Introduction
The New Jersey Devils have lost their sixth straight game in regulation, with their most recent defeat coming at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Overall, the team played ok and were successfully able to shut down Sidney Crosby. Unfortunately, they just were completely shut down themselves by a stifling Penguins defense. Goaltender Jon Gillies made his first start as a Devil against Penguins netminder Tristian Jarry.
Recap
First Period
The first period was fairly quiet with only 9 total shots between the two teams. The Devils had a good looking power play early on. They then got another one where they let up a shorthanded goal. Teddy Blueger picked off a Jack Hughes pass before making a nice move to beat Gillies.
Second Period
The middle frame started out with a Pens goal as Danton Heinen ripped one past Gillies to make it 2-0. However, less than a minute later a Ty Smith wrister was deflected by Janne Kuokkanen to make it a one goal game again at 2-1. It was another slow period as the two teams only combined for 25 shots after the second frame. Gillies and Jarry made the few saves they had to for the most part and it was a one goal game after two periods.
Third Period
The third period started out with a lot of pressure from the Penguins. The Devils didn’t even get a shot off until almost seven minutes into the period. They got a few chances following that, however the Penguins caught the Devils at the end of a shift in their own end. Kuokkanen made a poor play trying to clear the puck and it resulted in a Penguins goal as Mike Matheson took a shot with an uncontested screen in front of Gillies that went in. The Devils got one back on the power play shortly after as Bastian tipped a Hamilton shot from the point. The team pulled Gillies with about two minutes left to no avail, as a couple chances by Hughes and Johnsson weren’t good enough. The Penguins win their eighth in a row and the Devils lose their sixth in a row.
Notes
- Time should be up for Lindy Ruff. The team has only won one game in the entire month of December. They’re not just losing, but getting blown out by not very good teams and just aren’t playing smart and clean hockey. There have been two teams to relieve their head coaches this season: the Vancouver Canucks and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Canucks are 6-0 since letting go of Travis Green and the Flyers are 4-1-1 since replacing Alain Vigneault with Mike Yeo. I think you can see the pattern there.
- The Devils have not played well recently, but at least Ty Smith has somewhat recovered from his abysmal start. He now has eight points in 25 games, which isn’t great, but his corsi-for percentage (CF%) is approaching 50% now when it was a lot closer to 40 earlier this season. Overall, he’s just been playing a lot better and with more confidence at both ends of the ice.
All statistics are via. naturalstattrick.