New Jersey Devils
Power Play? Yeah, Even Devils are Upset
It’s been a struggle on the man advantage, and the New Jersey Devils know it. In fact, they’re not happy with their results.
The New Jersey Devils are 3-1-0 to start the 2024-25 regular season. Through the first four games, there’s been plenty of highs and lows. The Devils have certainly shown they can be a dangerous team thus far, however, have also shown they’re not without their inconsistencies. One of those issues comes on the power play, where the results have not been where the Devils want them to be.
The Devils (and the Buffalo Sabres) have played the most games in the NHL so far this season (four). As a result, they’re in a tie with the Montreal Canadiens for the most power play opportunities thus far, receiving 15 man advantages. Yet, the Devils have struggled to not only find the back of the net, but also create any such pressure at all on the opposing penalty kills. In fact, the Devils have converted on just two power plays for an NHL 25th-worst 13.3%.
Following Saturday’s victory over the Washington Capitals, in which the Devils went scoreless on four power play chances, head coach Sheldon Keefe explained it’s not the system, but the players who are not executing.
“It’s just the individuals. They need to make some plays,” Keefe said, displeased. “They have to find their way through pressure. We’ve got to give it some time. It’s not structure-based, it’s personnel-based. We got a lot of talent on that ice, those guys gotta find their way.”
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It’s hard to believe a power play unit consisting of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, and Dougie Hamilton are finding it difficult to convert. The Devils’ head coach even felt it necessary to favor his second unit as opposed to his star-studded unit late in the third period against Washington.
“We’ve got to be better on the power play. Obviously not happy with the way it went yesterday, but we won the game,” Timo Meier started. “We just gotta clean that up, because we know how important the special teams are. So, we need to keep talking, go over video, and practice it. We all know there’s much more to be had, and we can do much better than we’ve showed, so we keep working and analyzing the stuff that we did wrong. We have to be better at it.”
There certainly has been frustration on the ice. Following the Devils’ second unsuccessful power play on Saturday against the Capitals, Hughes visibly showed frustration, slamming his stick on New Jersey’s bench when his shift was over. It’s not like the Devils didn’t score on the man-advantage in consecutive games. However, with the plethora of chances they’ve received, the sheer volume of conversions has been quite low.
In short, they know there’s a more talent than what’s been led on.
Perhaps that’s actually not a bad thing. It could mean that once the Devils stars get going and the first unit begins clicking, the dam will have to break. But, for now, the Devils know they just need to make more simple plays and their talent will do the rest.
“You’ve got to be on the same page. There’s definitely a structure you have to keep. But if you work hard, and you are more crisp, that’s where the talent is going to take over,” Meier concluded. “That’s where you’re going to make plays if you’re disciplined in the job you have to do. You’re going to have the talent take over. So we just have to simplify and work. Then we’ll have the talent take over.”
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