The New Jersey Devils have not exactly come roaring out of the gate, and the biggest problem isn’t limited to one side of the puck. After five games, they sat at 2-3, then moved to 3-3 with a Frozen Frenzy overtime win against the hapless Detroit Red Wings.
But the trouble has been more than just the final score. Every loss has come by at least two goals, and the offense has done its share of the damage.
The headline issue is what the Devils are doing - or not doing - at five-on-five. Before Tuesday night’s games, they had scored only six goals at 5v5, one of the worst totals in the NHL.
That has dragged down an attack that is averaging just 2.20 goals per game, the sixth-worst mark in the league. It’s an ugly early mirror of last season, when the Devils finished at 2.76 goals per game, also sixth-worst in the NHL.
Still, the numbers say this is not a team that’s simply failing to create. Natural Stat Trick shows the Devils with a 63.5 CF%, a 60.9 SCF%, and a 61.77 xGF% at five-on-five.
In other words, they’re spending plenty of time pushing play in the right direction and generating more quality looks than they’re giving up. The process is there.
The problem may be less about chance generation and more about what happens after the chances are created. Hockey Reference has the Devils at 14.5 expected goals at 5v5, which is seven more than their actual total.
That gap points to a team that should start converting more often if it keeps playing this way. Goals tend to catch up with the chances eventually.
If Sheldon Keefe and the Devils staff want to speed that process along, small lineup tweaks could be the answer. A major overhaul doesn’t seem necessary, but a little shuffling might help.
One option mentioned is moving Timo Meier up to the first line. He is tied for the third-highest expected goals at 5v5 on the team, and that kind of change could be enough to spark the group and turn more of those looks into real production.
The Devils’ early-season scoring issues are familiar, and that’s the unsettling part. But based on the underlying numbers, this looks more like a finishing problem than a structural one. A couple of adjustments may be all it takes to get the offense back on track.
In Other News...
Devils Escape Needed Win But Keefe Still Has A Problem To Solve
The Devils got the result they needed against Detroit, but it came with a familiar hint of frustration. New Jersey controlled the shot count for long stretches and still had to sweat out a one-goal game into overtime before Jack Hughes finally finished it off, lifting the club to a 3-3 record and giving the room a much-needed boost after a shaky start.
Sheldon Keefe can at least point to the positives, from the pressure the Devils generated to the way several players contributed in key moments. But the lineup picture is still not settled, and the coaching staff had to adjust on the fly with Luke Evangelista out because of an illness, which only adds another layer to the decisions ahead as the schedule moves on. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Fans Get An Early Rivalry Test Against The Rangers
The Hudson River Rivalry gets an early-season stage Thursday night at Prudential Center, with the Devils and Rangers meeting at 7 p.m. in a matchup that always seems to bring a little more edge, a little more noise and a little more attention than the calendar might suggest. For New Jersey, it is the kind of game that can help set a tone at home, especially with captain Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Connor Brown and Brett Pesce all weighing in on what makes this rivalry feel different from a typical divisional date.
The Devils know these games carry their own rhythm, and they will get more than one crack at the Rangers over the course of the year as the two teams split their meetings between both arenas. Still, the first one at Prudential Center has a way of mattering on its own, because every shift can feel a little sharper when these two are on the ice together. For a team trying to build momentum and establish its identity early, this is the kind of test that tells you something right away. [Read more 🡒]