Markstrom, Devils PK Mask Issue vs. Rangers, Sheldon Keefe Says

Although the score indicates the New Jersey Devils dominated rival New York Rangers in Monday evening’s 5-1 victory, head coach Sheldon Keefe won’t turn a blind eye to some issues within his team’s game.

Devils Takeaways: Shesterkin Soft, Markstrom Hot, New Guy Impresses in Win over NYR

There’s little to nothing by way of criticism when it comes to the Devils’ offense.

They possess elite talent who can score in a plethora of different ways. That was on full display last night as Jesper Bratt collected four points (1g, 3a) and Jack Hughes three points (2g, 1a). The Devils continued to hammer pucks home on the power play and at even strength, they exemplified how their speed and skill have a killer’s instinct with the puck on the end of their sticks.

On the other end of the ice, the Devils’ penalty kill was fantastic. Sure, Chris Kreider tapped in a goal on Markstrom’s doorstep, scoring the Rangers’ lone goal on their power play, which went 1/4. However, the Rangers likely could have had another goal or two that would have kept the game much closer than the four-goal difference by the end of 60 minutes.

Brett Pesce and Erik Haula, especially, were fantastic short a man, blocking multiple shots at their blue line, which certainly brought Devils fans out of their seats at Madison Square Garden.

And when the pucks did get through, Jacob Markstrom turned in his best performance of the season. In a matchup versus the Devils’ rival and an important Metropolitan Division tilt, the Swedish goaltender channeled the best version of himself, and it certainly showed. Markstrom ended Monday night making 3.4 saves above expected and stopped all seven high danger shots he saw during 5-on-5 and 12/13 in all situations.

So, what’s the problem?

The Devils’ head coach is always thorough and transparent. He rarely, if ever, shows complacency, and on Monday night that stance went unchanged.

Even in a 5-1 victory over the Rangers, Sheldon Keefe knows that although it was a better start than the previous seven games, there are improvements to be made.

“It was obviously much better, the way we started the game,” Keefe explained. “The guys took advantage of an opportunity to go ahead early, and Bratt made good on it. Great goal by [Dawson] Mercer as well to help us extend our lead. It really gave us control of the game. There’s a lot of things that I’d like us to do better throughout the game, but, you know, we got timely goals, good goals from guys at different key moments and like that.

“We defended a little bit too much for my liking tonight in terms of time spent without the puck, but the guys defended hard and blocked a number of shots here tonight.”

Credit the Devils’ defense and penalty killing for jumping in front of 27 pucks—to which Markstrom would remind his teammates he wears a lot more padded hockey gear than they do.

However, there’s an underlying issue which resulted in the Devils having to block so many shots.

The Devils have enough speed and skill to retrieve pucks and convert on their chances. However, even with a 2-0 lead in the first period, New Jersey was chasing the puck around a bit throughout the opening 20 minutes, which was evident as the Rangers out shot the Devils 12-7.

Typically, the Devils are stronger in the second and third periods, however, the issue Keefe alluded to is likely his team’s giveaways, to which New Jersey committed 18 against the Rangers.

Yet, the Blueshirts didn’t turn any of the Devils’ giveaways—or their five takeaways—into goals, as their lone tally on the scoresheet was a power play marker.

The Devils were fortunate that Markstrom was on his A-game. Moneypuck suggests the Rangers likely should have scored closer to 4.5 goals on Monday night amid the Hudson River Rivalry matchup. Fortunately, it worked out for them against a Rangers team that is going through their own woes.

However, Keefe knows the Devils’ loose puck play will cost them in the future, and the defense and goaltending might not always be there to buoy them.

“There’s a number of guys that that took their wounds here tonight with the puck coming in,” Keefe concluded. “So they stood their ground. I thought [Markstrom] was great throughout [tonight]. It was very clear early on in the game that he was seeing [the puck] really well. The guys did defend hard in front of him. There’s things that I’d like us to do better with the puck to allow us to be on offense a little bit more and relieve some pressure a little bit, but we did what we needed to do here to secure the win tonight.”

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