Nico Daws was amazing in posting his first NHL shutout as part of a 5-0 win by the New Jersey Devils against the Nashville Predators. This game recap goes into what went right, what few things did not, what milestones were made, and how often Nashville missed the net (24 times).
It was a night of milestones at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The New Jersey Devils shut out the Nashville Predators, 5-0. The victory featured the following achievements:
- Ondrej Palat scored the game’s first goal. The goal was his 500th point in the NHL.
- Palat buried a feed from Luke Hughes to beat Justus Annunen after Hughes picked up a rebound from a toe save from a Dougie Hamilton shot. With the secondary assist, Hamilton earned his 500th point in the NHL.
- As confirmed by the NHL, it was the first time in league history that two players registered their 500th career point on the same goal.
- The Big Deal, Jack Hughes picked up a secondary assist on Seamus Casey’s goal, which made it 3-0. This extended a road point streak to 10 games. Which is a Devils franchise record.
- With three assists tonight – all primaries – Nico Hischier is now tied with Bruce Driver in all-time Devils scoring with 399 points.
- Stefan Noesen buried a power play goal in the third period to make it 4-0. It is the first time he has ever reached 10 power play goals in a season.
- Tonight’s shutout win was the first time the Devils ever shutout the Predators in Nashville. It is also their first shutout win over Nashville since November 10, 2013 – which was also a 5-0 win.
- Most of all: this was the first ever NHL shutout for goaltender Nico Daws
Of all of the achievements, the last one was the most important. Daws came in and played wonderfully. Nashville gave him plenty to work with as the Predators managed to attempted 84 shots against the Devils. As it has been going for the Preds this season, less than 35% (29 shots) of them ever got to Daws. Daws got them all. From point-blank shots from Steven Stamkos to a breakaway by Colton Sissons to bombs from the center point by Roman Josi to all manners of shots ranging from legitimately tough stops to easy-looking routine saves. Daws may not be the quickest but he read the game incredibly well tonight, bailing out a Devils defense was that was far from effective. Again, they conceded 84 shot attempts tonight.
To be fair, Daws was beaten twice. Ryan O’Reilly beat him with a rebound attempt. The post denied him a score. Late in regulation, Fedor Svechkov attempted a low angle shot. Brett Pesce blocked the shot but the puck laid loose behind him. Svechkov followed his shot to bury a puck past Daws. Except that did not count either. The Devils challenged it for an offside that should have been called 22 seconds earlier. Even before the MSG broadcast could bring up the potential offside, the review was done and the referee said that the play was indeed offside. The eventual replay from MSG showed that, yes, the Predators were offside by quite a bit. Such breaks combined with Nashville heinous shooting accuracy helped this shutout happen.
The primary reason was Daws, though. He has to feel fantastic about the result. With Jacob Markstrom on the trip, Daws has to know his time in New Jersey will end soon. But he performed very well in Pittsburgh earlier this month and this game should leave a great impression on the coaching staff. With no goals allowed against 29 shots, 48 scoring chance attempts, and 16 high-danger attempts with 9 high-danger shots, the data backs up what the eyes saw. Daws absolutely goalied the Predators to a big loss this evening. Credit to Nashville for at least trying to get one given that they attempted 32 shots (13 on net) in the third. Still, Nico Daws let in nothing against 3.76 expected goals. That makes this night one of the best goaltending performances of the season. One that rivals Jake Allen’s shutout in Montreal on February 8.
There were plenty of positives in the Devils’ performance. Their offensive efforts bore more fruits tonight as opposed to yesterday against Dallas. They pulled away even further when the opposition gave them opportunity to do so. That they played with as much pace as they did after playing at all last night is encouraging. The biggest component for this victory was Daws.
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: From Sportsnet’s Youtube channel, here is the highlight video of this victory. Marvel at Daws’ stops and the Devils’ goals.
The Criticisms of This Game: I have two main complaints about this win. I want to get them out of the way before a recap full of praise.
First, the defensive structure was really off. Yes, the Devils had a hand in stuffing 31 shots from the Predators. Yes, the Devils may have influenced some of those 24 shots that Nashville missed on. Yes, the third period was tilted against the Devils because Nashville just wanted to get something on the board and never fully gave up on the game even when the score ballooned. Still, the Devils conceded 84 shot attempts. That is a remarkably high number and it reflected how poorly the Devils struggled to get the puck out of their own end on various shifts. Nashville’s best efforts – as well as Daws’ best efforts – came as a result of Nashville being able to keep the puck in the zone, win a second or third puck after a shot, or quickly recover if the exit only got to the neutral zone. Of course, Nashville did not make the most of those with their misses and blocks. And Daws stopped whatever that did get to him.
The uniquely bad accuracy from the Predators led to some odd stat lines, such as the Devils being out-attempted 12-23 when Luke Hughes took a shift but the Devils out-shot them 9-7 (and out-scored them 2-0). I bring this up as an issue because a win like this tends to have a team think everything is fine. If the Devils defend like this against Colorado on Wednesday, then it could get ugly even if the Devils’ goaltender has a great night. Therefore, I want to point out that there is a lot to clean up with respect to moving the puck within the defensive zone, getting zone exits, and ensuring guys are accounted for around the net and in the slot.
Second, the line of Paul Cotter, Erik Haula, and Nathan Bastian was absolute garbage. They “contributed” to some of the problems I just wrote about. A similar line with Haula and Cotter with Dawson Mercer had a marathon shift that somehow did not end up with Dallas scoring in the second period. In this game, it was Cotter, Haula, and Bastian getting absolutely worked over for two minutes – extended in part to a tired Seamus Casey icing a puck over 90 seconds into that. Credit again to Daws for bailing them out. But this line was uniquely bad on defense tonight and two-thirds of them were just as bad last night. It will not surprise you to know that the trio were on the ice for just six shooting attempts in 5-on-5 play by the Devils. The Devils’ bottom six has been an offensive black hole for close to two months running now. When they are getting gashed on defense in addition, then their ugliness is even more obvious. And they were gashed tonight; the Predators had at least 20 against them.
I do not know what the fix is here. Head coach Sheldon Keefe mixed up the lines for this game. Some understood the re-assignment and stepped up their games. Dawson Mercer was actually noticeable. Tomas Tatar did not look out of place next to Nico Hischier and Stefan Noesen and even added a goal. Some were Justin Dowling who was very much Justin Dowling. But Justin Dowling and the Devils were at least decent in spots. The Haula line was a huge negative. Something has to give here and the answer may have to come from Tom Fitzgerald – and before March 7 instead of July 1.
OK, One More Complaint: It would have been cool if The Big Deal (twice), Nico Hischier, or Jesper Bratt scored on a breakaway against Justus Annunen. As evident by the score, it did not matter much. The goals came anyway.
Good Passes Can Lead to Good Goals: The common thread between all five goals the Devils scored tonight was their puck movement prior to each one. Palat’s goal was a result of Luke Hughes correctly sliding the puck across under pressure instead of forcing a shot under pressure. Dougie Hamilton’s goal came after Nico Hischier recovered a pass from Jesper Bratt off his stick and sent a simple one for Hamilton to rip it. Casey’s goal came from a simple pass from Luke Hughes to the center point after he took a pass off the board from his brother. Noesen’s power play goal was the end of a lovely passing sequence that started with Hischier collecting a shot off the post and ended with Hischier sending it to Noesen in the bumper. Tatar’s goal was a shot that went in off Andreas Englund’s skate and the shot happened after Hischier feathered a pass to him to curl into the slot. They may have not been incredible saucers or pinpoint stretch passes or crazy reads. They were effective passes made with the right reads in mind. They were rewarded multiple times tonight.
What I liked was how the Devils kept going even if Annunen made a big stop, such as denying a breakaway. Or if a play went awry, such as a 2-on-1 led by Mercer that missed Timo Meier. They made a point of it to keep attacking as long as they needed it – they did not need it so much in 5-on-5 in the third period – and they put more of their attempts on target. That also helped lessen the frustration that comes with not scoring since shots were not repeatedly missing the net or getting blocked by a body part. Something that was very much the case for Nashville. The team had the right mentality on offense to go with the passes.
Of course, three of the five shots themselves were great. Tatar had the benefit of Andres Englund’s skate and Palat surely was not going to miss a near-empty net (right?). They did it but the other three goals had standout shots. Dougie Hamilton’s goal was an inch-perfect shot to the top corner from the outside half of the circle. The window to beat Annunen was small and Hamilton did it. Casey’s goal was a wrist shot through traffic that went in off the post, which was another good placement. Noesen’s one-timer was low and beat Annunen five-hole whereas the other four breakaway attempts did not. The finish was there because they had the components and the mindset to make it happen. And they did.
The Return of Seamus Casey: Simon Nemec was roaming for two periods against Dallas before getting the bench. It was no surprise to see Casey take his spot for this game. It was a surprise to see Casey paired with Luke Hughes. While they created the goal to make it 3-0, the pairing did struggle at times. Especially with the Haula line in front of him. In 5-on-5, the Devils were out-attempted 8-14 with Casey-Hughes yet out-shot them 5-4. A change was made in-game to pair him with Brett Pesce and that went much, much better. To the tune of attempts being 6-1 and shots being 5-0.
It is easy to say that he scored and so he is in for the next game. It is also partially correct. The goal was great and more offense from outside of the team’s big scorers is always a plus. For me, the big difference was that Casey tried to stay where he needed to be. Nemec’s problem in the Dallas game and with his previous call up was that he kept going to places where he should not. Whether it is high up in the zone on defense, pinching in where there is a Devil, or just not being aware of what his spot became as the opposition continued to attack. Casey does have some ways to go to defend at this level, but he was at least closer to where he needed to be more often. That will help him in be in position. With more experience, he will thrive. He will likely get a real good test against Colorado on Wednesday.
About Those Big Scorers: Plenty of contributions. The Big Deal only had an assist. But 8 shots on 8 attempts is rather effective. He was flying early on and helped make the offense go. Nico Hischier really looked in form and was definitely a straw that helped stir the drink with three assists. Jesper Bratt was also lively on the attack and picked up two helpers. Hamilton makes big dollars and his goal and assist along with finishing second to The Big Deal in attempts (7) showed why his offense is effective. The only downside was that Timo Meier’s biggest play was denying a rebound attempt for Nashville. His move off the Hischier line did not yield much good for Meier. Not that one’s offense is going to get juiced alongside Justin Dowling. Alas, Keefe has to try something and someone had to play with him (or the guy he replaced, Curtis Lazar).
Let’s Hear it for Special Teams: The Devils’ special teams were very, very good tonight. The penalty kill was awesome for the first two kills, where they kept Nashville to one (1) shot on net. The two in the third period were trickier as the Predators really controlled the zone much better and they were more aggressive to get pucks on frame. To the tune of six power play shots across the two power plays they got in the third. Fortunately, Daws made the stops and the Devils would eventually get clears. The penalties themselves were not too egregious. The high-stick on Dowling was sold a bit but I get it; you cannot hit a guy in the head at all with the stick. The other three were straight forward, with Pesce’s hook on Stamkos done to try to keep Stamkos from scoring. Still, the Devils went 4-for-4 and that is always worth praise.
The Devils’ power play was perfect. Michael McCarron ended his team’s long offensive shift by cross-checking Brenden Dillon down away from the puck. Over a minute later, Noesen scored on the team’s second shot of the power play. Technically, three but posts do not count as shots on the scoresheet. 1-for-1 and it really pulled the game out of reach for the Preds at 4-0.
And credit to the video coach for picking up that Nashville was offside on the Svechkov goal. It restored the shutout bid for Daws, which he earned. It was a good challenge and it worked out wonderfully.
One More Thing: I had to check NST after the game if Nashville was one of the worst shooting teams in the league when it came to shots over shooting attempts. It turns out that they are not. It appears to be Carolina. This makes sense since their offensive philosophy is to fire the puck, get the puck, fire the puck, get the puck, and fire the puck some more. As a result, they have over 4,000 shooting attempts and only 1,818 (45.26%) get on net. You would not have known that from this game though. The Predators were that bad at putting pucks on target tonight. That was led by Filip Forsberg putting 4 of his 13 attempts on target, Roman Josi going 3-for-11, and Brady Skjei putting just two shots on frame out of 11 tries.
Your Take: The Devils won by a hefty margin with Nico Daws’ sensational shutout performance in Nashville. They won a second game in a back-to-back set, they won on the road, and they have a win in their pockets going into Denver this Wednesday. Now I want to know what you think. How do you think the Devils played in this game? How much were you impressed by Daws tonight? Who impressed you the most in this game among the skaters? What could have been better by the Devils? What should be better by their next game? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about this victory in the comments.
Thanks to Ian for the game preview and the People Who Matter who followed along in the Gamethread and/or on X with @AAtJerseyBlog. Thank you for reading.