Big Third Period Highlights New Jersey Devils Win

After a three-game slide, the New Jersey Devils turned it around and thankfully put some points in the bank. The division is very tight currently and should be all year so every point is massive and dropping too many in a row will come to bite this team later in the season.

The Good

Dawson Mercer got this team all fired up and pushed it offensively again netting an incredible solo effort goal in the third. If he did not make a perfect play with speed and intellect this goal would not have been possible and quite frankly this team never would have scored again let alone put up four in a period.

Yegor Sharangovich finally got off the shot we all know he has and ripped in a goal reminiscent of last season. That one tied it in the first, and then he added another one that was a bit lucky in the third to give the Devils the lead. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. This is something he needs to build off of and if he can get things back to where they were last season the Devils will be far more dangerous offensively.

Once again Dougie Hamilton was incredible and while he put up no points he stopped multiple goals and quite possibly two of them on one shift. It is incredibly noticeable when he is on the ice versus the bottom two pairings and on the back end without him this team might be dead in the water.

Blackwood came up absolutely massive and his numbers really don’t tell the story. It is not often that you see a two-man breakaway. It is even rarer that a goalie can save it, but big-time Blackwood was up to the task and 100% saved the game on this play. On top of this, he stopped a penalty shot by superstar sniper Brayden Point which is no small task. While he has had plenty of shutouts and games with a huge save percentage this might have been his best performance of his career and certainly was this season.

The Bad

The Devils surrendered the first goal again and got off to a slow start in which they did not look prepared at all. Someone, anyone at all, needs to make sure this team has some fire right away and at least some of the blame needs to be on the coaching staff and leadership of the team.

Alexander Holtz got an assist which was good to see and it was a great pass, but having him up to only play 7 minutes is not going to be good for the kid. He is a highly-skilled player and still developing so let him either develop in Utica, a team that looks amazing, or play him for at least 12-13minutes a night.

Once again special teams were horrific and almost cost this team the game. They let in another goal on the penalty kill which against the lightning is not too surprising, but the powerplay is inexcusable. They accomplished nothing and turned the momentum against the Devils. The best chances came for the Lightning and on one of these powerplays, they surrendered a breakaway and a three on one. The powerplay and penalty kill still need to be changed completely and someone new has to be in charge of it.