New Jersey Devils Stock Up/Stock Down: Impressive Analytics at Home

The Prudential Center hasn’t been very kind to the New Jersey Devils this season—that is, until this past week. After their 5-1 beat down of the New York Rangers two weeks ago, the Devils embarked on a five-game homestand.

Entering the homestand, the Devils boasted a mediocre 6-5-2 record on home ice. However, since our last stock up/stock down, the Devils picked up seven out of 10 points, going 3-1-1 during the stretch of games, bringing their home record to a respectable 9-6-3.

The Devils picked up wins over the Seattle Kraken, Los Angeles Kings, and Chicago Blackhawks, lost a game in which they dominated against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and were shut out by the Colorado Avalanche. Focus now shifts to a trio of Metro division opponents before the Holiday break, but before that, they’ll look for revenge against the St. Louis Blues.

Devils Stock Up/Stock Down

Stock Up

Team Defense

Defensive structure is a phrase Devils fans have heard repeatedly, particularly during the Lindy Ruff era and the early parts of this season. They were bleeding goals during some stretches back in October, but it appears this group has bought into head coach Sheldon Keefe’s defensive structure. Over the past five games, the Devils have limited their opponents to under 20 shots in four of them (Colorado had 24) and limited the Kings and Maple Leafs to just ONE shot on goal in the first period and the Blackhawks to just two.

It was an impressive display of team defense during the homestand. In those five games, the Devils massively out-chanced their opposition. The Devils won the Expected Goals battle 19.18 – 9.75 over the five games, with the closest margin being the Devils +1.57 xGoals (twice vs. Seattle and Los Angeles).

5v5 Team Defence – December 15 pic.twitter.com/3EWtQ2UD9O

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) December 15, 2024

Stock Down

Depth Scoring

Despite wins stacking up lately, the Devils have run into a small scoring problem. They’ve done enough to get by, but again lost by shutout and left a point on the table against Toronto due to their inability to finish high-danger chances. The top six, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt in particular, have been doing their part. It’s the bottom six that has given the Devils next to nothing offensively. During the homestand, they failed to record a single point and have recorded just six goals since November 1st. Erik Haula, Paul Cotter, Tomas Tatar, and, at times, Dawson Mercer and Stefan Noesen have struggled not just to record points but to generate any kind of offense.

RELATED: New Jersey Devils Face Challenges with Lack of Depth Scoring

Stock Up

Ondrej Palat

Palat draws a lot of heat from the Devil’s fanbase because of his contract and the lack of surplus value he brings on the scoresheet. However, his play away from the puck and what it does to open things up for Hughes and Bratt has been indescribable. Palat’s ability to do the dirty work for those two is what makes them one of the most dangerous lines in hockey, and they’ll only become more dangerous now that Palat has found a little offense. He found the back of the net in back-to-back games against Toronto and Los Angeles and set up Hughes for the game-winning goal against LA off of a beautiful backhand pass. Keefe believes his championship pedigree and willingness to do the difficult things will continue to lead to personal and team success.

READ: Devils Ondrej Palat Impressing, Flashing Championship Pedigree

We like it. We like it Palat. pic.twitter.com/zKOg1AZZhK

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) December 11, 2024

Stock Down

Tomas Tatar

Going back to the Devils issue with depth scoring, Tomas Tatar has been the one who’s taken the brunt of the fallout. He’s bounced around the third and fourth line this season and, after an inability to contribute offense, was made a healthy scratch the past two games. Tatar has just nine points through 29 games this season and has played a career-low 10:41 of ice time. After struggling last season splitting time between Seattle and Colorado, there was hope Tatar could find his form again with the Devils, whom he had success with during his two seasons here. However, ice time has been hard to come by, and he’s often been saddled on a fourth line that lacks much talent. Tatar does have lineup versatility that could come in handy if there were to be an injury, but for now, he’ll have to find his game as a bit-part player.

Sheldon Keefe say’s no changes to the lineup, which means second healthy scratch in a row for Tomas Tatar. #NJDevils

— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNHL) December 14, 2024

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