Far and away, that was the strangest New Jersey Devils game, let alone a hockey game, that many have ever witnessed.
The Devils didn’t play well enough against the Carolina Hurricanes to win, but they kept it close the entire time. Clearly, two costly mistakes put them in a position they otherwise wouldn’t have been in. And the most frustrating part of it all was that the Hurricanes didn’t even have their best game. Sunday night was a night when the Devils could have finally stuck it to their rival. However, they found another way to lose.
And that still wasn’t the strangest thing to happen on Sunday.
We’ll talk about the mistakes made by Luke Hughes in the observations, but the 22-year-old defenseman heard it from Devils fans.
After he made two costly mistakes, the boo-birds rang down upwards of 17 times whenever Luke touched the puck.
He was CLEARLY dejected, and you can see Luke’s reaction to his mistakes and the boos on the Devils Rink Report YouTube page.
As many others did in the New Jersey locker room, Jake Allen stood up for his teammate:
“Listen, I’m a goalie,” Allen started. “I’m the one that always gets the bad end of the stick when I make mistakes. I’ve made so many mistakes to even count. I’ve had fans boo me. Listen, I don’t think he deserved it. He’s a kid that made two mistakes in a hockey game. Whoever doesn’t make mistakes, I’d love to meet you. It’s a tough situation for him in a game like that, probably something he’s never felt before. Listen, he was not trying to do that. He’s a great kid that is playing a game that’s made of mistakes. And, you know, I just want to pat him on the back and get back to it on Tuesday here. I was really hoping he was going to get a goal for his own sake, just for confidence, win or loss, just to get him back in the right spirits. But he’s a mature kid, and he’ll handle it well.”
Let’s get to the observations.
10 Observations
- Okay, so, like I said. That was Luke Hughes worst game of the season. He could not get out of his own way, and much like the rest of the Devils, he folded under the pressure of the Hurricanes’ forecheck. The first one, that happens. He tapped the loose puck into his own net, trying to clear it from the crease. Many great defensemen in the NHL have done it before, and they’ll to do it again. It’s the second one that’s troubling, but—as Allen said—he’ll learn from it. Luke skated the puck through his own crease and Taylor Hall poked it off his stick and in the goal. He just has to clean up his situational awareness, and certainly use the boards next time to clear the puck from danger. It’s a lesson to learn, and a tough one no less. But, I’m still a believer in Luke Hughes as a great defenseman in this league. It’s his third year. Let’s not put carts before the horse here.
- Now, look. The own goal was tough, but the Devils as a team got off to a pretty bad start. They were hemmed in their own end of the ice from puck drop, they couldn’t clear pucks from danger, the early goal was a tough pill to swallow, and then they didn’t make it any easier on themselves when Dawson Mercer went to the box 2:38 into the first period. It was about as bad a start as possible, and that’s not completely on Luke.
- One thing was abundantly clear. The Hurricanes’ speed outpaced the Devils through the first 40 minutes. In the third period, the Devils finally let it fly, but Carolina controlled the pace of play through the first two periods.
- The Devils’ biggest challenge with the Hurricanes has always been, and will continue to be, their forecheck. All night, the Devils struggled to get it past the red line, let alone cross pucks over the Carolina blue line. Here’s what Sheldon Keefe told me when I asked him if their biggest challenge against the Hurricanes is their forecheck:
- “Yeah, forecheck pressure, just pressure in general,” Keefe said. “You have to make a lot of plays to find your way through that, or you have to win a lot of battles. We didn’t make enough plays and didn’t win enough battles… We could have been way better on our power play, but again, there was a lot of pressure on their penalty kill that we didn’t handle well.”
- The Devils’ first goal, which was scored by Dawson Mercer, was completely on the shoulders of Arseny Gritsyuk. Not only did he successfully enter the zone with the puck on his stick twice in one shift, but the second entry was what led to the Devils’ only goal. Gritsyuk entered the Hurricanes’ zone, got a shot on net, followed his own rebound, collected the puck, and from below the goal line, found Mercer in the slot on his backhand. I mean, what an incredible sequence for a rookie to be making. Gritsyuk is such a thorough player. He does almost everything really well, doesn’t take shortcuts, and that’s what makes him so effective. He’s got a real good future in this league.
- By the way, Mercer’s goal snaps a 16-game goalless streak. That’s significant because he’s tied with Jack Hughes for the second-most on the team with 11. Timo Meier and Nico Hischier are tied for first with 12. This team needs to score more goals.
- Let’s talk about Jake Allen, who will have worse numbers tonight than he should have. He deserved a win. He made some incredible saves on Sunday, most notably against Eric Robinson in the first when he basically made a barrel-rolling glove save on the forward cutting to the net with the puck. Tough loss for the veteran goalie, who certainly deserved a more fortunate outcome.
- And I say that because the Devils didn’t make it an easy night for Allen. He often had to fight his way through traffic, and locate loose pucks in the paint. The Devils struggled with rebounds in high-danger area’s tonight.
- Like I said earlier, the Hurricanes didn’t have their best game. It was an odd tilt where they controlled the pace of play, but oddly enough, when the Devils did finally get their own touches, they created legitimate scoring chances.
- Special teams, the power play was awful. Again, too conservative. Too many passes, always trying to make the perfect play. If you’re not shooting, you’re not trying. Brandon Bussi did NOT look settled at all in the crease. A bit more pressure by the Devils, and they probably see another puck or two fall. On the penalty kill side, they were good. 3/3 is something to be proud of. However, they should probably only have had two kills. The Dougie Hamilton interference was not an interference. The puck was in the vicinity of Jackson Blake, and he was clearing a body from the crease. FINALLY, something we want to see Hamilton do, and he’s whistled for it. Frustrating.
- Speaking of frustrating, Jack is far too lackadaisical with the puck on his stick when transitioning the puck on the power play. And when his pure skill finds him success, he’s trying to be too cute with the puck and turning it over, especially during zone entries. That has to be better.
Honorable Mention
- Mark Jankowski took an early shot to the face that quickly saw him leak blood. He ran to the locker room right away, got stitched up, and came back to the game. Hockey players, man. Different breed.
