The New Jersey Devils are down 3-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes after a 5-2 loss in Game 4 in their best-of-seven first-round series. Outside of the lack of execution on special teams, a big reason why the Devils are trailing in the series is the lack of goal scoring.
As DevilsNations.com has documented since the beginning of the season, the Devils have an issue scoring goals. Even when the team was fully healthy, the inconsistencies offensively were a problem. Look, it is not easy being a General Manager in the NHL, but Devils President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald are seeing some of his words come back to haunt him.
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After completing his work in the summer by adding more depth with Paul Cotter, Stefan Noesen, and Tomas Tatar, and signing Dawson Mercer to a new deal, the Devils were still missing that scoring punch up front. While Timo Meier was going to be that guy, the Devils reiled too heavily on Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt. That did not have enough secondary scoring.
While injuries derail trade deadline plans, it seems like the plan all along was to create competition following the deadline by adding Daniel Sprong and Cody Glass up front. While there was a price to pay at the deadline for players, it seemed like the plan all along was just to add depth and not address the biggest weakness for the New Jersey Devils, goal scoring. Brock Boeser, whom the Devils were tied to for several months, was available.
You are seeing that when it matters, the Devils do not have that scoring punch. It has been a season-long issue. This is something that is not new.
“Offense has been a challenge for our team most of the season,” Sheldon Keefe said following Game 4 when asked about the third and fourth lines. “So to expect them to all of a sudden come out and have a dominant effort offensively, it’s probably not realistic.”
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Entering the series against Carolina, the Devils were going to have to work to manufacture goals. If they average two to three goals a game based on their play during the regular season, along with how the players were defending when they are at the top of their game, they had a chance to win games against Carolina.
However, not having three regular defenders and Jack Hughes up front makes the task even taller. The effort has been there, but the goal scoring has not been. Outside of the first two lines creating momentum for the Devils, the third and fourth lines give it right back to Carolina.
Even if you add Jack and Luke Hughes into the lineup, the series might be tied at 2-2 because of what they can bring on the power play. However, five on five, Carolina continues to dominate the play against New Jersey. The Hurricanes know how to take away that rush attack the Devils love so much. So even with the Hughes Brothers, the series could still be 3-1 Carolina.
The Devils were able to score three goals in Game 3 because they just created more chances and capitalized on opportunities they had, unlike in Games 1 and 2. That was something Sheldon Keefe wanted them to do.
“Now we’ve got to make some plays and finish some opportunities and get greater volume of offense if we want to score, be it five on five or power play, because we need to score more,” Keefe said before Game 3.
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That is the key, to score more than Carolina and test Pyotr Kochetkov in Game 5 if he is the starter for the Hurricanes on Tuesday. Kochetkov came in for Frederik Andersen, who was injured in Game 4 after being bumped by Timo Meier. Though the Devils scored on their first shot on the young Russian goalie, after that, they did not test him as Carolina protected him.
Now it is time for the Devils players themselves to adjust and execute on the ice to create those chances. The biggest thing for New Jersey will be keeping the game simple. Throw pucks on net and get traffic in front. While it is cliche, you can clearly see throughout the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs that it works.
So it is an uphill task for the New Jersey Devils as their goal scoring continues to be a reason they are not having the success they want this season.
