Frustration Mounts as Devils Fail to Tame Coyotes By Matt Blittner, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com
“Hopefully we can come out of this home stretch with some solid efforts and some victories.”
That was the quote Devils’ defenseman Damon Severson uttered after Tuesday’s practice and if you read into it, you’ll see a rather mature approach; even if the results weren’t there.
In a season where a playoff appearance looks like a stretch it’s good to see the Devils are not content to just accumulate “moral victories.” Yes, the team wants to play its best every night – newsflash, every team should want that – but it also knows that merely playing well isn’t enough. Wins are needed for the Devils to take the next step.
Wednesday night at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the Devils did not live up to Severson’s words as they fell to the visiting Coyotes 4-1. Forget wins and losses for a second. The Devils left too many chances out on the ice and in general did not execute the game plan Head Coach Lindy Ruff prepared; especially during Arizona’s three-goal second period.
A prime example of how the game went can be seen by the sequence of events that began in the first period and came to a head during the second period. First came some solid play by the Devils, which culminated in Christian Jaros drawing a holding penalty against Christian Fischer in the Devils’ zone 5:22 into the first period. New Jersey had the edge in play in the opening minutes, although neither team registered a shot on goal. Nico Hischier’s shot off the post 1:30 into the first period represented the Devils’ best chance at scoring in the early going.
With New Jersey pushing the pace, Arizona was forced to take an offensive zone penalty – a big no-no – and on the ensuing power-play, Hischier cashed in with a goal for the 1-0 lead at the 6:09 mark. Jack Hughes set the tone for Hischier’s goal by charging the net with the puck. After the rubber biscuit was kicked out to Hischier, the Devils’ Captain fired a shot that trickled past goalie Karel Vejmelka; much to the appreciation of the hometown fans.
At that point in the game everything seemed to be flowing New Jersey’s way. In fact, the Devils didn’t allow the Coyotes to register a shot on goal during the first 18:54 of the opening period.
As the period entered its final handful of minutes Shayne Gostisbehere committed a tripping penalty against Janne Kuokkanen to send the Devils to their second power-play of the period. Unlike the first one though, the Garden Staters failed to score.
“There were a lot of good things in the first period,” said Head Coach Lindy Ruff.
On to the second period and it was more of the same – but only for the first handful of minutes. The big difference ended up being that it didn’t take 18-plus minutes for Arizona to record a shot on goal. Then the tale of the game changed 6:50 into the middle period when Dysin Mayo’s shot through traffic beat Mackenzie Blackwood for the game-tying goal.
It was a jarring sight on the scoreboard to see the 1-1 score considering the Devils had a 21-3 shots on goal advantage through 29:05 of game play. From there the script of the game continued to fluctuate when Jesper Bratt was sent to the box for high-sticking Gostisbehere 9:05 into the second period.
“It’s not easy to score in this league,” said Hischier. “We were much too much to the outside. We thought we had the game under control.”
On the penalty-kill for the first time in the game, New Jersey held Arizona without a shot on goal for the successful PK. However, the Garden Staters’ luck ran out moments later when Lawson Crouse batted the puck past Blackwood to give Arizona the 2-1 lead.
“You’ve gotta battle through the frustration,” Ruff said after the game. “We did a great job controlling the outside of the zone. But we’ve got to control the inside…It’s a learning process.”
The second period continued to provide flummoxing results when Clayton Keller’s shot was deflected by Travis Boyd and sailed past Blackwood at the 14:13 mark of the period to increase Arizona’s lead to 3-1; even though the Coyotes were being outshot 24-7.
At the end of two periods of play the Devils found themselves trailing 3-1 despite a 27-8 edge in shots. It just goes to show you that you need to cash in on your opportunities, because hockey is a fickle game that can go sideways for teams at a moment’s notice.
“We have to find a way to manage the game better,” said Ryan Graves. “We didn’t capitalize on our chances…We just kind of let it slip away…It’s completely on us.”
The game remained sideways for the Devils in the third period as Arizona added to its lead 8:27 into the period, courtesy of a goal by Johan Larsson. 4-1 Coyotes seemed like an insurmountable obstacle for the Devils to overcome and that indeed ended up being the case. Now the Devils must overcome their mounting frustration, as well as a growing deficit in the standings.
“We’ve got to understand and learn to play with a lead,” Hischier said after the game. “We’ve gotta learn to stick with it. We’re trying our best out there.”
Perhaps goalie Mackenzie Blackwood summoned up the game best. “Just a weird game overall.”
GAME NOTES
New Jersey’s power-play went 1-for-2 on the night while the penalty-kill went 2-for-2…Jack Hughes led all Devils forwards in ice time at 21:04…Damon Severson led all skaters in the game in ice time at 24:06.