The month of October is in the books and there were more tricks than treats for the 2019-20 New Jersey Devils. Jersey Joe Stanislau and Jim Biringer from lastwordonhockey.com are back with a new episode of the Jersey Joe Corner podcast. In this episode, the boys recap the Tampa Bay Lightning game, the defensive structure, comments made by three players, previewing the upcoming schedule, and so much more.
Jersey Joe Corner
Struck By Lightning
The boys jump right into recapping the losses to the Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning. Joe and Jim look at the positives from the game. One of which was the play of Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Pavel Zacha. After being a healthy scratch, Bratt had his best game scoring two goals. The magic between Hischier and Bratt came back. And Jim points out that Zacha is proving to be a winger than a center in the NHL. Joe mentions that neither goalie played well, but Curtis McElhinney made the saves when his team needed him too. The triplets of Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, and Nikita Kucherov hurt the Devils again along with Brayden Point. If with the positive signs, there are no moral victories in the NHL.
Poor Defensive Scheme
Joe turns the conversation towards the defense and how the Devils blew another lead. In 10 games this season, the Devils have blown leads in five of them. As Jim mentioned the Devils are trying to generate more goals instead of protecting a lead. He brings up how the better teams in the league take care of their own defensive zone first. Good play in the defensive zone leads to more offensive chances. Instead, the Devils are looking for more goals instead of making the simple play. Joe brings up the Devils goalie situation, but regardless of who is in net, they could not succeed in this defensive structure. Jim notes it is similar to what the Edmonton Oilers went through before Dave Tippett got to town.
Good Idea, Bad Idea
After the Devils game on Wednesday, P.K. Subban and Cory Schneider took onis for how poor they played in the loss. Both players held themselves accountable for their poor start. It is good to see some of the players taking the blame for what is going on considering the expectations that were on this team. However, it was alarming that Taylor Hall wanted to take on the fans. However, as the boys mentioned he needs to look in the mirror and be accountable for his play this season. One goal in 10 games is not gonna cut it. Jim brings up the Hall-Nathan MacKinnon MVP debate from 2018. Jim believes that MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche should have won the Hart Trophy that year. MacKinnon has proven he can carry a line and has been able to produce when players like Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen have been out of the lineup.
Two Big Divisional Games
Joe transitions the show over to the upcoming schedule. The Devils have one more home game before they hit the road for five games. One of their five road games is against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Devils play the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night. Jim talks about how the Devils need to be motivated for a divisional game especially against a rival. And brings up the point that Carolina is a tough building to play in. Joe brings up Carolina’s defense and Jim piggybacks off that by saying the Hurricanes play like their head coach Rod Brind’Amour.
The boys look at the news surrounding Dustin Byfuglien of the Winnipeg Jets and get breaking news with the new contract for Austin Watson of the Nashville Predators and the rumors surrounding the goalie situation with the Devils.
