Improved goaltending is the biggest difference between the New Jersey Devils of this season and last. With the main reason for that improvement leaving last night’s game with an injury, we will now see what this team is made of.
The most recent run of play for the New Jersey Devils could be described as uninspired, provided that you were trying to be polite about it. The team struggled across a four game losing streak, but finally sprung back to earlier season form last night in a 5-1 triumph over the Boston Bruins. The team not only needed the points to stop the losing streak, but they also made sure to do it while honoring Jacques Lemaire. The night, however, was not without its problems.
Early in the second period, Bruins’ forward Justin Brazeau collided with Jacob Markstrom, resulting in Markstrom leaving the game. While he skated off on his own power, post game comments from Coach Sheldon Keefe seem to indicate that this injury might keep Markstrom out for a bit. The New Jersey Devils may have thought they were dealing with adversity through a reported wave of illness in the locker room along with the losing streak. The real test for the team this season in my opinion begins now.
The offseason move of acquiring Markstrom to solidify the goaltending has paid off for the Devils. His .912 save percentage is not only well ahead of Jake Allen, but also well above league average this season as well. While it is unknown how much time the Devils’ starter will miss, again, the implication is that this is not a “rest and be better in a few days” type of injury. The rest of the team is going to need to step up in his absence, and hats off to Allen, as he played very well in relief last night to earn the win. They’re also going to need to bring up a Utica goalie as backup, and sadly the stats of both Nico Daws and Isaac Poulter don’t inspire a whole lot of confidence right now.
This of course means the lion’s share of the goaltending should fall to Allen, who himself has not inspired much confidence prior to his play last night. He hadn’t won a game dating back to November, and some of the performances he put in during that stretch were downright bad, both on the scoresheet and while watching. Technically, Allen’s save percentage is above league averse as well (byproduct of the trend in goalie statistics), but it is quite a bit below Markstrom’s. Also, as I’ve talked about before, Allen’s confidence worries me, as it seems to fall into an abyss once he allows a goal. The Devils aren’t going to shut opponents out of every game, so the hope has to be that Allen shores things up.
Maybe the Devils get lucky; maybe whichever goalie comes up from Utica goes on a tear and puts up a number of wins. It’s not the most likely scenario, but we’ve seen the Devils bring up goalies before and have them start out on a hot streak. Additionally, the rest of the roster needs to be accountable as well; they need to get back to playing smart, structured hockey and make the safer play each time they have the puck. Teams can mask average goaltending if their play is strong enough, and we’ve seen spurts of said strong play throughout the season. Hopefully, whatever illness was going through the locker room is gone or almost gone and the team can go back to plying stifling hockey.
If the Devils are able to do at least some, if not all, of these things, they can keep the ship stable and moving in the correct direction while they wait for Markstrom to come back. If not? Let’s not think about that right now. Let’s just wait until there’s more information about Markstrom and make sure we support the Devils who are on the ice as the season starts turning into its later months.
What are your thoughts on the Devils without Jacob Markstrom; do you think they’re in trouble? Are you confident that Allen can step up and keep the Devils afloat? Do you see Daws/Poulter coming in and having a hot run to propel the Devils? Should more of the responsibility to keep the team successful fall on the rest of the players? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!