The New Jersey Devils know exactly where the early-season fix has to start.
After three games, the two biggest problem spots are impossible to miss: the defense has given up 11 goals over the last two games, and the power play has produced just one goal in 14 chances. Both were front and center at Friday’s practice as the Devils got ready for a demanding stretch that begins Saturday afternoon against the Vancouver Canucks and runs through five games in eight days.
That schedule puts even more pressure on the power play to snap into form quickly. The Devils usually expect that unit to be a weapon, especially with Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier involved. Hischier didn’t dance around the issue after practice.
“We need to get better there. I think everybody knows that, and that's why we're trying to put the work in.”
New Jersey has enough talent in its top six to make the man advantage dangerous. The key, right now, is making the puck movement cleaner and more purposeful so the Devils can create open looks in the offensive zone. That means working the puck to the slot, moving it across the ice, and finding better chances instead of settling.
That was visible in the Devils’ 5-3 loss to the Utah Mammoth, when they kept making the extra pass in search of the better shot. It showed up again in practice, where the focus was on feeds to the slot and the point, with the idea of getting pucks through traffic. Luke Evangelista’s power-play goal against the Mammoth was a good example of what they’re trying to build, with a shot lane created and the puck deflected in.
The personnel is there. Hughes can change the geometry of the ice as the puck carrier.
Hischier, Evangelista and Timo Meier can get to the front of the net and create the second-chance looks that make a power play dangerous. But the Devils still need the whole thing to click.
Hischier also pointed to a simpler issue: the puck has to get to the net more often.
“I think that's mainly when the power play is not doing that well,” he noted after Friday’s practice, adding, “I think it just helps when you try to pepper the goalie and just get pucks there, and then things will open up.”
The Devils aren’t looking for low-quality shots from the outside just to say they shot the puck. What they want are chances that force the goaltender to react, rebounds that turn messy, and opportunities from high-danger areas.
That’s why the slot passes matter. That’s why the tic-tac-toe sequences matter.
And that’s why point shots can matter too, if they create a redirection or a rebound.
The other piece of the puzzle is the blue line. Hughes and Bratt can run the offense up top, but the defensemen at the point have to add a spark of their own. Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton are the two blueliners expected to drive that side of it.
“Luke and Dougie, those are the two guys who need to drive it offensively back there, right?” Jack Hughes stated after the 3-2 opening night win.
That hasn’t happened enough yet, especially with Luke Hughes expected to take a step as the top-scoring defenseman. The power play can survive if the forwards are sharp, but it becomes a lot more dangerous when the defensemen create that extra layer. For a team trying to steady itself early and survive a packed schedule, that edge matters.
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