Devils Lay a Dud in UBS Arena, Falling 5-1 to Islanders in Final Preseason Game for NHLers Heading to Prague

It wasn’t good, and Sheldon Keefe needs to make the right decisions about who travels to Prague, now

First Period

Nate Bastian took the first penalty of the game for taking out Julien Gauthier’s skate, sending the New Jersey Devils to the penalty kill just 27 seconds into the game. The Devils’ penalty kill did very well against both Islanders power play units, with the second PK unit pushing the puck all the way back to the other end for an offensive zone faceoff. However, Jake Allen gave up a goal on a rush shot in the final seconds of the Islanders power play, with Frederik Karlstrom taking a pass on the inner edge of the faceoff circle and getting it above Allen’s shoulder. 1-0, Islanders, just a bit under three minutes into the game.

The Devils started to come alive several minutes in. Nico Hischier almost caught Semyon Varlamov when the puck took a bounce off the boards, but Hischier could not wrap the puck back around the net in time. Continuing to cycle the puck, the Devils had Dawson Mercer for a one-timer, but he rang it off the post. On the other end, Jake Allen would continue to have trouble. Erik Haula got a bit jumbled with a bad shot at the point, with Jakub Zboril nearby, and Kyle MacLean quickly had a breakaway from behind center ice. He buried a wrist shot, putting the Islanders up 2-0.

Dawson Mercer had a couple more chances to put the Devils on the board when he tipped a shot down and had the opportunity to shoot twice on Varlamov, but his first shot from his backhand hit the Islanders goalie right in the side. Mercer’s second whack went into Varlamov’s outstretch pad, and he froze play right after. A couple minutes later, Oliver Wahlstrom went to the box for tripping Stefan Noesen in the neutral zone. The power play went by with barely any consistent zone time for the Devils.

Simon Nemec took a bad tripping penalty on Casey Cizikas with 20 seconds to play in the period when Cizikas got a step on him to a loose puck. Allen let the first shot of the poewr play past him, with Bo Horvat rifling a one-timer from the side of the high slot. 3-0, Islanders.

Second Period

After surviving an early chance for Mat Barzal, Jake Allen allowed his fourth goal of the game when Liam Foudy sped past Jakub Zboril and had a shot trickle through Allen’s arm. 4-0, Islanders, around just two minutes into the second period. Unsatisfied with their misfortune, the Devils went back to the penalty kill when Nico Hischier was called for interference in the corner, though the puck was clearly in the area. It was clearly a crosscheck, though.

Towards the end of the kill, Nolan Foote blocked a shot high in the zone, leading to a breakaway for Paul Cotter. Cotter made a nice move to his backhand — but it ended up being a bit too nice, as Cotter opened up Varlamov but couldn’t get the shot off. With the Devils cycling at five-on-five after their penalty expired, Tomas Tatar drew a cross-checking penalty from Casey Cizikas in front of the net. The Devils worked at six-on-five for awhile, but after a one-timer from Bratt rang around the boards and out of the zone, Simon Nemec was too impatient during a change and sent a pass from near the penalty box to just past the benches, missing his target and allowing Kyle MacLean to touch up the puck.

The power play was beautifully efficient this time. Dougie Hamilton got the puck over to Jesper Bratt quickly off the draw, and Bratt sent it down low for Dawson Mercer, who backhanded the puck across to Timo Meier, who nailed his short-range shot. Six seconds, five touches, and a goal for the Devils, finally. 4-1.

The Devils had to kill another penalty when Curtis Lazar went after Alex Romanov for throwing a body check on Nolan Foote. Lazar got four minutes for roughing, with Romanov getting two. This Islanders power play was pretty slow, and the Devils were able to get the puck out multiple times without much of a threat against them. However, Oliver Wahlstrom beat Jake Allen with a one-timer just a couple seconds after Curtis Lazar got out of the box. 5-1, Devils.

Travis Mitchell took a two-minute penalty for throwing a bit of a late hit on Nico Hischier, sending the Devils to the power play with four and a half minutes in the period. This power play was not the best, but Jesper Bratt did get a chance to shoot from the dot — he hit the puck off Varlamov’s mask. The Islanders killed the penalty, and time continued to wind down in the period.

Third Period

Jakub Skarek came in for Varlamov for the period, and Casey Cizikas quickly went off for slashing, giving the Devils a power play. The Devils forced Zurek to make three saves on their power play, though it seemed like the first unit was not staying out quite as long as they had earlier in the game.

Near the halfway point of the period, play was blown dead when Stefan Noesen went face-first into the boards. He skated off on his own before any of the training staff got onto the ice. Noesen did not miss his line’s next shift.

The game was a bit quicker in the third period, but there were not many chances for the Devils. Jonathan Kovacevic got into a scrap with Travis Mitchell, which Kovacevic seemed to get the better of, but the Devils struggled to get much clean offensive zone time. At the end of the game, Jakub Zboril continued to make his case for making the roster with a hook in the defensive zone, forcing the Devils to kill 47 seconds worth of penalties. But just as play began, Kyle MacLean got his stick hooked in Brenden Dillon’s legs, sending Dillon into the boards and canceling out the power play.

The Weakest Link(s)

It was a bad game for the Devils tonight, but the contributions of Erik Haula and his line (with Ondrej Palat and Stefan Noesen on the wings), Jake Allen, Jakub Zboril, and Simon Nemec stuck out to me as particularly rotten. All together as a line, the pretty-expensive-for-a-third line group of Palat, Haula, and Noesen had a 25.00 CF%, 3.68 xGF% (3, not 30), two goals allowed, and five shots allowed with zero shots for. Palat and Haula have usually had terrible results despite good underlying numbers in the past, so it might be tough for Sheldon Keefe to balance these three in the bottom nine if those underlying numbers do not improve in the regular season.

Jakub Zboril is clearly not a defenseman that should be challenging for an NHL role off the bat — he is slow, and does not offer much to this team. He got burned a few times tonight, and his partner, Simon Nemec, looked lost and impatient with the puck. They were on the ice for two even strength goals against — and Nemec was on for three (one with Hamilton on the ice with him), sporting a 16.53 xGF% as a pairing (for a tough 3.92 xGA/60). If the Devils want to win in Prague, I am fully behind using Jonathan Kovacevic on the left side for a third pairing with Seamus Casey.

A Good Day for Dawson — and for Tatar on the Top Line

The Devils’ top line worked wonderfully tonight, with a 69.57 CF% and 54.60 xGF% — both far above the next-best Bratt-Cotter-Meier line at 60.00 and 35.14. That said, it was mostly Dawson Mercer doing the shooting on this line, as he had three shots on goal on six attempts with a 0.72 ixG at even strength. With their hard work as a group, Tatar drew the penalty that led to the power play goal, which would not have happened without Nico Hischier’s efficient faceoff work or Dawson Mercer’s great hands around the net. So, kudos to them — they are among the few who look ready for the season. And on the note of players who look ready, Jonas Siegenthaler played very well tonight — the Islanders could not create with him on the ice, and Siegenthaler actually had a positive xGF% on the penalty kill at 62.48, though Allen let a rush shot through with Siegenthaler tying a man up in front.

Paul Cotter Belongs in the Bottom Six

I have been seeing some people suggest in these parts that Paul Cotter may be a top six option, with Tomas Tatar’s spot being a bit of a question mark, given the latter player’s age and present ability. With Jack Hughes taking the night off after participating in practice with both training camp groups today, Paul Cotter got the chance to center Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt. It did not go as poorly as the third line, but it seemed like a waste of Meier and Bratt’s ability level — they had the puck a fair bit, but could never generate anything really good. It’s perfectly okay that Cotter is not a top line center — let him play to the left of Curtis Lazar, where he belongs.

Onto Prague; Your Thoughts

It’s preseason, so I won’t get too mad. But I do think we are allowed to notice things, and the Devils have been very flat so far. I can only hope that they magically get more game-ready by the time they are supposed to start the season, as it will be non-NHLers playing the rest of their preseason schedule.

Anyways, what did you think of tonight’s game? Did you notice anything good? Leave your thoughts below, and thanks for reading.