Here are my quick hits following the Devils’ 3-0 L vs. STL, heading into this afternoon’s game in DET:
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday yesterday and are now pumped to get right back in action with some afternoon Devils hockey today on MSGSN!
The STL game is one that you just have to move on from. The calls didn’t go your way, you ran into a hot goaltender, and you were chasing this game right from the opening puck drop. For me, the only real tangible lesson that you take with you and don’t throw away from this loss is that you can’t keep chasing games. STL’s 1-0 goal 9 seconds into this game was the fastest goal against to start a home game in team history, and the Devils have now found themselves conceding the first goal in four consecutive games, AND all of which have come in the first period. Yes, they had won the first three of those four games mentioned, but very rarely are you going to be able to come back from a 3-goal deficit like you had in this game, especially against a team as prepared as STL was to bunker down once they got the lead. I give HC Jim Montgomery a ton of credit for getting his team to buy into tracking back, clogging up the NZ, and ultimately taking away the Devils’ rush game. Despite the Devils’ surge in the second and third periods, STL did a tremendous job, especially in their commitment to sitting back in their 1-2-2 NZ Forecheck, which disrupted the Devils’ breakout and forced them to have to come through layers for the final 40 minutes of the game.
Learn From it
Going back to Oct. 24, that being the first time the Devils visited Detroit this season, you may remember that the Devils were in control and playing with the lead for the first 18-or-so minutes of the game, until all of a sudden, a turnover with less than two minutes to go in the first led to a momentum-changing goal in favor of DET. This moment completely turned the game upside down. Another quick Goal AG ensued 25 seconds later to give DET the lead heading into the 1st intermission, and the Devils found themselves scratching and clawing to get points out of this game.
Even though the Devils would eventually come back and tie this game on two separate occasions (2-2 & 3-3), the goaltending and the penalty kill ultimately let them down and caused them to head back to Jersey for the second half of their back-to-back without any points. In order to avoid a repeat story of that this afternoon, you have to be able to come out, get the first goal (against a team that has conceded first in 7 of their last 10 GP), and then learn from the mistakes you made in the first game by managing that lead better than you did the first time you came to this building.
Strong D Pairings
Before closing out this article, I want to quickly highlight the fact that we’ll be watching arguably 3 of the top 10 best defensive pairings in the league go to work in today’s game. As much as I have been enjoying watching the defensive play of the Siegenthaler/Kovacevic & Luke/Pesce pairings for the Devils from ice level this season, I’m equally impressed with how strong the young Seider - Edvinsson pairing has been this season, which, the Devils (hopefully won’t!) have their hands full with this afternoon. For me, the fact alone that this Edvinsson - Seider pairing is composed of a 21-year-old and a 23-year-old makes their defensive acumen so remarkable. When you then combine that with the fact they’re facing the toughest competition together each night... wow, Steve Yzerman really has something special brewing here in these two guys! Like I said, though, hopefully, this serves as a subtle jinx for them and we see some of their ranks below fall a little tonight ;)
In our pregame show this afternoon, Rachel and I will further recap the STL game and preview some keys to getting back in the W column tonight vs. DET. Be sure to tune in at 2:30 p.m.!
Let’s Go Devils!
-Sal
Here are some graphics from Wednesday night's broadcast!