Why We’re Not Worried About the Devils’ Recent Lack of Scoring

NEWARK—Tuesday night’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs was brutal. Yes, brutal. Not because the New Jersey Devils didn’t play well, but because they played so well and came up shorthanded. Goals have been difficult to come by recently, however, we’re not all that worried yet.

Over the last six periods at home, the Devils have only mustered up one goal between two tilts against the Colorado Avalanche and Maple Leafs.

It’s fun for fans to speculate that the Devils just don’t perform well against goaltenders with ties to New Jersey. But, in reality, the players do not care about that what-so-ever.

Therefore, the belief that the Devils did not score against ex-Devils goaltender Scott Wedgewood, or New Jersey native Anthony Stolarz is merely a narrative written by the fans. It is not a thought in the back of the minds of Jack Hughes and Co.

What is in the back of their minds of late is frustration deriving from the lack of pucks finding the back of the net.

“That’s how it goes at the end of the day. If you want to win, you gotta score more than the other team,” Meier explained following the Devils’ 2-1 overtime loss to Toronto. “And we’ve had a lot of opportunities where we couldn’t put the puck in the net, and that’s on us to find ways to get more goals in games like that where we had a lot of shots. At the end of the day, you gotta put them in the net to win a game.”

Per usually, Meier led the Devils on Tuesday with six shots on goal. The Devils’ highest paid forward has just one goal over the last five games, but not for a lack of trying, with 17 shots on net in that span. The truth of the matter is he won’t shoot 5.9% for the rest of the season.

The same can be said about the entire Devils team.

Credit where it’s due, Stolarz played lights out at the Prudential Center on Tuesday. Does he deserve the mantle of the “best goaltender in the NHL,” as Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe proposed? No, not even close. Perhaps it’s more appropriate to label him the hottest, but Stolarz has much to prove before he can be in the same conversation as Igor Shesterkin and Connor Hellebuyck.

MORE: Lacking Physical Response, Keefe Excuses Devils Brutal Overtime Loss to Maple Leafs

So what’s led to such few pucks crossing the goal line lately?

For starters, the Devils’ power play is 0/7 in the last two games. The No.1 ranked man advantage hasn’t been entirely in sync, and it’s reflected on the scoresheet.

As opposed to last season, however, this is likely just a blip on the radar. There hasn’t been a detrimental injury that’s taken a key skater out of either unit, such as Dougie Hamilton’s absence last season. Simply, it’s seemingly just a cold spell and the Devils are a talented enough group to get back on track.

The Devils threw eight pucks on net against Toronto on the man advantage and have averaged five power play shots per game in the last two games.

The power play should regress to the mean.

At 5-on-5, the Devils remain one of the top offensive teams in the NHL. They’re the top team in the NHL, accruing 69.9 expected goals. The notion that pucks will begin to fall their way again is supported by an NHL third-best 13.85 expected goal differential. In other words, they should continue to score a lot more than they get scored against at even strength.

Last night against the Maple Leafs, of the Devils’ 39 shots, six were rebound chances. That’s actually above average, however, the Devils’ secondary chances last night felt empty calorie.

New Jersey ranks third in the NHL with 92 rebound shots for, just five behind the top ranked Pittsburgh Penguins who have 97 rebound shots.

Of the 92 rebound shots, 10 have been converted to goals. Nico Hischier and Stefan Noesen are two of the best at cashing in on rebounds. However, they have just three goals combined over the last five games. Again, that’s not for a lack of trying. Hischier has 13 shots in that span. Noesen has 17, including a nine shot performance against the Seattle Kraken, in which he went goalless.

Last night, Keefe’s justification for the lack of scoring sounded like an excuse. Yet, he was also correct in being pleased with how his team dominated for most of Tuesday night’s tilt.

The Devils are going through a dry spell right now. However, averaging over 32 shots in the last two contests and come away shooting just 3.1% which is well below their average of 10.9%.

New Jersey needs more contributions from their bottom-six. They certainly could be a little harder at the top of the crease, however, the Devils are mostly playing the right way. They’ve just been a bit unlucky, and that should even itself out.

RELATED: Devils Face Challenges with Lack of Depth Scoring

Meier’s right, if the Devils play the way they did against the Maple Leafs on most nights, the result will land in the win column more often than not.

“If you played the way we did today, a lot of times you’re gonna come out with a win,” Meier explained.

The Devils are burdened with the task of righting the ship against the Kings, however. Los Angeles is the best team in the NHL in shot suppression, averaging 24.14 shots against per game.

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