The New Jersey Devils lost 3-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night at the Prudential Center, marking their second consecutive goalless performance. The Devils were disconnected in the first period but controlled play the rest of the game. Their process was good, but the bounces didn’t go their way against former Devils goaltender Akira Schmid. With the loss, the Devils fell to 16-11-1 while the Golden Knights improved to 13-6-8.
Game Recap
Period One
The Devils weren’t sharp early, but luckily for them, Jacob Markstrom was, and he made a few key saves to bail out his team.
New Jersey started to find its rhythm and forced former Devil, Akira Schmid, to make his first few difficult stops.
The Devils struck first thanks to a great effort by Timo Meier, but the Golden Knights challenged, and the call was reversed as it was determined that Meier was offside despite having the puck.
New Jersey responded well and had a few good scoring chances that Schmid had to be sharp to keep out.
The Golden Knights appeared to have scored from distance, but it was quickly waved off for a high stick.
Vegas racked up shots and eventually, with 13 seconds left in the frame, Shea Theodore snuck a wrister through Markstrom from the circle. Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin had the assists.
The Devils were outshot 13-5 in the period.
Period Two
Nico Hischier and Meier connected for a great rush opportunity, but Schmid made his best save of the night. The puck went the other way, and Markstrom answered with an equally strong stop to keep New Jersey’s deficit to one
The Devils strung together some good shifts as the period progressed. They generated zone time with crisper passes and didn’t give Vegas much time with the puck. Cody Glass ripped a shot from the high slot, but Schmid snagged it with his glove.
New Jersey had another grade-A opportunity from the net front, but Schmid sealed the ice and kept them off the board.
The Devils continued to press, playing some of their best hockey of the past few contests, but couldn’t get anything past Schmid. They surged again in the final seconds of the period, but went into the second intermission still down by a goal.
New Jersey outshot the Golden Knights 11-7 in the frame.
Period Three
The Devils got the first power play of the game just over two minutes into the third, after Simon Nemec was tripped down. The power play didn’t look great, giving up a breakaway that Markstrom fought off, and they only managed one decent shot on Schmid.
New Jersey picked right back up after the power play and had sustained zone time, blasts from the point, and shots from in close, none of which found the back of the net.
The Devils remained on the front foot, and eventually, Vegas fired the puck directly over the glass for a delay of game penalty. The Devils had a great chance in close, but Dawson Mercer fired the puck off the pipe, and it bounced back under Schmid for the stoppage.
The Devils took their first penalty of the game with under six minutes to play, and the Golden Knights made them pay at 15:34 with a shot from distance, tipped in by Tomas Hertl. Mitch Marner and Pavel Dorofeyev had the assists.
New Jersey went back to work in the offensive zone and through a flurry of chances on Schmid, but couldn’t get anything to go.
The Devils were tagged for another penalty with just over 2:30 left to play, and again, surrendered a goal. An unblocked shot from distance by Eichel snuck through Markstrom and sat in the blue paint for Ivan Barbashev to bury at 18:34. Theodore added a secondary assist.
The Devils were outshot 25-24 in the 3-0 loss.
Takeaways
Opportunities
Friday’s contest was a story of opportunities, both taken and squandered. The Devils, while their process was good, didn’t take advantage of their consecutive power plays in the third period, while the Golden Knights did. In fact, the two power plays were both momentum killers for New Jersey, as they couldn’t seem to get anything going.
In general, the Devils must find a way to score more goals, whether it be with the man-advantage, even strength, or shorthanded. They generate opportunities, but without Jack Hughes, they haven’t been able to hit the back of the net at a sustainable rate.
The center depth isn’t great without Hughes, and it is part of the problem as to why New Jersey struggles so mightily when he is injured.
In Hughes’ absence, Mercer has shifted to play second-line center, but he is clearly less comfortable in that role compared to the wing, where he was thriving in the early going. The Devils are missing his production from the wing and still missing a true top-six center who can carry the load when injuries inevitably hit.
It is up to General Manager Tom Fitzgerald to make a move to bolster the top six and depth. The Devils’ window of contention is open, and the Metropolitan Division is too tight to allow the team to drop games at its current rate. The past two seasons were derailed by injuries, and the pattern will repeat again if something isn’t done.
Up Next
The Devils will look to snap their four-game losing skid on Saturday when they travel up to Boston to take on the Bruins.
The Bruins sit second in the Atlantic Division with a 16-13-0 record and a 5-5-0 record in their past ten contests. Most recently, they defeated the St. Louis Blues 5-2 on Thursday night.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on MSG and NESN.
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