The New Jersey Devils sit atop the throne of the NHL as of Wednesday night. It’s still early, but the Devils are a wagon.
New Jersey won their sixth game in a row against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. It was their second victory in as many nights, successfully converting in their first back-to-back situation of the season.
READ MORE: Devils Rookie Nets First NHL Goal; Daws Downs Wild; Win Sixth Straight
Head coach Sheldon Keefe has been adamant that although he sees the growth happening before him, New Jersey could still sharpen a few areas of their game.
Wednesday night’s performance was another step in that direction, as the poise and confidence continue to build.
Let’s dive into the takeaways from Wednesday night’s 4-1 victory over the Wild.
Different Guys
Typically, it’s been Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, and the Devils’ top stars revving New Jersey’s engine amid this impressive streak of wins.
However, against the Wild, the depth presented itself in the form of Paul Cotter, Brenden Dillon, and Arseny Gritsyuk.
The Devils’ top players created plenty and hemmed the Wild defense in their own end often. Yet, it was the role players who got the Devils on the board, sans an empty-net goal from Jesper Bratt.
The most impressive thing about Wednesday’s win over the Wild was New Jersey’s ability to come out firing on the second leg of a back-to-back, but also they received contributions throughout the lineup when the top guys couldn’t find the scoresheet.
It was even apparent in goal. The Devils are running a tandem of Jake Allen and Nico Daws right now amid Jacob Markstrom’s absence.
After a strong performance from Allen on Tuesday, Daws turned one in equally strong Wednesday night.
It’s incredibly impressive to see the Devils winning in different ways each night, especially when Keefe’s had to make tweaks and put them in different positions.
“From Daws coming in, [then] we had to shuffle the lines today with [Cody] Glass being out,” Keefe explained. “I thought the [Dawson] Mercer line was excellent. To see Cotter get on the board. Gritsyuk, I thought, did a really nice job with up with Nico [Hischier’s] group. We started that second power play, and then he scored, Gritsyuk fires one in. Lots of really good things happened in the game. It’s different guys. That’s what you like, right? Jack’s been really rolling for us and all that. But today, not as much in terms of the offense, and it comes from different places. So lots of good things here today.”
A Complete Hockey Player
With Glass missing from the game and the need for Mercer to move from the second line to 3C, Gritsyuk was elevated by the Devils’ head coach and relished in the opportunity.
Gritsyuk’s risen to the occasion plenty of times thus far. Starting on the fourth line, he collected three assists in his first three games, showcasing his ability as a distributor. However, he equally impressed with his work away from the puck, such as pressuring Leon Draisaitl on a back-check, and forcing a turnover against the Edmonton Oilers star.
On Wednesday, he netted his first NHL goal. Gritsyuk has been a revelation for the Devils. He provides the necessary depth, but has the offensive upside to slide up the lineup when the Devils need him. And they did against Minnesota.
Devils fans have enjoyed everything about the Russian winger, from his performances to his Telegram posts. Keefe shared he’s liked just about everything, too.
“He did a tremendous job. And it comes off of the two previous games,” Keefe explained. “His line, [against Edmonton], was with Glass and Connor Brown. They went head-to-head against Draisaitl. I thought Gritsyuk did a really nice job. Then yesterday in Toronto, it ends up being against the [William] Nylander group a lot. And to me, he’s handled it very well.
“This is a guy, first he comes over here, he’s built up as a big scorer and shooter and all of that. And then he shows his passing side, the more time that passes here, like, this is just a complete hockey player. He’s sound defensively, works hard, he’s strong, he’s good in possession, smart makes really good reads. So, he’s a really good and useful player for us, and on a day like today, you can elevate him. But, he’s brought a lot to our lower lines and just the same. So, great to see him get rewarded scoring the goal and all that feels really good, but he’s got a real nice foundation to his game that brings great value to our team.”
Adjustments
This is what good coaching can do.
We talk a lot this year about the maturity of the Devils, but the once naive core needed guidance.
Keefe’s demand of his team has been beneficial for the Devils in terms of their maturation. No longer are they continually banging their heads against a wall when their go-to bag of tricks aren’t working on the opposition. Instead, they’re adjusting their structure as games progress, which is something we haven’t seen before.
In the first period on Wednesday, the Devils started strong. However, when the Wild finally took hold of the puck, they forced a handful of odd-man rushes that had the Devils a bit on their heels.
Not only were the Devils able to retrieve the puck and bring play back to the other end of the ice, but they were able to nip those mistakes in the bud early, and didn’t let it impact them for the rest of the night.
Again, that’s a maturity we haven’t seen from this Devils team, until now.
“Yeah, I think it’s been great,” Keefe said of the Devils’ play away from the puck. “Our pressure on the puck up in the zone, or a deep in the offensive zone, and then our recoveries, whether it’s to recover to win the puck back and then get it back, or to stay on offense, or just to make it hard for them coming through the neutral zone. We gave up those two odd man rushes late in the first period that really bothered me. We showed them to the team and went through it in the first intermission. We’re not going to have any more of that. I just thought there was a commitment to it, and that’s been real key.”
In front of their fans, the Devils are going to win a ton of games playing this way. However, this is the kind of structure and commitment New Jersey needs to play spoiler on the road as well, no matter the circumstances.
“We’ve done it on the road, we’ve done it at home, and we’ve done it on the back-to-back. Now we’ve had three different goaltenders, lots of different things are happening. We mixed the lines up today, Mercer plays center, all that stuff hasn’t phased us. The guys have just stayed with it.”
