Devil of the Month
The New Jersey Devils: February 2010 in Review
by John Fischer on Feb 15, 2010 3:30 PM EST
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If January was a disappointing month for the New Jersey Devils, then the shortened February was just poor. Out of 7 games, the New Jersey Devils won only twice - and one of those was a miraculous third period comeback. Out of a possible 14 points, the Devils only earned 5 points with a record of 2-4-1. The slump that began in mid-January did not end, it only continued.
Not that the team just let it happen. Lou Lamoriello pulled off a huge trade on the evening February 4 sending defenseman Johnny Oduya, winger Niclas Bergfors, prospect center Patrice Cormier, a first round pick, and a second round pick to the Atlanta Thrashers for elite scoring winger Ilya Kovalchuk, defenseman Anssi Salmela, and a second round pick. At the time of the deal, I felt the Devils got the better of the deal and I still think the Devils came out better for it. Yet, the addition of a winger like Kovalchuk did not produce immediate results as the offense continues to be inconsistent, especially on the power play.
The Devils got a little healthier as Patrik Elias returned to the lineup from a concussion on February 6. While his excellent vision and playmaking skills are welcomed back, his return alone did not inspire the Devils snap out of it on offense. Would the return of David Clarkson and Paul Martin from injury really the ones to inspire the team? The only other injury of note (sorry, Mr. Leblond) that took place was Anssi Salmela being knocked out of the February 8 game against Philadelphia by a blindside, late hit by Jeff Carter; though Salmela returned on February 13 for the Carolina game.
Of course, with an inconsistent offense, that places further pressure on the defense - especially when the offense can't build. A defense that's prone to making a few big mistakes a night, leaving opposition forwards ready and able to screen Martin Brodeur, set up in the slot for deflections, and set up on Brodeur's flank. Yes, Brodeur's given up a lot of goals; but the majority of them wouldn't have happened with better play by both ends by the skaters. Better play by the skaters would have prevented some awful second period performances. Except for the Nashville game on February 12, the Devils have been outscored in the second period in every game this month. Awful.
Overall, the Devils have won only 8 games since January 8 and they haven't won two consecutive games since January 12. Fans like myself are running out of reasons to hope things will be quickly different for New Jersey. The Devils, like the rest of the NHL, are on a two week break and will place their next game in March. Will it help? Hopefully.
If not, the fans are left justifiably asking about the team's focus and heart that was ever-present in the 2009 part of this season. That directly ties into the team's leadership and coaches. Will there be a change there? Will there be another trade, possibly for a defender? Will the team being finally healthy be enough to get it sorted out? At this point, I think most Devils fans just want some wins more than anything else - as this month was inarguably bad for New Jersey.
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The New Jersey Devils: January 2010 in Review
by John Fischer on Feb 1, 2010 9:00 PM EST
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Last month, I commented that while the Devils got results, the 11-4 record hidden the fact that the team's performances in some of those games weren't exactly solid, much less dominating, efforts. This month, however, the performances matched up with the results perfectly. The Devils were inconsistent over the whole month, shifting into and out of a slump in the second half of January. Whereas the Devils of the first three months would have found a way to win some of those games, the Devils of this past month struggled on multiple fronts - factors that were controllable (defensive breakdowns), somewhat controllable (offensive struggling to finish shots), and uncontrollable (goals given up due to screens and deflections).
As a result, the Devils went 7-7-1. They earned 15 of the possible 30 points. Health remains an issue as Patrik Elias was literally knocked out due to a clean hit in the Colorado game, David Clarkson and Paul Martin are still out with their respective injuries, and Dainius Zubrus only returned within the last week of the month. Martin has taken his name out of the Olympics, per this report by Gulitti; I suspect he needs the extra time to become healthy. Hopefully, Elias can be ready in February in advance of the Olympics, as he could be skating soon per Gulitti's report from Saturday (and Clarkson still needs more time to recover). Once again, the team hasn't been at full strength, but based on the record, it could be that the injuries have taken their toll to a degree. In their place, Patrick Davis and Nick Palmieri were called up as Ilkka Pikkarainen was assigned to the KHL after clearing waivers. Both rookie wingers have showed promise, but only Davis currently remains with New Jersey until another forward becomes healthy.
Nevertheless, the Devils experienced all kinds of wins and losses but couldn't find much consistent success. In fact, for the first time since the middle of November, the Devils lost consecutive games, endured their longest losing streak of 3 games, and were not only shutout for the first time this month, but then were shutout 8 days later. Yet, they managed to shutout opponents three times, and remain at the top of the Atlantic Division despite their record from week-to-week.
In terms of where the team stands now statistically, the team stats have shifted in light of their struggles. Due to a lack of scoring across several games in January, the goals for average has fallen to 2.59 per game (20th in NHL) and the power play has scored exactly five goals in the whole month, the conversion rate has dropped to 19.2% (tied for 9th somehow in NHL). The problem hasn't been shooting, the team actually increased their shots per game average to 30.2 (tied for 12th in NHL). Defensively, the numbers still look good: the goals against average has risen slightly to 2.22 per game (1st in NHL), the penalty killing success rate has been steady at 82.6% (13th in NHL), and the shots against average was also steady at 27.7 (2nd in NHL). A look at the numbers alone can't explain the results, but a look at each game shows where it all went so wrong.
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The New Jersey Devils: December 2009 in Review
by John Fischer on Jan 1, 2010 9:31 PM EST
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The New Jersey Devils didn't play the most excellent set of 15 hockey games, but the success cannot be ignored. The Devils went 11-4, shut out the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins twice, and are currently first in the Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference, and lead the league in wins (but only 2 points behind San Jose). The month began and ended with a loss, but every loss was followed up with a win and the Devils continued stay at the top of the East.
In terms of health, well, the Devils aren't there just yet. Paul Martin suffered a setback in his recovery from a fractured arm; Dainius Zubrus has not begun skating yet; while David Clarkson came back from a fractured right fibula, he re-injured it in the 4-0 win against Pittsburgh on December 30; and Bryce Salvador has been added to the list of regular Devils with injuries - he suffered "lower body injury" at the end of the month. In a way, the team's record this month further speaks to the effectiveness of the team's current coaching, which I praised back on Christmas; as well as the depth available on the roster.
While the performances from game to game aren't perfect, like all sports, you just need to be better than the opposition and the Devils have clearly accomplished that so far this season. At 28-10-1, one really can't complain too loudly. The team scores an average of 2.77 per game (11th in NHL), shoots 29.8 shots on net per game (tied for 15th), gives up an average of 2.18 goals per game (2nd), allows 27.7 shots per game (tied for 3rd), converts on the power play at a rate of 20.8% (tied for 9th), and successfully kills penalties 82.6% of the time (12th). These are all very good team statistics and the month of December has proven that this is a very good New Jersey Devils team.
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The New Jersey Devils: November 2009 in Review
by John Fischer on Nov 30, 2009 7:00 PM EST
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In recent seasons, the month of November has been very kind to the New Jersey Devils. November 2009 proved to be no different. The New Jersey Devils finished the month with a 9-2-1 record. 9-2-1. Let that sink in for a moment. 19 points in 12 games and finishing only a point behind Pittsburgh with 3 games in hand is nothing to sneeze at. The Devils vastly improved their home record by going 6-0-0 at the Rock, compared with 1-4-0 last month. The road winning streak continued into the middle of the month, before a three game winless road trip, leaving the road record at only 3-2-1. I can't complain, as I felt only 14 points would have been expected back at the beginning of November.
To think, all of this has been done with more Devils seemingly getting injured. Jay Pandolfo, Paul Martin, and Johnny Oduya missed the entire month. During November, the list grew to include Rob Niedermayer, Dainius Zubrus, and most recently David Clarkson. The only Devil to really come back from injury was Patrik Elias, who ended the month showing off why he's still to be seen as an elite winger. Yet, the Devils kept on rolling to win games. It didn't matter if they gave up the first or second goal on most nights, they found a way to defeat (and in two cases, blow out) their opponent. Why? The Devils' top players are playing at a high level, the various called up players and those lower on the depth chart have taken the opportunities available to show off what they can do, and Jacques Lemaire and the coaching staff have done an excellent job of holding the team together.
We can only imagine how good this team will be at full health. A frightening prospect for the rest of the league because November proved that they are a very good team right now.
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The New Jersey Devils' October 2009 in Review
by John Fischer on Nov 1, 2009 8:00 PM EST
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With a 1-4 home record, with three of those losses ranking at the "very disappointing" level, would you believe the Devils achieved their best October record after some mixed results in the last 5 seasons?
The Devils achieved an 8-4 record based largely on the strength of excellent play on the road. The road record is easy: 7. That's 7 wins. Moreover, they were mostly close games. Only two of them came with margins of victory greater than 1 goal; and three of them came through the shootout.
That is impressive in of itself, but it's an even bigger accomplishment as the team became increasingly shorthanded throughout the month. Going into the season, the Devils are still missing Patrik Elias, who still recovering from surgery that removed scar tissue from his groin. Later in the month, Paul Martin and Jay Pandolfo both suffered significant injuries after a big win in Pittsburgh; and Johnny Oduya was recently added to the list of injured with a "lower body injury" in Boston. With a depleted defense, an offense that has yet to truly reach its potential, an increasingly powerless power play (so what else is new), and such bad performances at home, that the Devils finished the month at 8-4 is amazing.
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April 2009 in Review
by John Fischer on Apr 30, 2009 8:02 PM EDT
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This was not a good month for the Devils or their fans.
It started off with an upward trend. The first game of the month absolute horror of a loss in Pittsburgh. It was a very cruel April Fool's joke as the Devils went winless in their sixth straight game. Despair was apparent. Yet, the Devils ultimately smashed the slump, but not in a really powerful way. Martin Brodeur was honored for his 552nd win before the game against Tampa Bay, Kevin Weekes went down with an injury in the game, and Brodeur had to step in. While Brodeur was beaten on some ridiculously well set up chances by Tampa Bay, the Devils' offense pushed on to win in overtime. When you go 6 games without a win, getting a win by itself is big.
The Devils would go on to continue winning close games, with the exception of one loss. They went into Buffalo, a team who was then desperate and with a real (and then slipping) chance to make the playoffs, and withstood a third period flurry to win 3-2. Disappointment reared it's ugly head along with a team of ugly heads: as the Devils just were frustrated by Toronto in a 4-1 loss. The Devils prevented slipping back into a slump by winning their last 2 games. The first, a shootout win against a then-hot and then-spoiling Ottawa Senators team. It was an monumental win as it clinched yet another Atlantic Division title for the Devils, home ice for the first round again, and it broke a franchise record for wins as it was their 50th.
The second was a strong 3-2 win over Carolina, which helped ensure that the Devils would play the Hurricanes in the first round in the playoffs. It set the Devils at 51 wins and it proven that the Devils could, in fact, beat Carolina. An important thing to know when going into a playoff series against them.
You all know what happened in the series, so I won't belabor each game. To quickly sum it up, the Devils would look good, then the Canes would take the next game. Each team traded off wins and performances as both goaltenders sparkled for each team - making nearly every goal important and coming off a chance that both Ward, Brodeur, and pretty much most other goaltender would have little chance at stopping the puck. Yet, the series ended the worst way possible for New Jersey in that now infamous Game 7 in a very infamous 80 seconds. After all that was accomplished this season, the only way I think it could have been any worse is if it was at the hands of a hated rival.
And so the 2008-09 season has officially ended for the New Jersey Devils. Not with a celebration. Not with a reason to smile. But with a shocking ending to a hard-fought, ultimately even (it did go to 7 games, those some talk as if it didn't) series. The choice was death or glory, and the season is now lying in the dirt.
As is customary with these monthly reviews is to pick a Devil of the Month. The one New Jersey Devil who stood out for the whole month with their impressive play.
Given the recent first round loss, it's tempting to pick no one. It's even more tempting when no one made truly made this month their own. I've come to a decision of sorts, though. Other than that it definitely is not a defenseman.
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March 2009 in Review
by John Fischer on Mar 31, 2009 10:17 PM EDT
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Thankfully, the month is over and fortunately, the season isn't over just yet. Because this one ended with a steep drop in results, a 5 game winless streak, and a monthly record of 7-6-1. All of this after starting the month at 6-1-0!
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February 2009 in Review
by John Fischer on Mar 1, 2009 9:00 PM EST
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February is the shortest month of the year, but it was one of the busiest for the Devils with 12 games in 28 days. As far as a month goes, it's pretty complete. It featured some highs, some lows, all kinds of wins and losses, and some big news. Ultimately, the Devils came out of the month very well with an 8-4 record and retaining first place in the Atlantic Division.
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