The New Jersey Devils (21-6-2) fell 4-1 to the Dallas Stars (17-8-5) at the Prudential Center on Tuesday night. The night began with several lineup changes for the Devils with Kevin Bahl and Andreas Johnsson taking the place of Brendan Smith and Alexander Holtz. With the loss, New Jersey sits on a three-game losing streak, its longest of the season.
Game Summary
First Period
It was a very quiet first period as the Devils and Stars felt each other out in the opening frame. Neither team generated much in terms of quality scoring chances.
The first real opportunity came when Dallas went to the power play eight minutes in after Michael McLeod was called for kneeing. However, the Devils stifled the league’s best road powerplay, holding the Stars without a shot on net and hardly allowing Dallas to get set up in the offensive zone.
After the kill, the Devils began tilting the ice in their favor. When it was all said and done, shots were 6-5 New Jersey with the Devils owning a 58.06 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 52.63 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five.
Second Period
The second period was far more eventful than the first, and the Devils came out flying. New Jersey outshot Dallas 9-1 in the first five minutes, with Erik Haula having the best look.
Dallas took some control after the opening salvo. Leading scorer Jason Robertson had a yawning cage, but Akira Schmid dove across to make a huge glove save.
Shortly after, though, the Stars would open the scoring. After Miles Wood failed to clear the puck, Ty Dellandrea deflected a Ryan Suter shot past a helpless Akira Schmid six minutes into the middle period.
However, Wood redeemed himself just two minutes later, deflecting home a Kevin Bahl shot, tying the game at one with 12 minutes left in the period. After the goal, though, Dallas once again surged, but Schmid was again up to the challenge. He stopped Luke Glendening on a breakaway before smothering the rebound attempt from Joel Kiviranta.
Then, late-period execution cost the Devils yet again. Miro Heiskanen fired a shot off the crossbar with under two seconds left, and Roope Hintz poked home the rebound.
After two, Dallas led 2-1. In the second period, shots were 20-15 Devils while NJ posted a 50.00 CF% and 50.41 xGF% at five-on-five.
Third Period
The beginning of the third period resembled the first far more than the second with Dallas trying to protect a one-goal lead.
The Devils controlled most of the frame, as expected. Though, thanks in large part to quick rushes the other way, Dallas had several high-danger chances.
During the frame, Tomas Tatar was high-sticked by Mason Marchment, and the Devils went back to the power play with just under eight minutes left. On the man-advantage, New Jersey managed just one shot, but it nearly resulted in a goal. Tatar drove the net hard and Wedgewood attempted to freeze the puck. Just after the whistle blew, the puck squirted free to Erik Haula who put the puck in the net, but it was waved off.
From there, the Devils struggled to get anything set up in the offensive zone. Eventually they managed to get Schmid to the bench with 2:20 remaining. However, New Jersey still struggled to get anything set up.
Esa Lindell ended up clearing a rebound the length of the ice and into the empty net with 1:09 to go, giving Dallas a 3-1 lead. Mason Marchment added another empty netter, giving the Stars a 4-1 win.
In the third period, shots were 12-10 Dallas. At five-on-five, the Devils had a 56.25 CF% and a 42.95 xGF%.
Wrap-Up
For the game, shots were 36-32 New Jersey. At five-on-five, the Devils had a 54.05 CF% and a 48.34 xGF%.
In the loss for New Jersey, Akira Schmid played relatively well. He stopped 28 of 30 shots faced, saving 0.87 goals above expected. Miles Wood scored the only goal of the night with Bahl and Sharangovich picking up assists.
As for Dallas, Scott Wedgewood was tremendous. The former Devil saved 35 of 36 shots faced, preventing an astounding 2.53 goals above expected to earn the win.
Four different Stars scored goals and four more added assists. Roope Hintz scored the game-winner with Heiskanen and Robertson getting the assists. No player had a multi-point night.
Game Notes
Top Line Struggles
For a rare time this season, Nico Hischier’s line struggled at even-strength. For most of the night, Hischier centered Tomas Tatar and Jesper Bratt, and the trio was on the back foot all night. Together, the line registered a 48.28 CF% and a miserable 28.33 xGF%. Scoring chances were 9-3 in favor of Dallas with that line on the ice.
Hischier and Tatar saw slightly more success late in the game with Fabian Zetterlund when head coach Lindy Ruff jumbled the lines with the Devils chasing an equalizer. That trio had a 57.14% CF% and a 93.01% xGF% in just two minutes of even strength ice time.
Despite that, it was a quiet night for the Captain for a rare time this season.
New-Look Fourth Line Underwhelms
With Andreas Johnsson making his season-debut after replacing Alex Holtz in the lineup, head coach Lindy Ruff shook up the fourth line. Johnsson spent most of the night playing with fellow Swedes Jesper Boqvist and Fabian Zetterlund. However, the fourth line managed just a 40.00 CF% and a 32.32 xGF% in five even strength minutes.
Equally concerning is that the Devils entered the game preaching the necessity of getting a balanced attack going by rolling all four lines. At the end of the night, Johnsson played just 5:51 in all situations with Boqvist playing just 7:52. It was a similar story on Monday against the Rangers, and clearly, the Devils still need to find some consistency on that fourth line.
Kevin Bahl
Kevin Bahl also returned to the Devils lineup on Tuesday, and played quite well. The 22-year-old defenseman logged 15:00 of ice time with a 59.26 CF% and a 61.04 xGF%. He also pitched in with an assist on the only goal of the night when Miles Wood deflected his point shot home.
Despite the loss, Bahl deserves to remain in the lineup moving forward. In an admittedly small sample size of just five games, the 2018 second-round pick has played well when given the opportunity. At five-on-five, Bahl is fifth on the Devils with a 60.00 CF% and he leads the team with a 77.77 xGF%.
More Backbreaking Ends to Periods
Excluding tonight’s empty netters, the Roope Hintz goal with under five seconds to go in the second period means that the Devils have now allowed four goals in the final minutes of periods in six games in December. That does not even include the goal allowed with 1:35 to go in the first against the Rangers on Monday.
In the three December games that the Devils have conceded a final minute goal, they are 0-2-1. In all other December contests, the Devils are 2-0-1.
While correlation of course does not imply causation, and allowing goals is bad no matter what the clock reads, New Jersey is making a bad habit of allowing late goals. Quite simply, this trend has to stop.
What’s Next
The Devils continue a three-game homestand on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET at the Prudential Center. MSGSN will broadcast the game.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.