Heading into the 2019-20 campaign, expectations were high in Newark, N.J. Even just 39 minutes into the season, with the New Jersey Devils leading the Winnipeg Jets 4-0, the tide appeared to completely change for the guys in red; this team was a winner.
However, things would go downhill soon after; giving up a goal with 11 seconds left in the second period — followed by three more in the final frame — the game went to a shootout, where New Jersey ultimately lost, 5-4.
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Fast forward five games and the Devils remain the only team without a win so far in this young season.
And fans have a right to be disappointed with the start of 2019-20. The team selected Jack Hughes with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Taylor Hall is back healthy and the front office brought in players like P.K. Subban, Wayne Simmonds and Nikita Gusev to beef up the roster. Still, despite looking strong on paper, something isn't working.
Here are three reasons why New Jersey is struggling to start the season:
3. Blown leads becoming a pattern
One unique feature in the Devils' 0-4-2 record is that they were in a position to win three of those games. The first blown lead was against the Jets as previously mentioned.
Their second came in a similar fashion, although the lead wasn't as large. On Oct. 10, the Devils went back-and-forth with the Edmonton Oilers, holding leads at 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before giving up a power-play goal to Connor McDavid with just over a minute left in regulation. When neither team could score in overtime, it was Leon Draisaitl who scored the first goal on the sixth shot of the shootout, ending the game and handing New Jersey another loss at the Prudential Center.
New Jersey looked to be on their way to the first win of the season on Monday when they led the Florida Panthers 4-1 nearly halfway through the game. Once again, though, the team was unable to hold its lead; Florida tied the game 4-4 thirty seconds into the third period and scored five unanswered goals in the remaining 30:10 to win 6-4.
"We have to do a better job of keeping the lead, preserving the lead, keeping better position late in the game. For me, five unanswered goals is embarrassing," goaltender Cory Schneider told reporters after Monday's loss, via NHL.com. "It eats at me and it sucks. It's my job to figure that out and do better. I'm not going to speak for anybody else right now but we have to do a better job of giving our team a chance to win."
Mackenzie Weegar (2) strikes quickly in the third! Panthers tie it up after being down 3!#FLAPanthers pic.twitter.com/Pqi6ueoYpu
— HD365 (@HockeyDaily365) October 14, 2019
It's also worth noting that all three leads were in games at the Rock. On the road, the Devils aren't much better; they're 0-3 and have been outscored 14-2 away from Newark.
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2. No team has given up more goals
New Jersey leads the league in goals-against with 29 and their minus-16 point differential is the league's worst by six.
Between the pipes, Schneider and MacKenzie Blackwood are also among the worst in goaltender categories. Both goalies have greater than 4.00 GAA while recording .876 and .821 save percentages, respectively, which rank in the bottom-10 among all goaltenders with at least two starts.
Beyond the crease, the Devils can't seem to find success shorthanded, as they have surrendered the most goals on the PK (9) while killing off just 57.1 percent of their 21 penalties (30th in the NHL).
Contrary to the forwards, there has been almost no statistical advantage to playing in New Jersey on the backend; the team allows 4.50 goals per game on average while also getting little offense from its star players, which brings us to the final point.
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1. Lacking production from star players
A big storyline heading into the season was all of the shiny additions the Devils made to their roster. Unfortunately, they haven't panned out the way they had hoped.
New Jersey has managed just 2.17 goals per game thus far, the second-worst production league-wide (tied with San Jose) and the worst in the Eastern Conference.
While the Devils are certainly getting looks, they just can't capitalize on their scoring chances.
Oh my Taylor Hall. What a move. Can’t finish though. #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/brZFauRVCd
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) October 11, 2019
Last season's top three point-getters for New Jersey — Kyle Palmieri, Nico Hischier and Travis Zajac — have a combined three goals and eight points through six games, and league-wide, there are 23 individual players that have an equal or greater number of points than those three combined.
Not to mention, Hughes is still looking for his first NHL goal and point, and although he came close against the Panthers, close doesn't count. It doesn't help that second-overall pick Kaapo Kakko netted his first career goal just over the Hudson at MSG, putting more pressure on the 18-year-old, whose team is in desperate need of a spark.
Through the first six games, Hall's five points (one goal, four assists) lead the Devils but are tied for 56th among NHL skaters. Meanwhile, newcomers Subban and Simmonds have a combined three assists and the highest-scoring addition is Gusev, who has netted just two goals and one assist.
Gusev, Palmieri and Blake Coleman are the only players to manage two goals on the roster (the most on the team).
While it's still early, things look like they'll get complicated moving forward if New Jersey can't exorcise its demons.