It was a new face and a familiar friend that led the way in a crucial 3-1 victory this afternoon
After the vibes around the New Jersey Devils were at an all-time low following a disappointing trade deadline and a lifeless loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, the Devils went into Philadelphia and took home a big 3-1 win over the Flyers on Sunday afternoon. Jake Allen played a great game, stopping 23 of 24 shots, and new addition Cody Glass scored the opening goal and helped create New Jersey’s second one to lead the skaters.
It really cannot be overstated just how bleak things looked after the 6-1 drubbing the Devils suffered at the hands of the Jets on Friday. I don’t want to relitigate how terribly deflating everything around the trade deadline was, we’ve done that plenty around here over the past few days. But suffice to say, you would’ve been hard pressed to find a Devils fan that felt any sort of optimism at the end of Friday. New Jersey badly, badly, BADLY needed something to help them feel good about themselves again.
Well lo and behold, one of the new additions we all dismissed made a big difference today.
In the middle of a fairly low event first period, Luke Hughes gained the Flyers’ zone off the left wing. He slung a cross-ice pass in the direction of Stefan Noesen, but the pass didn’t connect. Noesen was able to collect the loose puck anyway, though, and he tried to fire the puck toward the net. It deflected high in the air, and when it came down it settled right on the tape of a cutting Glass in the slot, who wired home a far-side shot to break the ice.
It was a huge moment for both the Devils as a whole and Glass personally, and aside from the goal, Glass played a terrific game overall. Individually, according to Natural Stat Trick, he put up a 5-on-5 Expected Goals For% of only 49.56%, basically breakeven. That’s not exactly terrific, but much of the damage against him came when New Jersey absolutely turtled in the 3rd period when protecting a two-goal lead. If we look at the Score/Venue Adjusted numbers, his xGF% comes out to 54.69%, much more impressive. The third line in its entirety (Erik Haula-Cody Glass-Daniel Sprong) played 8:15 together at 5-on-5, and they completely obliterated the Flyers to the tune of an xGF% of 93.03%. As an aside, it’s a little odd seeing Glass put up middling numbers individually while posting all-world numbers with the rest of his line. All that being said, Glass had a fantastic debut in a Devils sweater.
And speaking of Erik Haula on the third line…he scored today too. I know, I’m just as shocked as you are. His goal was similar to Glass’, in that a shot pinballed around to an open Haula to the side of the net, and he buried the puck into a yawning cage to extend the Devils’ lead to 2-0. Glass was one of the players right in the middle of the play, and while he didn’t get an assist, him battling for space in the slot played a big role in creating the puck luck needed for Haula to score. If Haula missed that one, by the way, he should’ve been waived as soon as he got back to the bench.
That was Haula’s first point since November 25th. Not even his first goal since then…his first point. Yes he missed some time due to injury in that stretch, but it goes without saying that a player that was nominally the Devils’ third line center for much of the season going three and a half months without registering a point is mind-bending levels of ineptitude. It was so nice to see him finally bury one today.
After Jamie Drysdale scored late in the third to cut the Devils’ lead to 2-1, the Flyers continued to push, but let their undisciplined side get the better of them. With about a minute and a half left and the Flyer’s net pulled, Travis Sanheim committed an unfathomably stupid cross-checking penalty on Brett Pesce to all but seal the victory for New Jersey. Shortly after, Dawson Mercer potted an easy empty-netter to push the lead to the eventual final score, 3-1. Erik Haula got an assist on that goal too, because of course he would post a two-point night after being held pointless for over a quarter of a year.
Meanwhile, Jake Allen held down the net admirably this afternoon. He came close to another shutout before Drysdale ruined his bid, but that shouldn’t take away from how strong he was today. It’s not like the Devils were giving up premium chance after premium chance, on the contrary New Jersey played quite well defensively. But they did allow some chances here and there, and aside from the Drysdale partial breakaway, Allen answered the call every time. According to Natural Stat Trick, Allen stopped 0.55 Goals Above Expected, a strong number and exactly what you want to see from your backup goaltender. It’s amazing how much the Devils’ goaltending has improved from last season thanks to Allen and Jacob Markstrom. They have combined to give their team a chance to win almost every night.
It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was a desperately needed victory. New Jersey has been in close to a freefall since Christmas, and had lost their last three games. Yes it was against a bad Flyers team that got worse at the trade deadline when they shipped out some quality players. But a win is a win is a win. If only for the sake of our collective psyche, it was nice to see two points coming the Devils’ way. We can only hope this is the start of the turnaround.
The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats
The Game Highlights: Courtesy of the NHL’s website
The New Guys
We talked about Cody Glass already, but there were some other new faces in the Devils’ lineup today too. His linemate, Daniel Sprong, put up a strong game even though he didn’t find the scoresheet. According to Natural Stat Trick, Sprong posted a 5-on-5 xGF% of 75.30% to go along with three shots on net. Sprong comes to New Jersey with a reputation for being lax defensively, but for also being an extremely efficient point producer at 5-on-5. If this new-look third line of Glass, Sprong, and Haula can all balance each other out (Glass as the defensive conscience, Haula as the jack-of-all-trades glue, and Sprong as the finisher) then we might actually start to see some production from the bottom-6 on a regular basis.
On the blue line, Dennis Cholowski came over from the Islanders at the deadline and was paired with Brenden Dillon in his Devils debut today. It didn’t go quite as well as with Sprong, as Cholowski put up a 46.90% xGF% at 5-on-5 per NST. By the eye test, I honestly didn’t notice him much out there (which makes sense considering he played by far the least amount of time, 13:27, of all defensemen today). But I sort of consider that a good thing. If Cholowski can just make things not really happen during his limited minutes out there, I’ll take that as a win.
And while Brian Dumoulin actually made his debut on Friday, I’ll include him here as well. Dumoulin played with Johnny Kovacevic on the shutdown pair again, and NST had him at a strong 60.06% xGF% at 5-on-5 today. I hesitate to say Dumoulin played well on Friday, because I don’t think anyone in a Devils sweater played well that night, but I do think he was one of the least-bad skaters out there. Combined with a strong effort this afternoon, Dumoulin has fit in well through two games so far.
I’m still disappointed in Tom Fitzgerald’s lackluster deadline moves, but for at least one game, I need to eat crow. Glass was a big part of the victory today, and the rest of the new guys did their jobs.
Take Notice
This might only be a concern of mine, but I think it’s worth noting. After Travis Sanheim took his utterly moronic penalty deep into the third period, on the ensuing power play, Nico Hischier was whistled for playing the puck with a high stick with under a minute to play. And well after that whistle, Flyers’ goon Travis Konecny threw a little cross-check into Hischier, pathetically trying to goad him into taking a penalty to give Philadelphia some life. Hischier didn’t take the bait, and Konecny had to tuck his tail between his legs and skate away with the loss.
The reason I think it’s worth noting is because, in my eyes, Konecny has officially taken the title of “Most Under The Radar Dirty Player” in the league. We saw it last season when he threw multiple cheap shots at Brenden Smith, one early in the season (that inexplicably led to Smith getting suspended for defending himself) and one in the Stadium Series game. We all know how dirty Jacob Trouba, Tom Wilson, Brad Marchand, and even Nikita Kucherov are at this point. But Konecny never gets talked about in those conversations, and I think he should. Konecny is going to get someone seriously hurt one day, he has become that kind of player.
Out Of Town Scoreboard
We have officially reached the point of the season where we all need to do some serious scoreboard watching. Sunday’s slate is an interesting one.
By far the most important out of town game on the schedule is the Columbus Blue Jackets vs. the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. With New Jersey getting two points today, they are now six points clear of both teams, though the Rangers have two games in hand and the Jackets have three (though those numbers will go down to one and two respectively after their game today). Those two teams play at 6:00pm tonight if you’re interested in watching.
Elsewhere, the Carolina Hurricanes host the Winnipeg Jets at 5:00pm, and if you still consider the New York Islanders a threat, they play at 9:00pm in Anaheim against the Ducks.
Next Time Out
New Jersey returns home on Tuesday in an absolutely crucial game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm.
Your Take
What did you make of today’s game? Which of the new guys impressed you the most? What are you expecting next time out on Tuesday? As always, thanks for reading!