Simon Nemec returned to New Jersey, and in his first game in the NHL since October, he and all the other Devils embarrassed themselves
The New Jersey Devils’ offense has been struggling for a while now. This was true even before Nico Hischier was injured, but since the captain has been out this problem has been worsened even further. Tonight was arguably the low point even among a stretch of low points, as the Devils were embarrassed by the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-1 loss at The Rock on Thursday night.
I don’t even know where to begin with this performance. Yes, some key injuries have really hampered the Devils as of late. Hischier is a massive loss. So are Jacob Markstrom and Jonas Siegenthaler, with the former being out for a couple weeks now and the latter suffering a potentially serious leg injury last time out against the Pittsburgh Penguins. But those injuries don’t explain the complete no-show we saw from New Jersey tonight. It was one of those games where you just felt they were getting shut out early on, which made Ondrej Palat’s power play goal absolutely shocking, though it did come late in the third when the game was long since decided. When the Devils so much as put a shot on net, it was a reason to party.
And it’s not like the total absence of offense was all in service of focusing on the defensive side of the puck. Vegas did whatever they wanted in the offensive zone this evening. They controlled possession all game, hemmed Devils defenders in deep all game, and smothered the Devils in the neutral zone and turned turnovers into rush chances all game. To put in perspective just how much New Jersey was outplayed tonight, the Golden Knights fired 17 shots on goal in the second period alone…and that was more than the Devils put up in the entire contest, with the final shot count being 40-15. New Jersey was a bicycle with square wheels on offense and a welcome mat on defense. It was a truly atrocious game.
There are exactly two positives from this evening: Jake Allen, and the penalty kill. As far as Allen goes, he was the reason this game didn’t reach historic levels of embarrassment. The numbers were kind to him tonight (a .925 sv%, and 0.93 Goals Saved Above Expected according to Natural Stat Trick), but even these don’t do him justice. He was under siege from the word go, and he had to make big save after big save. His skaters in front of him did absolutely nothing to help him out, and if not for him the Golden Knights might have doubled their goal output.
Meanwhile the penalty kill was shockingly strong. They went a perfect 5-for-5, and even generated one of the rare moments of offense when Jack Hughes was stopped on a partial breakaway. This is even more impressive when you consider that Vegas entered tonight with the second ranked power play (behind only Winnipeg) in the NHL at 28.5%. The penalty kill did give up a few premium looks, but it did not get completely shredded, and besides that’s to be expected against a unit as strong as the Golden Knights’. And when they did give up big chances, Allen was there to bail his team out.
And not to bury the lede here, but with Siegenthaler injured, Simon Nemec was recalled from AHL Utica. This is noteworthy considering Nemec’s status as a blue chip prospect, and the fact that he hasn’t played at the NHL level since October. Nemec struggled to begin the season, and made waves a couple weeks back by intimating to Slovakian media that he was upset that he was being kept in the AHL, although personally I think that this was a case of something getting lost in translation. I do believe Nemec was frustrated, but I don’t think his angst was as severe as it came across.
But if Nemec really was that frustrated, then the solution is simple: Play well enough that they can’t send him back down. So was it mission accomplished for Nemec this evening? We’ll get to that in detail below, but the short version: Absolutely, unquestionably, indisputably not.
But Nemec can at least take comfort in the fact that while he had a horrible game, he certainly was not alone. The Devils were embarrassed by the Golden Knights, with only Jake Allen remembering to show up this evening. Since the Christmas break, it’s been one step forward and two steps back for this team. One more game until the Four Nations Tournament break, and it can’t come soon enough.
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
Nemec’s Night
I warn you, this won’t be pretty. But let’s take a closer look at Simon Nemec’s return to the NHL.
First a reminder: With Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce dealing with injuries at the start of the season, Nemec and Seamus Casey broke camp with the big club. In Nemec’s case, he played nine games, with his last one coming on October 22nd against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was a struggle for Nemec, who only produced one point (an assist) in his nine games, and who was generally buried in the run of play as well. As a result, he went down to Utica for more seasoning.
It was, shall we say, a less than ideal return to the NHL for Nemec. He played 12:32 tonight, which was by far the lowest among defensemen, and in fact was only higher than five Devils forwards. According to Natural Stat Trick, Nemec registered a 5-on-5 Expected Goals For% of 5.72%.
Yes, the decimal point is in the right place.
At 5-on-5, Nemec lost the Scoring Chances For battle 0-8, and the High Danger Corsi For battle 0-3. You could argue that Nemec was the Golden Knights’ best player this evening. He tripped over his own two feet while defending a rush in the first, leading to a premium chance against. He got his shot blocked on a second period shift and it led directly to the first goal of the game. And he broke his stick on another shot attempt and it led to a Vegas rush the other way. It was decidedly not his night. He also took a holding penalty in the second period, and when he was released from the box, he IMMEDIATELY iced the puck, hemming his team in their own zone even more. This led to head coach Sheldon Keefe stapling Nemec to the bench for the rest of the second period and for the first couple minutes of the third.
One small defense of Nemec here: Perhaps you disagree, but I’m not going to blame him too much for his holding penalty. That type of call is one I absolutely can’t stand, where that exact play happens countless times over the course of a game (a defender tying an opposing player up along the boards) and the referees call it only when they feel like it. It’s like cross checking in front of the net or players lightly slashing opponents near the hands. It’s usually not called, but sometimes the officials randomly decide to blow the whistle. Understand, I do think what Nemec did was a penalty by the letter of the law. I’m just saying the inconsistency with it drives me crazy.
Anyway, whether that penalty was deserved or not, Nemec had himself one heck of a poor game. Again, he was far from alone, but this was not an encouraging return to the NHL. I understand Vegas is a tough team, but I expected more than a single digit xGF%. Let’s hope his next game is a big step forward.
Offensive Offense
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the Devils offense really has been mind-blowingly inept for a long time now. It’s getting to the point where any production at all comes as a surprise.
Since the Christmas break, the Devils have played 19 games. They have scored at least four goals a grand total of four times. Four times in 19 games is absolutely pathetic.
But maybe they’ve been getting unlucky? It’s possible that the Devils have actually been dominating possession and the process has been excellent, but they’ve just been running into hot goaltending or been on the receiving end of some really bad luck, right? Well in those 19 games since Christmas, New Jersey has reached at least 30 shots on goal in six of those games. That means New Jersey has put up 29 shots or fewer in a whopping 13 of 19 games since December 27th, with two of those games seeing the Devils held to a shot total in the teens. That’s not what I call getting unlucky, that’s what I call the process meeting the results.
We’ve all been saying it for a while now, but something needs to be done about the offense. Nico Hischier returning at some point will not magically solve things, they were broken long before Hischier went down. I’m not necessarily saying they need to make a ton of trades, but something, anything, needs to be done.
Next Time Out
The Devils play their final game before the Four Nations Tournament break on Saturday. They will travel to Montreal to take on the Canadiens, with puck drop slated for 1:00pm.
Your Take
What did you make of this embarrassing performance? What did you think of Nemec’s game? How concerned are you about the offense? As always, thanks for reading.