Post by flojo888 (Devils GM) on Aug 18, 2011 18:16:55 GMT -5
The New Jersey Devils were counted out as a playoff team by many GMs in the league.
However, most thought it would be due to their lack of offensive star power, as the defence boasted a very strong top three and a well built goaltender in Ilya Bryzgalov.
In the first three games however, Bryzgalov has let in 4.09 goals a game and has a brutal 0.872 save %. Part of that blame will be on the shoulders of the 2nd worst penalty kill in the league, thought to have been anchored by the three Swedish Studs on defence.
With Victor Hedman, Adam Larsson, and Niklas Kronwall on the blueline with the man down, it looked to have been their strength.. However, killing off a horrific 62.5% of the penalties they take is just not satisfactory.
The offense has been dynamic, with the Devils' franchise forward Rick Nash scoring a dominant 6 points in 3 games. In total, they have scored 11 goals in 3 games, but when a team thought to be built around their defense lets in 14 goals over that same span, things need to be looked at.
Let's take a look game by game:
In the first game of the year, the Devils lost 5-3 to the Nashville Predators. The Predators had 36 shots in this game (compared to 31 for the Devils), but 14 of those 36 came on 9 powerplay opportunities, and the Predators ended up scoring 3 goals on those 9 opportunities.
Removing the shots and goals scored against on the penalty kill, Bryzgalov ended up saving 20 of the remaining 22 shots.
The next game of the season was a rematch against the Predators, but the Devils came out on-top 5-4 this time around. That, however, was in no thanks to the powerplay. The Predators outshot the Devils 35 to 26 in this game, but had 16 shots on 5 powerplay opportunities, scoring once.
The trend seems to be that the penalty kill is giving up a ridiculous amount of shots, almost 33% of the opposing teams total shots in the game.
In the last game played so far, the Devils lost 3-5 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It seems like the penalty kills in this game skewed the statistics. While taking only two penalties, the Lightning scored on both and took only 2 shots (One of these goals was an empty net goal with 15 seconds left). The low number of shots may just be because one was an empty netter while the other was scored 4 seconds after the infraction was assessed.
The difference between this game and the previous two is that the Devils outshot the Lightning 37-25, and it looks to have been a weak game from the goaltender Bryzgalov that cost them a win.
While it is only three games into the season, the Devils need to have a much better penalty kill, not giving so many shots to the opposing team. When a team manages around 15 shots a game on the powerplay, or scores on everyshot they DO take on the powerplay, it gives the team a small chance of winning.
As a result, the Devils have taken Travis Moen and David Clarkson off the penalty kill, replacing them with Brian Gionta and Martin Havlat in hopes of having some better checking and better foot speed while killing penalties.
If the penalty kill does not improve, it may cost the Devils multiple games this season, as it seems like a team playing the Devils will be limited to ~20-25 shots OFF the powerplay, but have the potential to shoot another 10-15 ON the powerplay (assuming they dont score more efficiently).
However, most thought it would be due to their lack of offensive star power, as the defence boasted a very strong top three and a well built goaltender in Ilya Bryzgalov.
In the first three games however, Bryzgalov has let in 4.09 goals a game and has a brutal 0.872 save %. Part of that blame will be on the shoulders of the 2nd worst penalty kill in the league, thought to have been anchored by the three Swedish Studs on defence.
With Victor Hedman, Adam Larsson, and Niklas Kronwall on the blueline with the man down, it looked to have been their strength.. However, killing off a horrific 62.5% of the penalties they take is just not satisfactory.
The offense has been dynamic, with the Devils' franchise forward Rick Nash scoring a dominant 6 points in 3 games. In total, they have scored 11 goals in 3 games, but when a team thought to be built around their defense lets in 14 goals over that same span, things need to be looked at.
Let's take a look game by game:
In the first game of the year, the Devils lost 5-3 to the Nashville Predators. The Predators had 36 shots in this game (compared to 31 for the Devils), but 14 of those 36 came on 9 powerplay opportunities, and the Predators ended up scoring 3 goals on those 9 opportunities.
Removing the shots and goals scored against on the penalty kill, Bryzgalov ended up saving 20 of the remaining 22 shots.
The next game of the season was a rematch against the Predators, but the Devils came out on-top 5-4 this time around. That, however, was in no thanks to the powerplay. The Predators outshot the Devils 35 to 26 in this game, but had 16 shots on 5 powerplay opportunities, scoring once.
The trend seems to be that the penalty kill is giving up a ridiculous amount of shots, almost 33% of the opposing teams total shots in the game.
In the last game played so far, the Devils lost 3-5 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It seems like the penalty kills in this game skewed the statistics. While taking only two penalties, the Lightning scored on both and took only 2 shots (One of these goals was an empty net goal with 15 seconds left). The low number of shots may just be because one was an empty netter while the other was scored 4 seconds after the infraction was assessed.
The difference between this game and the previous two is that the Devils outshot the Lightning 37-25, and it looks to have been a weak game from the goaltender Bryzgalov that cost them a win.
While it is only three games into the season, the Devils need to have a much better penalty kill, not giving so many shots to the opposing team. When a team manages around 15 shots a game on the powerplay, or scores on everyshot they DO take on the powerplay, it gives the team a small chance of winning.
As a result, the Devils have taken Travis Moen and David Clarkson off the penalty kill, replacing them with Brian Gionta and Martin Havlat in hopes of having some better checking and better foot speed while killing penalties.
If the penalty kill does not improve, it may cost the Devils multiple games this season, as it seems like a team playing the Devils will be limited to ~20-25 shots OFF the powerplay, but have the potential to shoot another 10-15 ON the powerplay (assuming they dont score more efficiently).