New Jersey Devils
Markstrom Struggles, Devils Keefe Losing Confidence; What Comes Next
Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe recognizes Jacob Markstrom hasn’t regained his pre-injury form. Meanwhile, Jake Allen continues to flourish.
NEWARK—Make no mistake about it, the New Jersey Devils officially have a goaltending controversy.
A third period collapse by the Devils on Thursday night saw them fork over a 3-1 lead, falling 5-3 to the Calgary Flames in regulation.
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New Jersey’s defense as a whole is not absolved of any blame. They’ll need to be better in the wake of key injuries. However, Jacob Markstrom didn’t help the Devils fight off the third-period onslaught by the Flames.
The epic collapse started just outside the first five minutes in the third period. A low-danger shot by Conor Zary squeaked through the pads of Markstrom, bringing the Flames within a goal with just under 15 minutes to play.
It’s a save Markstrom needs to make, and it opened the door for the Flames to pounce, and they didn’t hesitate at the opportunity.
The Devils quickly got on their heels, and their confidence deteriorated.
“It’s sad to say we’re learning lessons at game 70-71, but I feel like that’s what we’ve got to take out of it,” Brenden Dillon said. “You win, or you learn. How many games are we going to look back on now where we had our chance to get points and we didn’t? We can sit here and say the same thing, but we’ve got to be better at it.”
The Devils locker room won’t throw their goaltender under the bus. They truly believe their structure fell apart.
Yes, the defense has to be better, no doubt. However, Keefe recognizes two things can be true at the same time. Jake Allen has been the backbone of the Devils’ recent success.
“Well, the goalie has to make saves,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe admitted. “That’s part of the job, right? Like I said, Johnathan Kovacevic is wide open in the slot, and just lots of traffic [in front of Dustin Wolf], and they make a save on you. Then we get a breakaway, they get [another] big save. So, that’s a big part, right? It’s how we got out of the game in Columbus, because [Jake Allen] was outstanding. Markstrom wasn’t outstanding in the third. But, we got to do a better job of protecting them, not giving them those opportunities, that’s our job. Markstrom’s still looking to find his game. So we have to do a better job in front of him.”
Keefe already revealed Allen will get the next start over the weekend when the Devils host the Ottawa Senators.
However, when prompted to comment on if Markstrom has improved since returning from his knee injury, Keefe was crystal clear.
“No, not yet. We’re not there yet,” Keefe explained.
Allen saw an even tougher push from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday when he stopped 23/24 pucks in the third period alone. It propelled the Devils to a crucial 2-1 victory over a division rival on their tail.
In his last three games, he’s allowed just four goals on 103 shots, has accrued a .961 SV% and stopped 5.08 goals above expected. Allen’s recent play has him strapped to a rocket, sitting ranked third behind Connor Hellebuyck and Logan Thompson, with a registered 20.3 goals saved above expected among goaltenders who have played a minimum of 10 games.
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Yet, Markstrom has allowed three or more goals in each of his last four games, giving up six twice, and four to the Dallas Stars.
Keefe doesn’t sound all that confident in the Devils’ No.1 goaltender right now. It’s a tough spot to be in with 12 games remaining on the schedule.
Now, there’s a controversy. Do the Devils ride the hot hand and roll with Allen, who firmly has his feet under him? Or, do they play Markstrom down the stretch to give him reps ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the hope that he regains his form?
One thing’s for sure. The Devils currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division, with an eight-point cushion on the New York Islanders (with two games in hand on New Jersey) and New York Rangers. They cannot afford to give away points in a playoff race that’s anything but solidified.
Jacob Markstrom or Jake Allen moving forward?
That is the question.
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