The New Jersey Devils are fighting to win, and the big culprit on Saturday’s clash with the San Jose Sharks is obvious to them: the lack of points.
As the Devils prepare to end a three-game road trip through California, they bounce back with just a five-game win. An 3-2 overtime loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings on Friday was the second overtime loss in that faint.
The Devils have scored just 15 goals in their last seven games, and they were suspended on Tuesday in Anaheim. The effort has been there, but the result has not.
“We competed hard,” coach Lindy Ruff said after the loss in Los Angeles. “We have a bit of a hard time scoring goals.”
Being without a couple of key players, Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, has prevented the Devils, who have been skipped on their powerplay for four games in a row, from going 0-on-14 during that span.
A positive in Friday’s defeat was goalkeeper Mackenzie Blackwood’s game, who saw his first action after a heel operation out of season. Blackwood stopped 26 shots in an excellent performance.
“It was good to get back in there, get back in the center of events and train on the curves,” Blackwood said. “It went pretty well overall, just a little rust, a little carelessness I try to train out of my game, but as the game went on I got better and better. I’m excited to keep going and keep pushing forward.”
New Jersey will face a Sharks team that comes after a 5-3 loss to visiting St. Louis. Louis Blues on Thursday and will not know until shortly before the puck release who will be able to play.
In the past week, the sharks have been decimated by an outbreak of covid-19. On Saturday, seven players and coach Bob Boughner went up on the league’s minutes list. Two returned to action, Andrew Cogliano and Jonathan Dahlen, but in turn forwards Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc joined Matt Nieto, Erik Karlsson, Jake Middleton, Radim Simek and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
San Jose had eight rookies in the lineup against the Blues.
“It’s going to be like this for a while, so we have to deal with it,” said Sharks captain Logan Couture. “The guys who have gone in and played their first, second and third NHL games have played well. But as veterans, we can do a better job of protecting these guys.”
The club also decided to send the 2021 first round draft selection William Eklund back to Sweden. The 19-year-old forward played well with collecting four assists this season, but the move means that next season will be the first year of Eklund’s three-year contract.
“This was one of the toughest decisions we’ve had to make,” said San Jose general manager Doug Wilson. “Williams’ tremendous skill and vision has been evident since he participated in our rookie tournament in September …
“He has shown that he will be a special player in this league, but in the end we feel that it is in the best interest of his long-term development to return to Sweden and continue working to become the dominant player we feel he can be.”
Eklund was disappointed, even though he knows that the decision will be beneficial for him in the long run.
“I think I did what I could to stay here,” he said.
–Field Level Media