In another disgusting third period effort, Jacob Markstrom was unable to bail out his team.
First Period
The New Jersey Devils began the game pushing into the offensive end, keeping the Calgary Flames at bay until the new second line of Tomas Tatar, Dawson Mercer, and Jesper Bratt had trouble keeping possession of the puck. This forced Jacob Markstrom into action, and he sent away a couple unthreatening shots. The teams played tight hockey for awhile until Stefan Noesen was sprung by Hughes for a short breakaway three and a half minutes in. Noesen faked a slap shot and went for the five hole, but Dustin Wolf shut it down.
Five minutes in, Timo Meier was called for boarding Joel Hanley on a dump-in. Dawson Mercer helped to clear the puck on the penalty kill, but the Devils ceded the zone pretty quickly, choosing to collapse to the net. This strategy worked to neutralize the Calgary power play, which struggled to create chances from the perimeter. Coming out of the box and chasing a loose puck cleared out by the Devils, Timo Meier was slashed several times by Joel Farabee, leading to an extended six-on-five that merely ended with an offsides call.
The power play had possession of the puck off the draw, but struggled to maintain an entry after Calgary cleared a quick rebound away. The second unit came out for a full minute, with Daniel Sprong using his speed to help gain the zone. Sprong’s shot through a screen was squeezed by Wolf. Sprong stayed on with the first unit for the following draw, but his one-timer went wide of goal.
Tomas Tatar was hit high by Martin Pospisil when Tatar was engaged with another player, and Tatar came back to drive his body into Pospisil. Tatar went to the box for interference. The Devils were excellent on this penalty kill, with Mercer and Kovacevic combining to waste some time in the offensive zone. The penalty killers did not allow the Flames to get much connected puck movement, and Markstrom thus had an easy two minutes.
After the penalty kill, the Devils went on the attack. Nico Hischier charged into the offensive zone off a long stretch pass that was deflected off the wall by Noesen. Hischier went hard around the net, throwing the puck into Wolf, and Timo Meier chipped at it — and the puck hit the net! The Devils took a 1-0 lead with under three minutes to play in the period. The goal, however, was awarded to Hischier, as Meier only forced a Flame’s stick to knock the puck into the net.
Second Period
The New Jersey Devils stayed on the offensive to begin the second period, stringing together a few good shifts. With the third line on the ice, Daniel Sprong took the zone for the Devils and tried to set up Cody Glass in front of the net with a backhand. Glass could not bang the rebound home, but the Devils kept the puck. Erik Haula, in the perfect spot, received a pass from Brian Dumoulin — and he shot the puck off of Kevin Bahl and past Wolf! The Devils took a 2-0 lead just past the five-minute mark in the second period.
After the second goal, the Flames still struggled to create offensive chances against the Devils. The top six continued to work play in the right direction, frustrating Calgary’s forwards. Past the halfway point in the period, Tomas Tatar was stopped by Wolf on a dangerous backhand chance. On the other end, Brett Pesce took a delay of game penalty, and the Flames scored on an own-goal by Dawson Mercer on a pass from Matt Coronato to Nazem Kadri. Calgary thus pulled to 2-1 with eight minutes to play in the period.
Timo Meier was then called for delay of game when he batted a puck out of play with 6:39 to play. Meier was adamant it hit the glass, and the replay was inconclusive at best, but the call was made, regardless. The Devils were better on this penalty kill, with Kovacevic facing down a Mackenzie Weegar slap shot, clearing the puck. The Flames came back down the ice, but Nico Hischier intercepted a no-look pass to the side of the net to bring the second units onto the ice at the end of the first minute. To cap off the penalty kill, Jacob Markstrom made a flurry of tight saves, allowing Haula to whip the puck at the wall to give Meier a chance to spring the Devils up the other way. Jesper Bratt took the puck on a two-on-one, which was cut down thanks to a very generous line change taken by Calgary, and the rebound was thus cleared away with ease.
The Devils then went to the power play thanks to a call drawn by Kurtis MacDermid, who was interfered with by Adam Klapka. Nico Hischier hit a one-timer wide, and Dawson Mercer was denied on the rebound of a Timo Meier shot that went off of Wolf’s mask and the boards. The Flames won that second draw, and the Devils had to start from their own end, and they forced Wolf to freeze a shot for another offensive zone faceoff. Nico won the third draw, but he was denied on a quick chance in front as he whiffed a bit on a feed from below the goal line. The first unit stayed on for a fourth faceoff, and Hischier was kicked from the faceoff dot. Meier lost the draw to the corner, but the Devils kept possession. They stayed in the offensive zone until a pass from Mercer went out of play, giving the Devils a chance to change a couple of their power play personnel. However, they were unable to convert.
Nico Hischier took a double shift to end the second period with the fourth line. This line got into it with the Flames a bit, and Martin Pospisil was too focused on throwing a hit on Hischier to see the play he was creating ahead. Hischier sprung Paul Cotter, who took a lane to the net, pulling backhand to forehand to beat Wolf! The Devils went back up two goals, 3-1, with under 30 seconds in the period!
Third Period
Jacob Markstrom and Dustin Wolf traded big saves in the early stages of the third period as the Devils looked to close the game out. For a moment, the Devils were hemmed in, and Blake Coleman disturbed Jacob Markstrom in the crease as Markstrom tried to cover the puck, but play went on. The Devils, similar to the Columbus game, began to have issues with getting the puck out of the defensive zone.
The Devils got the game under control after the first few minutes. Tomas Tatar played a hard game along the boards on both ends to help shift play, and Nico Hischier led a three-on-two that led to a Timo Meier chance. Then, with the third line on the ice, Daniel Sprong delivered a big check to Joel Farabee to disrupt the Calgary attack. Then Keefe sent the fourth line out. Jacob Markstrom had the puck in his equipment following a shot, and he knocked the puck into the net as he tried to move to search for the puck. Calgary made it 3-2 with over 13 minutes to play.
To make matters worse, Jesper Bratt just about immediately took a tripping penalty on Jonathan Huberdeau. The Flames controlled off the draw, and Kovacveic chased Coronato around the net to force the puck higher in the zone. With a blocked shot and some puck luck, Dawson Mercer raced off on a breakaway. Mercer went for the low shot, and Wolf stuck with it. The Devils’ penalty killers played the rest of the two minutes very well, preventing Calgary from getting a shot on goal.
As the game drew to a close, the tension in the air built. The Devils were having far too much trouble getting the puck into the offensive zone, and Daniil Miromanov found a weak spot in Markstrom, hitting the top corner of the net. It was a 3-3 game.
To Markstrom’s credit, he stopped a wide-open breakaway chance for Jonathan Huberdeau right after the goal. But the Flames kept coming at the Devils, who sat back and back, allowing Huberdeau to rip a shot between Dillon and Kovacevic and past Markstrom, taking the lead at 4-3 with 3:20 to play.
Timo Meier was high sticked with 1:20 to play, but no call was made. With the net empty, Jacob Markstrom began slashing his stick on the boards and screaming for a penalty — and the linesman called the Devils for icing on a dump-in well past center ice. This gave the Flames a free faceoff at center ice after the mistake was “corrected,” and Markstrom had to go back in the net after a Devils timeout with 1:09 to play. Nazem Kadri scored an empty netter to make it 5-3.
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
Goalies Won’t Always Bail You Out
Jacob Markstrom was a lot better tonight than he has been since coming back from his knee injury, but he is still not the same goalie he was in December. But even if he was, it would not excuse the Devils having a second consecutive horrific third period with a lead. Sure, the Devils won that game against Columbus. But how many times can a team just collapse to the slot, allow the other team to fire away, and expect to win? When Keefe was asked about the team’s overly-conservative approach, he denied it was an issue. He pointed to lack of confidence in the team’s collapse.
It’s caught me off guard, honestly.
In contrast to that atrocious third, the Devils had the right attitude in the first two periods. They were aggressive. They took chances. They attacked the opposing puck carrier once they crossed the center ice red line. But in the third, all of that went away. There was only a couple of shifts with a notable forecheck, and they never had more than a shot in the offensive end before Calgary outnumbered them on the puck and went the other way.
So why do the Devils always get outnumbered in important close-game situations? Why do they go into the turtle shell in the third period? Had they even tried to play their normal game, this should have been an easy win for a team that was 30-0-2 when leading after two periods coming into tonight’s game.
Third periods are an area where I think Sheldon Keefe is a downgrade from his predecessor. Most nights, they hold onto leads. Are the Devils capable of third period comebacks, though? With just three this season, they are just about “even” in points lost or gained in third periods. But this is supposed to be a playoff team. This is supposed to be a tough group of veterans. I don’t care that Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, and Jonas Siegenthaler are out of the lineup.
If anything, these games have just shown why Sheldon Keefe needs to abandon his third period strategy with Jonas Siegenthaler out for the regular season. I wrote about it on Monday. If Siegenthaler is on the ice in the third period, Huberdeau doesn’t have anything even close to resembling the gap that Dillon and Kovacevic left him. With a tie game! What were they doing?!?
Sheldon Keefe needs to turn this team’s mentality around. Calgary dominated the puck in the third period. While part of me thinks Markstrom gave up two really weak goals to give up the game, I don’t know long you can expect the goalie to track the puck perfectly for. The Devils were on their heels for literally half of the period. They had no confidence in their game. They lost their edge. They couldn’t string two passes together. In their obsession to sit back and defend, they completely lost all ability to move the puck forward. And now they are two points further from sealing a playoff spot.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of tonight’s game? Will this team ever learn? Will Sheldon Keefe? Will Jacob Markstrom get back to his old self? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.