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Losing Streak Continues Against Nashville

The Devils welcomed the Nashville Predators into Prudential Center this past Monday in their latest game against playoff teams from 2014-15 and fell 3-1.

Keith Kinkaid got the start for the Devils and Yann Danis got the call-up from Albany to back him up as Cory Schneider was off welcoming his son Wyatt into the world. Congratulations and good luck to Cory and his wife and their newborn son.

In addition to Schneider, the Devils also had Sergey Kalinin and John Moore as healthy scratches.

The Preds got off to a relatively quick start when Roman Josi scored his first of what would be two on the night at 10:34 of the first. The score would remain that way until late in the third, when Josi would notch his second shorthanded in an empty net. The Predators were killing off a Cody Hodgson holding call and the Devils pulled Kinkaid to go up 6-on-4. A questionable call from John Hynes considering they were up a man already and because Nashville was killing a penalty, any icing call would be negated.

The Devils, however, would end up scoring on that power play, anyway. Kyle Palmieri scored his first goal as a Devil, getting assists from Andy Greene and Jacob Josefson at 18:20, making it 2-1 late.

When things got back to even strength, the Devils kept the net empty and Eric Nystrom of the Predators would put the game away, giving Nashville the 3-1 win and moving them to 3-0-0 on the year while the Devils remain winless.

Kinkaid made 17 saves on the night, with the other two Preds’ goals coming with the net empty. He was also named the game’s third star.

Next up for the Devils is the San Jose Sharks on Friday. This will mark the return of former Devils coach Pete DeBoer to the Prudential Center, as the new Sharks coach has his team playing well. They are 3-0-0, only a point behind the Canucks for the Pacific Division lead. Cory Schneider should be back in goal for the Devils, which will be welcome, although Keith Kinkaid has shown himself to be a more than capable go-to backup. What this stretch of games has shown the fans is that, goaltending-wise the Devils are okay, but they are still having trouble scoring and a lethargic offensive could be a problem if it continues.

On the other hand, it is early and things will work themselves out. At this point in the season, even Pittsburgh is having trouble winning games and New Jersey did have a lot of turnover in the offseason. Once things start clicking and the team settles in, hopefully they will begin winning games and everything will begin to fall into place.

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Devils Drop First Road Game of Year in DC

After an opening night loss at home in Newark on Friday night, the Devils were right back at it Saturday night in Washington, hoping to improve in their matchup against the Caps. While the score may have been a little ugly, it did not tell the entire story, as the Devils did make a little bit of progress and have something they can build upon.

A few Devils made their season debuts as coach John Hynes continues to tinker with the lineup. In were wingers Brian O’Neill and Stefan Matteau and defenseman Eric Gelinas. Sitting from opening night were Reid Boucher, Tuomo Ruutu and Damon Severson. Cory Schneider got his first night off of the year with the back-to-back and Keith Kinkaid started for New Jersey.

Washington got on the board at 12:04 of the first on a goal from Jason Chimera, which set up a five minute flurry of goals as the Capitals took a 2-0 lead on Brooks Orpik’s tally at 13:32 before the Devils jumped back in and whittled it down to 2-1 with a goal from Adam Henrique at 14:54 (Jiri Tlusty and Kyle Palmieri with the assists) before tying it at two with a power play goal from Gelinas (Lee Stempniak and Mike Cammalleri with the assists).

And that was where the game stood through the second period, tied at two. Although that almost was not the case, as the Devils got in some penalty trouble late in the period when Gelinas went off for cross-checking at 14:39. While killing that off, Stempniak was whistled for holding. The Devils penalty kill did the job and things were looking good for the visitors.

In the third the floodgates opened when Alex Ovechkin finally broke free, scoring a highlight reel goal off an end-to-end rush at 6:33 into the period. From there, the Devils got in more penalty trouble and that cost them dearly. Adam Henrique was called for hooking at 11:48 and Marcus Johansson scored on the ensuing power play. About four minutes later, Stempniak again went off, this time for high-sticking and Matt Niskanen put the Caps up 5-2. The Devils had pulled Kinkaid to even things up on that penalty kill, so Niskanen’s goal was actually an empty netter. With Kinkaid still out of net, the Devils pulled to within two when Cammalleri got his first goal of the season and second point of the night, unassisted at 18:39.

Kinkaid made 22 saves on the night, including on a key breakaway while the game was still tied at two, keeping the Devils in the game for the time being. The main problem for New Jersey was not being able to finish some of their great offensive chances on Caps goalie Braden Holtby, who made 21 saves on the night.

But offensive finishes will come over time as the team gets used to Hynes’s new up-tempo style. A lot of the forwards are fairly young and will grow into their roles. Another key issue to take away from this game was penalties. Spending too much time short-handed is not a good way to win games period, let alone against the team with the top power play in the league last year.

Next up for the Devils is a two game homestand against Nashville on Tuesday and San Jose on Friday. The Sharks game will feature the return of Pete DeBoer to The Rock and will continue the Devils’ run against tough opponents. Four of the Devils’ first five games come against teams that made the playoffs last season (Winnipeg, Washington, Nashville and the Rangers – who they play next Sunday in a 1 PM matinee at the Garden) and the fifth game is against a much improved San Jose team. It will be a rough stretch for the Devils, but hopefully they can come out of it and continue to build on each game and improve.