New Jersey Devils notes: On Palat's quietly strong play, Tatar's 5v5 dominance, and more

Ondrej Palat appears to be on the verge of a breakout. Plus, Tomas Tatar is terrific, Miles Wood is struggling, and some quick hitters.

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A few New Jersey Devils notes on this off-day:

Palat is making his mark

Ondrej Palat made his long-awaited return to the lineup January 5th against the St. Louis Blues. While the Devils dropped that game, they have since put together five consecutive wins. Palat’s play is a big reason why.

The veteran winger has quietly played very strong hockey despite what the counting stats might suggest (he has two points).

With Palat on the ice at 5v5, the Devils have controlled 54.67% of the expected goals and won the high-danger chance battle 20-10. The Devils have fared better in both categories with Palat on the ice than without.

Unsurprisingly, his strong on-ice impacts are leading to results. New Jersey has outscored its opponents 5-1 in 73 minutes with Palat out there.

Palat has posted an average Game Score of 0.84 since returning to the lineup, which is pretty good considering it’s not at all inflated by raw production.

Six games is six games but, for perspective, an average GS of 0.84 would tie him for 84th among all forwards (go figure). That’s a top line grade.

Perhaps more encouragingly, if we zoom out and look at his season to date (12 games), Palat has meshed nicely with both of the big boys down the middle. Palat managed a 63 xGF% with Jack Hughes and a 58 xGF% with Nico Hischier.

The early returns are still marginal – Palat simply hasn’t played enough – but, when healthy, Palat has been a strong compliment to both of the team’s stars down the middle; as the Devils hoped he would be.

I think his production is going to take off sooner than later.

Tatar deserves his flowers