On Tuesday, Feb. 3, the New Jersey Devils hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets for their fourth and final matchup of the season. The two teams last met on New Year’s Eve in Columbus, where the Devils left with a 3-2 win, giving them a 2-1 lead in the season series.
In this game, it was Columbus who came out stronger, shutting out the Devils 3-0. With this win, the Blue Jackets even the season series with each team taking two wins.
Devils Collapsed in the Third Period
The Devils held strong in the first and second, outshooting the Blue Jackets 17-12. While they only had five more shots after 40 minutes of play, it showed the Devils’ attempt to drive pucks to the net and keep them in the game.
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By the third period, New Jersey was no longer the same team they had been in the game prior. The Blue Jackets outshot the Devils 13-7 and were rewarded with three goals in the final frame. Columbus showed up and played the better game in the end, the moment that matters the most.
When speaking to the media after the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe stated, “I thought we did a lot of good things in the first couple periods, the first period especially. It put us in the position to take care of the game. We got to make some plays. We got to generate some offense, try to reward yourself the amount of times you had the puck and the time we spent in the offensive side, we got to make a play.”
Throughout the media press conference, Keefe kept reiterating that the Devils need to make plays and they can’t keep “wilting” towards the end of the game. He recognizes the struggles the team is having, so he is having conversations with them to try to build their confidence so they can make the plays they need. Whether or not the Devils put this into action is another story.
Connor Brown Was All Over the Ice
Connor Brown was elevated to the Devils’ first line alongside Timo Meier and Cody Glass. He proved himself in this game, recording 24:10 on the ice, the most of any Devils player, other than Jacob Markstrom, of course. The only other forward who was close to Brown’s time was Nico Hischier, who recorded 21:21; Brown had almost three full minutes over him. Dougie Hamilton recorded 23:27, but as a defenseman, it is typical for him to spend more time on the ice.
Connor Brown, New Jersey Devils (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
Brown took 25 shifts, again, the most of any Devils player. He took two shots on net, but unfortunately couldn’t get them to connect.
This game marked Brown’s most time on the ice this whole season so far. With the absence of Jack Hughes once more, the Devils gave Brown a chance to play on the first line with Glass and Meier, the players who have typically been finding scoring chances as of late. Unfortunately, none of the three could score in this game, nor anyone on the team, for that matter.
Brown was rewarded for his performance as of late, but failed to capitalize on this chance on the first line. He still did a good job, though; we’ll see if these lines stay the same in the next game.
Special Teams Detailed Strengths and Weaknesses
Luckily for the Devils, the Blue Jackets didn’t score on their three power-play chances. At the same point, the Devils failed to score on the four chances they earned. The Devils are in the middle of the pack in both the power play and penalty kill, with a 21% success rate and a 78.9% success rate, respectively. The Devils are 15th on the power play and 19th on the penalty kill.
The Devils kept their penalty-killing strong, which was good, but they needed to find the scoring chances on the extra-man advantage to try and get on the board. The lack of scoring in these power-play opportunities has hindered the Devils. This wasn’t the only reason they didn’t score in this game; however, it was a big part of it. New Jersey will need to correct this before their next game so they can go into the Olympic break on a positive note.
Devils Host a Metro Matchup in Last Game Before the Olympics
The Devils will host the New York Islanders on Thursday, Feb. 5, for their last game before the Olympic break. This will also be the last game of the season series between the Islanders and the Devils.
