New Jersey Devils notes: On Marino, balancing the lines, and goaltending
I shared thoughts on some looks we might see when the Devils open their season Thursday night.
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Some New Jersey Devils thoughts as training camp concludes the regular season approaches:
A promotion for Marino?
Practice is practice but I found it very interesting John Marino skated alongside Ryan Graves on the 2nd pairing while Damon Severson partnered with Brendan Smith on the 3rd unit.
If that holds, I don’t see it as a slight to Severson or a sign that a move could be coming for him. I think it says more about Marino, who quietly put together a remarkably strong preseason.
Marino suited up for the Devils four times and was downright dominant. At 5v5 he helped the Devils control 62% of the shot attempts and nearly 67% of the expected goals. Oh, and 100% of the actual goals (5 GF, 0 GA).
His impressive numbers stemmed mostly from defensive play, which is Marino’s calling card. He logged nearly 60 minutes of ice at 5v5. In that time, the Devils conceded just 30 shot attempts and 1.16 expected goals. Facing half lineups or not, those are very good outputs.
Marino also looked good by the eye, regularly killing plays at the blueline and making strong outlet passes to help get things started in transition.
Deploying him in the top-4 – should that happen – is a perfectly reasonable decision by Lindy Ruff and the coaching staff. Although, I don’t think it much matters who slots in as RD1, RD2 or RD3; they’ll all play important minutes in different situations.
Balance, balance, balance
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