The New Jersey Devils (8-8-1) were shut out 4-0 by the Detroit Red Wings (9-6-3) on Wednesday night. This was the first time in 101 games that the Devils were shut out, with the last occurrence also coming against the Red Wings on April 24, 2022. With the loss, the Devils have now lost five of six and sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division on Thanksgiving.
Game Summary
First Period
It was a sluggish start for New Jersey with Detroit getting most of the early chances. Many of those chances stemmed from sloppy play around the net in the defensive zone for New Jersey. Vitek Vanecek made several early saves to keep it scoreless.
The Red Wings then had an early power play after the Devils were called for too many men on the ice. Detroit had nearly two minutes of zone time and several good looks, but could not score.
However, after the penalty kill, the Devils grew into the contest. New Jersey had the better of play for nearly a ten minute stretch, although Alex Lyon was never overly tested in the Detroit net.
Things changed with just over three minutes to go in the period, though. After a brutal giveaway in the neutral zone, Lucas Raymond led a two-on-one with Robby Fabbri. The pair connected on a give-and-go and Raymond hit the yawning cage, opening the scoring.
Just 20 seconds later, the Red Wings doubled their lead. A Jack Hughes breakout pass hit the skates of Curtis Lazar and found its way to Dylan Larkin in front of the net. He slid a backhander five-hole past Vanecek to make it 2-0 Detroit.
Things got even worse for the Devils before the end of the frame when Robby Fabbri buried a rebound off a shot blocked by Jonas Siegenthaler. Detroit’s third goal in 1:12 came from another piece of sloppy neutral zone play from New Jersey leading to an odd-man rush against.
After one, it was 3-0 Detroit with shots 10-7 in favor of the Red Wings. The Devils posted a 55.88 Corsi-for percentage (CF%), but just a 34.31 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five.
Second Period
Vitek Vanecek remained in net in the second period after the brutal close to the first, but the Devils’ play did not get much better.
New Jersey was able to close the floodgates and limit the Detroit chances early, but still did little to test Alex Lyon on the other end.
Eventually, the Red Wings began to pressure the Devils’ net, and after Vanecek made a nice save on an odd-man rush, Kevin Bahl cleared the puck over the boards for a delay of game minor.
On the ensuing power play, the Devils’ penalty kill started strong, but with two seconds left on the kill, a Moritz Seider shot from the point appeared to deflect off Colin Miller and past Vanecek, making it 4-0 Red Wings with 11 minutes to go in the period.
The rest of the frame was relatively uneventful. New Jersey had a late power play, but could hardly get set up in the zone and created very little.
In the second, shots were 11-7 Detroit while the Devils posted a 57.14 CF% and a 61.27 xGF% at five-on-five.
Third Period
In the third, the effort seemed to disappear from the New Jersey point of view. In the final frame, the Devils mustered just two shots on net in a futile attempt to avoid being shut out.
Both teams went scoreless on a third period power play and Detroit was more than happy to let the clock tick away.
When the final buzzer sounded, it was 4-0 Red Wings. In the third, shots were 7-2 Detroit.
Wrap-Up
It was a miserable night for the Devils’ offense. They were shut out for the first time in over a season and generated just 1.26 expected goals-for at five-on-five.
For the game, the Devils were outshot 28-16 and had a 53.85 CF% and a 47.49 xGF% at five-on-five.
Vitek Vanecek allowed 2.15 goals above expected in the loss, making 24 saves.
For Detroit, Alex Lyon recorded his second career shutout, stopping all 16 shots faced and denying 1.54 goals above expected.
Game Notes
Dawson Mercer Struggled
Dawson Mercer was certainly not the only Devil to have a tough night, but the advanced metrics paint a particularly ugly picture for his game. At five-on-five, Mercer was on the ice for 0.0 expected goals-for, per Natural Stat Trick.
Mercer also logged a team-worst 12.50 CF% and had a 7-1 disadvantage in scoring chances when on the ice.
Rough Night For Colin Miller
With the Devils playing 11 forwards and seven defensemen, the defensive pairs were a bit jumbled as one would expect. Unfortunately for Colin Miller, he appeared to be the odd man out on Wednesday.
His 28.57 CF% at five-on-five was second-worst to only Dawson Mercer and he was the only defenseman below 50%. Miller also posted the lowest xGF% among Devils’ defensemen with 25.90. Miller played just 9:54 at five-on-five. Only Max Willman played less.
McLeod and Bastian Bright Spots
One of the few positives from this game was the play of Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian. The pair of fourth liners played with a variety of linemates due to the 11 forwards lineup, but both played well.
The pair both posted an xGF% above 70.00 and were the only Devils’ skaters to do so at five-on-five. Both were also tied for the team lead with three high-danger chances created while on the ice.
Toffoli-Hughes-Bratt Reunited
After the first period, Lindy Ruff jumbled the lines and in the second period, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Tyler Toffoli were on a line together. The trio had clicked wonderfully in the pre-season and have been dynamite on the first power play unit, although they have not played together much at five-on-five since very early in the year.
On Wednesday, the trio played a very brief 4:07 together at five-on-five, but played relatively well. They posted a 76.92 CF%, a 81.75 xGF%, and had a 7-1 edge in scoring chances in that timeframe.
It will be interesting to see if Lindy Ruff keeps this line together moving forward, especially with Nico Hischier nearing a return.
What’s Next
The Devils return home to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Black Friday. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET on MSGSN.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick