New Jersey Devils broke a franchise record that should be winning them games

This season, there are 12 instances where a team went an entire game without a penalty. The New Jersey Devils are the only team to do it twice. Not only that, but the Devils have done it in back to back games. And not only THAT, but the Devils and New York Islanders both went without a penalty on Tuesday night.

There was clearly some Christmas cheer between the Islanders and Devils, as neither got called for an infraction. There were some close calls. Timo Meier was cross checked into David Rittich, which the Islanders wanted called a goalie interference penalty. There were a few moments where a trip or a cross check could have been called, but the referees swallowed their whistle.

Unfortunately for the Devils, it led to a loss. The Devils could not muster more than one goal, and they are back in the bad place as a franchise. It’s a rough situation in New Jersey, but at least they get to say they broke a record in the process.

As first reported by Devils stat guy Nick Cahill, the Devils have never had two straight games without a penalty taken. That makes sense with the tough style of play the Devils used to inhibit. 

It’s also a necessity. Only five teams have played fewer PK minutes in the month of December, but the Devils have allowed the second most power-play goals. They’ve allowed 12 goals on the PK. They have been really good at avoiding penalties, but their penalty kill has been one of the worst in the league.

When breaking it down, the Devils so wildly lead the league in goals against per 60 minutes of PK time. They allow six more goals that the second worst team in the league, the Boston Bruins. It’s brutal this month on the PK. 

The Devils needed to break a record to stop giving up power play goals

It’s been a combination of too many chances against and the goalies failing them when it matters the most. Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom have a combined .700 save percentage this month. It’s so bad. 

They needed this record to even have a chance, but they still recorded two regulation losses because they also can’t score. In these two games with no penalties, the Devils have only drawn one penalty themselves. It’s just been a rough go for New Jersey, and they need to do something besides avoiding penalties to gain a better outcome.