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A Season Altering Week for the Devils as Meier Joins the Fold

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The New Jersey Devils awoke Monday, February 27, having won the trade deadline sweepstakes for Timo Meier and facing a daunting West Coast road trip to be played largely without their new star acquisition. As they have all season the Devils rolled through the road trip earning five of a possible six points including a win over the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche.  At the end of the successful week the Devils flew home trailing First Place Carolina by only two points, having put nine points between them and the Third Place Rangers. 

Highlights of the Week

  • Domination and Maturity in Denver

The Devils started the road trip rolling against the Avs scoring five goals in the first 25 minutes of the contest to run out to a 5-1 lead. Like the previous game against the Flyers, the goals were spread out (Palat, Tatar, Hamilton, Wood, & Bastian). The BMW line continued it’s resurgence with two goals and a forecheck that hemmed the Avs in their own zone throughout the night. Unfortunately for the Devils the game would tighten as they gave up three goals in the span 124 seconds. 

The Devils did not stay down for long as Dawson Mercer ended the Avs run to restore a two-goal lead and extend his goal scoring streak to seven games. 

The Devils played strong in their own end in the third, killing off the game despite a furious charge by defending champions. The Avs out-shot the Devils 13-7 in the third, but the Devils held on as Ruff rolled all four lines and limited defensive mistakes. 

Akira Schmid was perfect in relief of Vitek Vanecek who was pulled early in the third period after surrendering his fifth goal of the contest. Schmid stopped all 12 shots he faced to preserve the lead.  Captain Nico Hischier punctuated the game with an empty-net tap in goal to ice the game 7-6. Their second straight game scoring seven goals and again by seven different players.

  • Snake Eyes in Vegas

As the team took the ice for its morning skate in Vegas Friday the fanbase was ecstatic with the news that Timo Meier was on the ice and dressed in a full contact jersey for the practice, however the excitement was tempered with the news that he would not debut that evening. 

Twice in the game the Devils fought back from a deficit to even the game. The first goal was a power play, one-timer blast from Jesper Bratt off a no-look cross ice pass from Jack Hughes. 

The final two Devils goals were scored by Mercer (extending his streak to a franchise record eight games) 

and Miles Wood, tallying for the second straight game. 

Wood’s equalizer sent the game to overtime where the Devils dominated, outshooting the Golden Knights 9-0 but the stellar play of Vegas goalie Adin Hill eventually delivered a shootout victory despite the Devils having the better of the play throughout. Hill set a career high with 47 saves.  After the game, Coach Ruff summed it up, “I thought their goaltender had a tremendous game. I thought they had a pretty good push in the 2nd. I thought we answered in the 3rd and OT.” Ruff also praised the resurgence of Miles Wood and the BMW line. 

All of the Devils runs of success this season have not coincidentally coincided with the ability to play four lines for long stretches throughout the game. Since the return of Nate Bastian in the game against Philadelphia the Devils BMW line has returned to its early season form, contributing on both ends and dogging the opponent on the forecheck .

  • The Swiss Annex the Southwest

Heading into the final game of the road trip the only question left to be answered was whether Timo Meier would make his Devils debut. He did, and he quickly showed why the Devils invested so much futures capital to acquire him and why they will be so dogged in pursuit of his signature on a long-term contract.  Meier found a loose rebound in front of the crease and slammed it home on the backhand to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.

The Devils would struggle the rest of the game to put away the frisky Coyotes despite taking a two goal lead into the Third Period. Two goals by Jesper Boqvist and a Power Play Goal by Damon Severson put the Devils up 4-2. 

Boqvist was joined on the third line by Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula. No matter the stats you review, the line was dominant. Outshooting the opponent 11-2, outsourcing the opponent 2-0, xG% of 94 and a Corsi for % of 81. The most important thing to happen on the road trip may have been finding a productive third line that will contribute 200’ of hockey and provide stout defense, strong forechecking, and the threat of scoring off the rush.  After the game, Ruff was impressed with his third line, ““I thought that line really played well. In on 7 or 8 really good opportunities. … Bo really skating well. He found the hole, won some battles, used his speed. Palat was really heavy on the puck. Really strong down low and Haula the same thing.” Palat, Haula, and Boqvist, make the Devils dangerous come playoff time, as if they stay in form, they can provide all the ingredients needed in a third line. 

With fatigue setting in during the Third Period of the third game in five days, the Devils committed defensive lapses down the stretch and failed to get the big save from Vanecek that has happened all season resulting in a game tying goal by Jack McBain with exactly two minutes to play. For the second straight game, and 17th overall, the Devils would head to overtime.

The extra period would not last very long as Hischier, off a breakout pass from Hamilton ended the game just 23 seconds into overtime. The win gave the Devils their league-leading 10th overtime victory of the season, and was Hischier’s seventh game winning goal of the season. 

Dawson Mercer ended his eight game goal scoring streak, but it was not for a lack of chances. Mercer took a career-high ten shots on goal and was turned away on several high danger scoring chances including a breakaway early in the game. Mercer actually led all Devils with .592 xG for the game. 

The hallmark of the road trip was the team receiving offensive contributions throughout the lineup and Sunday was no different. They received five goals from four different scorers and had four different player with multi-point games (Severson, Hamilton, Haula, & Boqvist). 

While certainly not happy with giving up the tying goal so late in the game, the Devils were content to leave Mullett arena having gained five of a possible six points on the road trip. Ruff summed up the feeling in the room, “It’s real important we got the 2 points. We mismanaged the puck a couple times that cost us dearly. Missed a lot of great opportunities to lengthen the lead. We let them hang around. But we’ve been a good OT team. We found a way to win the 2 points.”

  • No Rest for the Weary

The schedule makers did the Devils no favors coming down the stretch of the season as they enter a stretch where they play 13 games in 23 days including three sets of back to back games. All the games,except one, are against teams actively fighting for playoff position. The Devils can take solace in the fact that they have built up a cushion and fortified their depth to a point where they can rotate players to try to keep them as fresh as possible for the playoffs come mid-April. 

The Devils now possess the pieces necessary to make a deep run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the additions of Meier and Curtis Lazar, a “meat and potatoes” fourth line player acquired at the deadline from Vancouver, who excels in the faceoff dot and along the walls. Lazar, like Meier, has been credited with more hits this season than any of his new teammates and has playoff experience. 

The biggest question facing the team right now is consistency between the pipes. Vanecek put up borderline Vezina trophy numbers through early February, but of late has struggled, surrendering 16 goals in his last four appearances. Fortunately for the Devils Akira Schmid has done well in relief of Vanecek, shutting out the Avs and getting a point in Vegas. The Devils need to find a way to get Vanecek some rest despite the crazy upcoming schedule. He has never played more than 41 games in a season and this year will be asked to do much more than that should the Devils progress through the playoffs. Much of their success in April and May could ride on how well Ruff and his staff juggle their three goaltenders to ensure they are all fresh come the playoffs.

The Devils return to action against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 7, puck drop at 7p.m.   The Leafs will be without new acquisition Ryan O’Reilly who was put on LTIR due to a broken finger and Captain John Taveras who is ill.

Josh Reinitz
Latest posts by Josh Reinitz (see all)
TagsDawson MercerJesper BoqvistLindy RuffNew Jersey DevilsNico HischierTimo MeierVitek Vanecek
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