New Jersey Devils
Devils Coach Reacts: Glass’ Intelligence; Cotter’s Bounce-Back; Creating Separation
Have the Devils found their permanent 3C in Cody Glass? Sheldon Keefe likes what he sees.
NEWARK—After the first 20 minutes of the New Jersey Devils’ tilt with the Columbus Blue Jackets, there was plenty of reason for optimism.
READ MORE: Bratt Leads the Way; Devils Find Scoring Touch in Pivotal Win vs. Blue Jackets
With the Blue Jackets too close for comfort on the Devils’ tail in the standings, New Jersey created a bit of separation for themselves. Amid key injuries to Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, and Jonas Siegenthaler, the Devils need wins any way they can find them.
On Tuesday, they received contributions up and down the lineup. It’s something the Devils are going to have to get used to without three of their top players.
Despite being shorthanded, head coach Sheldon Keefe made Paul Cotter a healthy scratch on Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Devils bench boss was looking to “reset” the 25-year-old winger, who has seen his fair share of highs and lows this season.
Much like unplugging something, then plugging it back in, the reset seemed to work.
Paul Cotter
Early in the first period, Cotter took a holding call against Denton Mateychuk. He emphatically disagreed with the referee as he made his way to the penalty box.
The Devils killed off the Cotter infraction and as he left the box, the puck made way toward the Devils forward at center ice. Cotter picked up the rubber and with speed—clocking in at 23.4 MPH—scored on a breakaway to extend the Devils’ lead to 2-0.
Cotter was an important part of the Devils’ 5-3 victory in a crucial in-division game with a four-point swing. He certainly felt re-energized getting back in the lineup.
“You never not want to play. It’s always tough, but got to be a good teammate, and for us to play as well as we did last game, and Sheldon still swapped the lineup and put me in, I think that’s a tell to me that he still believes in me,” Cotter said. “That was a good a reset for me. And you know, maybe I did need it. So I think all of us played well tonight, which helped me play well as well. So hopefully he’s happy with it.”
Keefe was, in fact, pleased.
“I thought he was better,” Keefe said. “Those were some rested legs between having the last game off and then being in the box for a couple of minutes. He was fresh and fast coming out of there. And you know, he gets in home like that, he’s going to make good on it. So, yeah, huge goal for us. Great for him. At first, probably a nervous couple of minutes in the box there for him. But what a way to come out.”
Cody Glass
It’s a small sample size, but Cody Glass continues to make a good impression in his short Devils tenure. After picking up a goal in his Devils debut, he registered a primary assist on a goal by Jesper Bratt, the Devils’ third of the first period to take a commanding three-goal lead. He later added another on a goal by Luke Hughes.
Glass was drafted as a skilled, two-way threat. To this point, the skill portion of his arsenal hasn’t really broken out in his game. However, he’s been a reliable depth forward who is defensively responsible.
Yet, with the Devils, the offense is showing through. And as for the rest of his game, Keefe was complimentary of his hockey IQ.
“[Glass is a] really smart player. Very, very smart player. You watch him play, he’s constantly scanning the ice, whether it’s on offense or defense. He’s making reads all over. Part of it is picking up the system, but it’s a lot easier to do when you are a smart player, and you’re processing the game well. I think he’s got a really good head about him. I think he’s made really good simple reads that are pretty universal in our game that he’s getting right, which shows a level of intelligence.
“And then the level of skill, when you look at the, you know, Luke’s goal in that third period, [Glass’] ability to hang on to the puck and survey the ice to make the decision not to force the play, and hang on to the puck and allow Luke to get in and to give it to him. So all those things are really good. I’m impressed with him, and he’s fitting really well from a personality standpoint too. The guys really like him.”
Creating Separation
With just 16 games in the regular season, the Devils obviously need to win as many games as they can.
Nine of those 16 games are against teams within the Eastern Conference, five are against Metropolitan Division rivals. That’s what made Tuesday night’s win so important. Not only did the Devils create separation for themselves in the standings, they halted the progress of the young, up-and-coming Blue Jackets team, who are looking to dethrone the Devils from their spot in the playoff hunt.
There was a moment when it looked like Columbus might claw their way back into Tuesday’s tilt. However, the Devils weathered the storm, got back to their game, and sent the Blue Jackets home empty-handed.
The Devils now have a six-point cushion on the Blue Jackets, who tail New Jersey in the wild card standings.
To Keefe, all the Devils can do is focus on themselves, and the results will follow.
“It’s important for that reason, both with Columbus, but there are a number of other teams [around us], too. So we just kind of keep stacking up wins here and doing our part,” Keefe explained. “We’re in control of our situation for the most part here, so we just got to take care of our game. But certainly, today it’s not just a regular game. It’s a team in our division that has been playing extremely well and really coming on. But there’s lots of hockey left here, so we got to make sure we’re not giving these points back. We got to keep growing our game, we have an Oilers team coming, and they’re going to be rested and ready for us on Thursday. It’s important to win these games, but it’s also important to just keep stacking them up and win as many of them as you can.”
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