Hey, everyone. Let's get after it...
TERRIBLE LOSS
It was another head-scratching effort and loss from the Devils on Thursday. Coming off three days' rest, this was a scheduled win for the Devils, as, with all due respect to CGY, they are a team towards the bottom of the league that was in their third game in four nights, had been outscored 11-3 in their previous two games, and just sold off some of their best players at the deadline. For the Devils to struggle to match the pride and intensity of the Flames was flat-out painful to watch, and, quite frankly, very surprising to me, considering the Devils dominated all four non-playoff teams that came into the Rock last week. I hope we see a much better effort tonight vs. LAK.
NEED MORE FROM THE CORE FOUR
Thinking bigger picture about the season, the one anomaly that I still can’t wrap my head around is the fact that Jack, Jesper, Nico, and Timo (the “Core Four”) are ALL on pace to have down years. Typically, you would only have one or two of your star players fighting things at the same time in the same season. But to have all four of your studs in a funk simultaneously for most of the season is a new one for me. This season just can’t end quickly enough for the Devils…
PLAY FOR JAKE
Finally, after 35 days and 7 games between starts, Jaker will be back between the pipes tonight. It’s been a tough calendar year so far for Jake, as he’s 1-7-0 in his first 8 starts of 2026 and has not won a game since Jan. 27 (…plus, he has not won at home since Dec. 13!).
However, looking back on those seven losses, the fact that the Devils have only scored one goal in five of them, and conceded first in all seven, tells me that the team has not done a nearly good enough job supporting him. (And yes, the lack of goal support has been an issue all season and with Marky, too, not just Jake. The Devils have only scored one goal or fewer in 22 games, tied with CGY for the worst of any team, and have been shutout 7 times, second-most to only NYR).
This is an LAK team that is starting on time and dominating first periods since their coaching change — look no further than their 3-0 lead in the first period of last night’s game vs. NYI — so the Devils will need to be MUCH sharper mentally tonight right from the onset to weather the storm and ultimately get Jake some run support. You can’t be giving up 2on1s five minutes in again!!
TALKIN' TO NEMO TONIGHT
As Cory, Rachel, and I were saying last night, Nemo has to be having the quietest 10-goal season of any defenseman right now. Despite the fact that he’s missed 12 games due to injury, on top of being a healthy scratch twice in January, Nemo has consistently found ways to score big goals for this team and be one of the very few players having a career year. It has been impressive to watch, and I can’t wait to chat with him about it all during warmups on tonight’s pregame show!
Be sure to tune into our pregame show tonight as I will be joined by Alex Monaco between the benches for some Q&A after my interview with Nemo! I have no idea what to expect... 😂
-Sal
