The New Jersey Devils lost their season opener in overtime to the Florida Panthers, here are our first impressions of the team’s performance.
First impression of the 2016-17 New Jersey Devils: not bad, but definitely not good either.
Thank you Cory Schneider for getting us a point. The goal he gave up really was no one’s fault, just an unlucky bounce off of Ben Lovejoy. Besides that, he made a ton of tough saves and kept the Devils in the game. He ended up with 32 in total, with 16 of those coming down the stretch in the 3rd period, when the Devils seemed to fall flat. With the exception of Schneider, there is work to be done with this team.
I’ll start with the bad news. To be honest, the Devils looked like the same team they were last year. A lot of chasing and just trying to contain the other team. The puck was in our defensive zone more often than not and I can’t think of many times we broke out the puck cleanly. Sloppy passing and still not enough shots with just 24. That was exactly what the Devils averaged per game last year, and must be improved if they expect to score more than one goal a game. Even so, the Devils still had two opportunities on the power play and couldn’t cash in. I’m sure that between now and the Tampa game tomorrow, they will be practicing just that.
What also stuck out to me? Damon Severson‘s play, and not in a good way. He looked shaky, turned the puck over a lot in our own zone and got manhandled by Florida’s Michael Matheson on the play that set up Aleksandor Barkov’s game-winning goal in OT. No, I don’t think it was a penalty on Matheson, as some thought. That’s just good, tough board play, and you can’t let a guy push you around like that. If Severson is stronger on the puck and on his feet there, it doesn’t happen. John Hynes even described it as “just a “hockey play“. If Severson is going to remain on the top pairing with Andy Greene and face the opposing team’s top line every game, he needs to tighten it up.
There was some good though. Pavel Zacha almost had a highlight reel goal sliding in and doinking one off the crossbar. One the same possession, Yohann Auvitu had a beautiful keep in the zone at the blue line and shot off a quick pass from Zacha that found P.A. Parenteau‘s stick for a deflection and his first goal in a Devils uniform. It just shows, if you get the puck to the net, good things happen. That’s also three new faces, including two rookies, involved on the Devils only goal. Need more of that from the rest of the team.
Two other notes from this game :
1) I was surprised that Beau Bennett and Reid Boucher were the healthy scratches for the opener. I thought they would start and then the rookies Blake Speers and Miles Wood would get cycled in depending on how the first few games went. Regardless, Hynes says both will still be an integral part of the team. I am interested to see if this changes for Saturday’s game in Tampa Bay.
2) Former Devil Jaromir Jagr’s mullet is magnificent, that is all.
Oct 13, 2016; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Jaromir Jagr wears number 16 in memory of Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez before a game against the New Jersey Devils at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
All in all, it could have been worse. The Devils got a point out of it on the road against a good Panthers team. That was the first of 82 games, so there’s plenty of time to work out the kinks. But, Cory Schneider’s back is going to hurt if he has to carry the team like that for the rest of the year.
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