3 Thoughts: Holy Merzlikins; Jack Hughes’ Record Night Not Enough for Devils

The New Jersey Devils entered Thursday night seeking their first four-game win streak of the season.

It was another night in which the Devils piled on the shots, especially the Hughes brothers, who combined for 19 shots in total. Jack Hughes collected 13 shots himself, the most of any player in a single game so far this season.

Despite peppering Elvis Merzlikins with 43 shots on goal, the Columbus goaltender was that much better and stole two points in a 4-2 victory for the Blue Jackets.

Let’s get to how it happened.

Devils Recap

The Blue Jackets took an early 1-0 lead after the Devils turned the puck over in the neutral zone. A drive led by Zach Aston-Reese was finished on the rebound by Ivan Provarov, the Columbus defenseman’s third goal of the season.

In the second period, Columbus went to the power play as a result of goaltender interference on Timo Meier. After Zach Werenski walked through the Devils’ penalty kill unit, he helped set up the cycle, got the puck back at the point, and scored to double Columbus’ lead. Just five minutes later, Sean Monahan extended Columbus’ lead by three.

The third period is when things opened up a bit, although it happened late. It took until 17:10 of the final frame, but Luke Hughes finally got the Devils on the board. Just over a minute later, Timo Meier redirected a Jack Hughes shot to bring the Devils within a goal, making it a 3-2 game. However, Monahan collected the puck in the neutral zone with the Devils’ net empty and time running down, and padded the Blue Jackets’ lead by making it a 4-2, ultimately spelling a Devils loss.

Jake Allen made 16 saves on 19 shots, stopping one of two shots on the penalty kill.

Takeaways

1-0 Them, Again

The Devils came away from their homestand feeling good about themselves after putting together a 3-1-1 record through five games. That translated into a strong start and 60-minute effort in their first of two games on the road. However, in Columbus, the Devils couldn’t reward themselves for a strong start, which eventually fizzled out.

In the first 10 minutes of Thursday night’s contest, the Devils out-shot the Blue Jackets 7-1, only for Columbus to take a 1-0 lead and shift the momentum back their way.

Fixing their starts was the very thing the Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said was a primary focus on the home-stand.

It’s the little mistakes that lead to momentum shifts against the Devils. On the first goal, Aston Reese drove the net and pushed the puck toward Allen to create a rebound. Three Devils scrambled to attempt to clear the puck while looking south. No one picked up Provarov streaking in the slot, and the puck wound up in New Jersey’s net.

They won’t be perfect every night, but that’s certainly a preventable goal.

Uncontested in the Crease

The details weren’t all there against Columbus.

Typically, the Devils are a strong second period team. In fact, they went into Thursday night as the strongest second-period team in the NHL, with 48 goals in the middle frame this season.

However, after the Devils coughed up a lead in the first period, Columbus doubled it as a result of mistakes in their own end.

The Blue Jackets scored their second goal on the power play. It was a textbook power play goal that saw Werenski’s wrister go past Allen as a result of a screen by the giant Dmitri Voronkov. Five minutes later, Monahan roofed a rebound past Allen and under the bar.

It’s natural for a team to score on the power play, and that’s what Columbus did on Werenski’s goal. However, Voronkov was just given the crease uncontested, and blinded Allen at will, leaving Allen defenseless. As for Monahan’s goal, he snuck behind the Devils’ defense and parked himself on Allen’s backdoor again, uncontested, and ultimately found the back of the net.

Goalied

It’s difficult to say New Jersey didn’t pressure Elvis Merzlikins enough in this one.

In all situations, the Devils accrued 5.73 expected goals. In turn, that means Merzlikins made 3.73 saves above expected en route to his 41-save victory. Hughes had 13 shots of his own. However, in each period New Jersey peppered Merzlikins with more and more shots, going from seven shots in the first period, to 17 in the second, and wrapping up the third period with 19 shots on goal.

The Devils did have another gear, however. In the closing minutes, they were able to sneak two by Merzlikins, up the pressure on the Columbus defense and making it a bit harder for Merzlikins to see pucks.

Still, sometimes you just have to tip your cap. Merzlikins made multiple highlight reel saves throughout the night, and ultimately propelled Columbus to victory.

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