loss vs. Tampa Bay.

The Devils played well in stretches – at least in the 1st and 3rd periods – but the effort simply wasn’t good enough.

The Devils need all the points they can get and, right now, they’re not going to win a ton of games on talent alone. They need to work themselves into the ground and to play smart hockey. That’s not what we saw.

New Jersey spent almost the entire 2nd period chasing play. They were losing battles all over the ice – including around their net – and it felt like an achievement if they could take control of the puck for 10 seconds, let alone make anything happen with it.

I thought they did a good job of fighting back to make things interesting in the 3rd. Unfortunately, brutal turnovers by Kevin Bahl and, eventually, Luke Hughes put nails in the coffin. Too little, too late.

But back to Nico. He is very careful with his words and is not one to speak out very often. That he felt it was necessary says a lot about where the team is at.

I think he is absolutely sick of how things are going. Sick of falling behind the 8-ball every single night. Sick of not getting saves. Sick of one mistake for a goal often leading to two or three in quick succession. Sick of it all.

I don’t doubt for a second Hischier was pissed off about how things played out against the Lightning. His comments certainly stem from more than one game, though.

I don’t know if he was trying to give his team a wake up call, or perhaps send a signal to management, but you can bet your bottom dollar he caught everyone’s attention.

The Devils now have a week+ to reset, get healthy(ish), and figure out the best path forward. I’m really interested to see how things play out from here because, clearly, they can’t continue on their current path much longer.

PK continues to excel