Thanks to all of you great fans back on the East Coast, who plan on staying up late with us tonight as we get set for an 8:30 p.m. pregame show here in Calgary. I hope the Devils can make the late night worth it by starting off this road trip with a W, because the CAR game was not good enough. I'll get to that shortly!
THE HILL IS GETTING STEEPER TO CLIMB
Following up on this section of my last article, it was extremely disappointing to watch the Devils fail to get the job done in such an important opportunity against CAR – similar to just a couple of weeks ago – to extend their win streak to three before heading on the road.
Now, instead of making up ground in the Metro race and building some currency going into Western Canada — PHI, NYI, and WSH lost in regulation, while PIT & CBJ split 3 PTS — the Devils find themselves needing to essentially play perfect hockey before the Olympics in order to have a chance at sitting in a playoff spot.
LENNI DEBUT
I’m excited to see Lenni Hameenaho make his NHL debut tonight and, hopefully, earn a few games during this road trip by proving that his game translates to the NHL.
I like that Sheldon is giving him the best opportunity to show what he can do at this level by putting him on a strong line tonight with Glasser & Grits. Just go out there and have fun with it!
SAME STORY FOR SWEET CAROLINE
Revisiting Saturday’s game vs. CAR, the Devils can’t afford to keep leaving points on the table, just as they did again in this one. When you look at the flow of that game, the Devils should have walked away with at least a point. But it’s the same story as last time with how things played out, as the Devils shot themselves in the foot after failing to capitalize on being the better team for the first 30 minutes.
1st PERIOD
Starting in the first period, you had a PP two minutes into the game, which had no flow whatsoever and couldn’t get you an early lead, but it did carry into the next shift. About 30 seconds after their inept PP expired, Jack Hughes had a full-out breakaway that he failed to convert on. In the end, you let the Canes hang around because you don’t find a way to have a lead going into the first intermission, despite blitzing them 10-4 in shots. That was Carolina’s lowest shot total of any first period this season…
2nd PERIOD
So now, going into the second period, you gotta be thinking about the fact that the Devils had two days of rest, are riding high off two impressive wins, and on the other side, Carolina is on the second half of a back-to-back after having to travel from Raleigh. After a dominant first 20 min from the Devils, I was thinking they were going to take over this game in the second period. But as we all know, that was not the case. The experienced, veteran Hurricanes found their groove and momentum after killing off the Devils’ second dismal PP of the game. This is when the Canes got to their forecheck going, and midway through the second period, started to smother the Devils to the point where the Devils could no longer break out of their own end consistently. Before you could blink, it’s Carolina scoring two quick goals within a minute, and quite frankly, it felt like the game was over at that point. Two more self-inflicted goals were handed to Carolina, on top of the three you gifted them in the last meeting. Yes, you needed Marky to have both of those goals, but the Devils should have scored at least one themselves prior to these two goals AG.
3rd PERIOD
But wait, 4-and-a-half minutes into the third period, the Devils get another PP opportunity, and they score off one of the most bizarre shots from the point. Tim Meier off a second effort, wrists the puck ON THE ICE, and Freddie Anderson fails to see it with no NJD screen and only one CAR D in front of him. It goes five-hole, and at this point, you are thinking the CAR 26-straight-PK curse is finally over, and the tides are turning for the Devils!!
Nope… The Devils end up conceding two more in the 3rd to ice the game, lose in regulation, and now have a deflated posture to start this four-game road trip.
FIRST GAME POST-ANDERSSON/WHITECLOUD TRADE
As expected, and as Fitzy alluded to in his presser last week, teams are starting to get very busy with trades before the Olympic break, and this Rasmus Andersson trade yesterday was a prime example of that. The last thing a selling GM wants is have a player they're looking to trade go to the Olympics and get injured (In this case, Andersson playing for Sweden). Buyers, on the flip side, are happy to get a deal done early to get their new guys acclimated and make an impact sooner rather than later, especially this season with how tight the standings are.
My former teammate, CGY GM Craig Conroy, did an excellent job with this trade. To get multiple high picks, a prospect, and a Stanley-Cup-Champion shutdown D in Zach Whitecloud in return for Andersson was outstanding. Hopefully, the timing of this trade becomes beneficial for the Devils, and they take advantage of a few “adjustment period” lapses from Whitecloud tonight in his CGY debut, paired with Big Bahler on the backend!
BLAZIN' HOT GOALTENDING
With CGY conceding a volume of both shots and slot shots at a top-10 highest rate, this tandem’s slot and overall save percentages are outstanding and have saved this team from being a complete disaster. Look at the Goals Saved Above Expected — Top 3. Once this team starts to get some more pieces in front of these two young goalies (and stop getting snakebitten offensively like the Devils!), Calgary is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Be sure to join Rachel and me for our pregame show tonight as we get you set for Lenni's NHL debut and break down this critical road trip for the Devils. Need 3 of the 4 wins... MINIMUM!!! LGD!
-Sal
