It was quite the return from Christmas break for the New Jersey Devils. They looked phenomenal for 85% of the game against the Washington Capitals, but it seemed like every mistake they made went into the back of the net. It started at the end of the first period, where lackadaisical passing led to a high-danger chance in front that went in with less than a second left.
In the second period, Jack Hughes tried to skate through three guys in the defensive zone, and he was stripped. The Capitals basically had their choice of who was scoring, and it ended up being Anthony Beauvillier. In the third period, the Devils forgot about Alex Ovechkin, of all people, and he had a wide-open scoring chance he will never miss.
Somewhat luckily for the Devils, they put enough pressure on Logan Thompson that they scored three goals, a feat they haven’t matched in two weeks since their win against the Anaheim Ducks on December 13th. There was definitely some good to take from this performance, including the team fighting to keep a point in the standings and taking this to overtime.
There was one decision that really hurt the team, and this one came from the New Jersey Devils coach.
In overtime, the Devils were dominating play for most of it. They just couldn’t get a decent look on net. Credit to the Capitals, they had a really good gameplan to stop the Devils’ attack. Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Luke Hughes all had their chances with the puck, but shooting and passing lanes were clogged up underneath. So, instead of sticking with the plan and waiting for it to work, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe put out a mercenary to try and change up the look.
Paul Cotter has spent most of the season on the fourth line, but he’s shown a knack for the big play. He’s one of the best shootout performers in the league, and his work on breakaways is hard to deny. However, this wasn’t that type of situation. Cotter was coming in with the Devils already in possession of the puck in the offensive zone.
The Devils quickly lost possession, and Cotter couldn’t keep up with Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun. Cotter was behind him the whole time, tried to stick lift him at the last second, and lost his own stick completely. Meanwhile, Chychrun batted his own rebound out of the air and into the net.
Cotter has been on the ice in overtime for 3:43 this season. In that time, the Devils have had one chance on net. He hasn’t been on the ice for an overtime goal, and the other team just scored with him there. Meanwhile, Connor Brown and goal scorer Cody Glass remain on the bench. Heck, we’re fine if we’re shortening the bench for overtime, but something seriously has to be wrong to go to Cotter. We like him as a player, but this isn’t the moment for him.
There are others to blame for the loss, for sure, but a different player in that spot probably plays that differently, and Chychrun might not even get the first shot off. Cotter was clearly behind him the whole time. This is a guy who is fighting for his spot in the lineup, and the Devils are fighting to regain a spot in the playoffs. If the Devils won this game, they’d technically be back in it. Instead, they are on the outside.
The Devils have now lost all three games with Jack Hughes back in the lineup. He wasn’t as good on Saturday night as he was in the previous two games, but these are games they have to start winning if they want to be considered a good team. Luckily, nobody is running away with anything in the Eastern Conference. A three-game winning streak could put them in second place in the Metropolitan Division. Still, they have to avoid the bad decisions that led to the loss to the Capitals if they want to actually win some games.