Devils Postgame: Defense Implodes; Missing Saves; Stressed by Lightning in 8-5 Loss

NEWARK — One night after the Tampa Bay Lightning were bullied by the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bolts visited the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. The Maple Leafs chased goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy after nearly 30 minutes of play after he allowed four goals on 18 shots. Jonas Johansson relieved Vasilevskiy in the loss to the Maple Leafs, and then received the start in New Jersey the following night, his first of the season.

Yet, the Devils couldn’t take advantage of a team who played the night before and was deploying their backup goaltender, who played 30 minutes the night before.

The Lightning rang up Jake Allen and the Devils for eight goal by the end of the 60-minute contest. The kicker? The Devils scored five and still managed to lose.

Here’s how it happened.

Devils Recap

Through the first 10 minutes of the first period, neither the Devils nor Lightning could settle the puck on either end of the ice. Then, the Devils received a fortunate bounce in the neutral zone and Jesper Bratt sprung Jack Hughes for a breakaway to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead. After Timo Meier took a boarding penalty, the Bolts converted on the power play as Brayden Point tied the game with just over five minutes remaining in the first period.

The Devils got back on track to start the second period as Hughes found Meier in the slot and the Swiss forward scored for a 2-1 lead. Yet, Victor Hedman hit the equalizer, and Brandon Hagel completed a natural hat-trick to quickly turn the tide and take control of the game 6-2.

The Devils, again, showed a bit of fight. Nathan Bastian scored early in the third period and Meier deposited his second on the power play to cut the Lightning lead to two goals. Yet, the defensive lapses continued, allowing goals to Jake Guentzel and J.J. Moser. Stefan Noesen deposited a late power play goal, but it was too little too late.

Allen played the full 60 minutes, making 29 saves on 37 shots.

Takeaways

Quickly Deflated

The Devils and Lightning started the first period essentially even. Through the first 10 minutes of the game, both teams traded chances and neither side settled the puck in the offensive zone to create consecutive chances.

The Devils were suddenly up 1-0 when Jack Hughes converted on a breakaway. However, a boarding penalty by Timo Meier essentially sucked all the wind out of the Devils’ sails. The Lightning converted to tie the game at a goal each. Yet, the Lightning took over the remainder of the first period with about 10 minutes left to play.

In the second half of the opening frame, the Devils only registered one shot on net and struggled to contain the Lightning, which forced Jake Allen to make an uncomfortable amount of big saves to keep the game tied.

In fact, if it weren’t for Allen and the help of a post, the Lightning certainly would have left the first period with a lead.

Second Period Meltdown

Unfortunately for Allen and the players in front of him, it all went downhill from there.

It appeared as though the Devils might have gotten themselves back on track in the second period after a sloppy finish in the opening frame. Meier scored early to regain the Devils’ lead, however, Hedman hit the equalizer shortly after. On the Lightning captain’s goal, you tip your hat. It was a well-placed shot in a high-danger area.

However, what came next is something we’ve seen before this season.

READ: Devils Head Coach Expresses Feverish Concern About Home-Ice Performance

The defense melted down and allowed Hagel to convert on a natural hat-trick. The Devils’ play in their own zone was slippy, featuring missed coverages, lost puck battles, and little support for the Devils’ goaltender.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe has been vocal in criticizing his team’s effort at home before. Tuesday’s tilt warranted more of the same.

“I thought they stressed us today. When they had the puck, they made a ton of plays and really stressed us defending tonight. We were overwhelmed by that,” Keefe explained. “We were on our half of the ice too much and struggled with the breakouts. Just tired on our shifts. Then, we don’t get saves either. So that’s a bad combination.”

Lacking Response

The turning point of the game was most certainly when Erik Cernak laid a powerful hit on Devils forward Jesper Bratt. Cernak hit Bratt with a clean shoulder check that certainly warranted a response from someone, anyone on the Devils to at least make the Lightning defender answer for hitting one of New Jersey’s star players.

Yet, Ondrej Palat opted to pass on a response. Jack Hughes wasn’t going to choose Cernak as his opponent for his first NHL fight, and by the time Brenden Dillon could arrive on the scene, the referee’s had the situation under control. Regardless, there was plenty of time for someone to defend Bratt at the moment. When no one did, the Devils seemingly lost control of the game.

“Yeah, I mean obviously we know we’re a physical team too. We’ve got big guys,” Brenden Dillon explained. “At the point in time of the game, the puck goes the other way and the game is still going on. You could ask for a fight right after that, but if they say no, you gotta just keep playing hard and try to inflict the physicality on the next shift and try and make them react to you.”

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