The New Jersey Devils have a problem this season. It is learning how to beat a system their former coach and new inductee Jacques Lemaire put into place in the 1990s. The “Neutral Zone” Trap or the Left Wing or 1-2-2 is creating havoc for this speedy Devils team.
This is not a current trend for the Devils though. Oh no, this goes back to the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In Round 2 of 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes put the game plan out that teams follow to this day. What Carolina did was force the young skilled players of the Devils, Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Luke Hughes, and Dawson Mercer to find different ways to beat them.
Nico Hischier Showing Why the New Jersey Devils Are His Team
Carolina took away the time and space these players like in the neutral zone. The Hurricanes got a lead and locked down the middle of the ice. Why, because Hurricanes Rod Brind’Amour knew the Devils were a rush team; meaning they like to generate most of their offense from skating through the neutral zone by moving the puck quickly with their speed. That is why the Devils offensively have been so effective this season.
While it is great to see the Devils score off the rush, it is a problem because that makes them one dimensional. If teams know you are a good rush team, they will take away that element of your game and force you to beat them another way. This is what we are seeing this season with the Devils, especially in their five shutout losses.
The little details of the game matter and that is what head coach Sheldon Keefe is trying to instill in his players. Not to mention playing the same style of hockey night to night. When the New Jersey Devils beat the Florida Panthers in back to back games, they took Florida’s style of hard hockey and played a carbon copy of it. However, the following game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa did that to them.
NHL Rumors: Tom Fitzgerald Looking To Add Depth to New Jersey Devils Roster
Now most recently, the Colorado Avalanche, behind former goalie Scott Wedgewood, shutout the Devils for the fifth time on the season by clogging up the neutral zone. They limited the Devils rush chances through the middle of the ice not to mention limited their shots on goal to 25 as well.
The players and the coach know they have to change their style if they want to win consistently in this game.
“They (Colorad0) didn’t give a give us a lot in the rush, and we were above us, and we had a hard time with it,” captain Nico Hischier said after the loss to Colorado on Sunday night. ” They didn’t give us any anything on the rush and they knew we were good team on the rush that made sure pucks went deep. Just a simple, simple game when you’re in the lead, and they played, it pretty well, and we had no, no answer to it, and sucked the life out of us. We didn’t have answer and that’s not a good thing.”
Head coach Sheldon Keefe was not pleased with the effort getting through the Neutral Zone and knows that is an area they must fix moving forward.
“That wasn’t the story of the game today. It was more the neutral zone,” Keefe said following the loss to Colorado on Sunday. “We couldn’t get through the neutral zone. We didn’t skate today and win enough puck battles. They do a good job. They’re up tight on you. The gap is tight, and we didn’t play through that well enough.”
Former Devils Goalies Mackenzie Blackwood, Scott Wedgewood Reunite in Colorado
While the Devils were better with that against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, it was a different style of game that was played. While the New Jersey Devils had their legs and controlled the game, the details of the game still need to be worked on. That will be something Keefe will want to also address.
But when things get tight and the ice gets smaller, the Devils need to learn how to generate offense. That is how winning is done in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was one of the downfalls of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs it could be one for the Devils as well.
However, overcoming that challenge of playing through the neutral zone trap now will make the New Jersey Devils better when the games mean the most.
