Although there’s been a few blurs on his record, Cory Schneider numbers have steadily improved along with the Devils even-strength numbers (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

(All advanced stats are from Corsica Hockey unless specified otherwise)

One of the biggest problems for the Devils this season has been their play at even-strength. This was particularly pronounced from the middle of November and right through December. New Jersey was routinely getting caved in at even-strength; giving up numerous shots and bleeding scoring chances. The Devils poor play was a large reason why Cory Schneider was having the worst season of his career and the results were reflected in their record.

A deeper dive into their even-strength numbers will show how poor a stretch the Devils were in. From November 16th to December 31st, the Devils were the fourth worst possession team in the league at 45.6% and were averaging 47.5 shot attempts per 60 minutes to 56.7 shot attempts against per 60 minutes. They were also outshot 421-553 during this stretch and had the worst shots on goal +/- in the league at -132. As you might suspect, the Devils poor shot numbers led to a lot of goals against. They had a goal differential of -30 (30 goals for, 60 against), which was the worst in the league; even worse than Colorado’s. As you can see, the numbers were not pretty and show how bad things were for the Devils in that month and a half.

Since a 6-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on New Year’s Eve, the Devils have seen a bit of a turnaround in their even-strength numbers. At 45.4%, their possession is almost identical to what it was through New Year’s Eve and is actually the worst in the league since January 1st. However, they have seen improvements in other areas beyond possession. In January, they’ve been outshot 262-281 at 5v5, which is still not great, but far better from where they were previously. A big reason for being outshot in the month were their two games against the Edmonton Oilers. If you factor out those two games, the Devils would be outshooting their opponents 223-204, so progress has been made.

With New Jersey’s improved shot totals, they’ve also seen an improvement in their even-strength goal rates as well. In the month of January, they’ve outscored their opponents by 5 goals and their 14 goals against is the least given up by a team at even-strength this month. The team’s improvement at even-strength has shown up in Cory Schneider’s numbers, too. From November 16th to New Year’s Eve, he had a .882 save percentage . With one game remaining in the month, Schneider has posted a .931 save percentage with a .943 save percentage at even-strength (via Puckalytics) in 10 games played.

There have been a few bumps in the road, but overall, Schneider is playing much better than he was earlier in the season. It’s also no coincidence the Devils improvement at even-strength goes in hand with his improving numbers. If New Jersey can keep their shots against to a minimum, they should be in good shape going forward. If not, we’ve seen how ugly things can be and they could find themselves taking a step back after a month of what looked like solid progress on the defensive side of things. The last thing they need is taking a step back and having Schneider regress to where he was in November and December.

Even with the gradually steadying shot rates, the Devils still don’t generate a ton on offense. If they want to make some noise in the final half of the season, they’re going to need Schneider to play at the level he’s been playing at in January. That starts with the play in front of him and with Andy Greene set to return from injury in the near future, the Devils should be able to keep, at the very minimum, suppressing shots at the rate they’ve been the last month. With a win tomorrow night, they could finish January with a 7-5-2 record. Barring a miracle, New Jersey won’t be making the playoffs, but you’d like to see them continue to build off some of the improvements they’ve made in the last month. If not, they’ll find themselves right back were they were and will be left looking at what to do next.