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Measuring Stick Game Shows There’s Work to Do

With the season more than half over each game takes on a little extra meaning. Some games are viewed as “measuring stick” contests, in which one team looks to make a statement against the other. 

 

Tuesday night at Prudential Center, the New Jersey Devils found themselves in a “measuring stick” game as they hosted the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. While New Jersey took two games from the Panthers in November down in Sunrise, they weren’t so lucky in Newark. The Devils lost this game by the score of 2-1 in a shootout, thus exposing their need to find or acquire secondary scoring. Their only goal came 2:27 into the third period when Captain Nico Hischier scored on an off-angle shot that deflected off Gustav Forsling and fluttered past Spencer Knight to tie the game 1-1. Jacob Markstrom was strong in net with 27 saves on 28 shots faced, but on this night it simply wasn’t enough. 

“It’s just recognizing that some games are like this and some teams are like this,” Head Coach Sheldon Keefe told the media after the game. “You know they’re going to defend hard and you’re gonna protect the neutral zone. Nico (Hischier) got behind their D the one time for two-on-one. That’s the one you gotta make good on, right? ‘Cause they don’t give you a lot. 

“In these kinds of games, where the opposition is playing really sound defensively, you’ve gotta be comfortable in that environment. You gotta find ways to score within it, but you also gotta make sure you don’t beat yourself. Those are the lessons; to be comfortable in these spots. In the three games we played against the Florida Panthers, I’ve liked our approach in that sense. That’s good growth for our team. We’d like to make a few more plays tonight and get on the right side of it, but we will take the point and move on.”

The Garden Staters are still very much entrenched in a playoff spot, but if they want to be “true” Cup contenders, they’ll need to show they can fix their weaknesses to beat teams like the Panthers when the lights shine brightest. Yes, technically the Devils won two out of three against the Panthers this season, but the playoffs are a different animal as it becomes much harder to score when the ice is so tightly contested. 

“Like all teams in this league,” Jacob Markstrom began, “it’s tough to get points. You gotta take when you can and we played some good defensive hockey. We gotta keep doing that. We got a big game coming up here in a few days.”

New Jersey announced during warmups that Stefan Noesen would miss the game with an illness. Kurtis MacDermid drew into the lineup on the fourth line while Tomas Tatar was elevated from fourth-line duty to Noesen’s spot on the second line. So, they were a little behind the eight-ball from the jump.

Jonathan Kovacevic was called for an early cross-checking penalty 33 seconds into the game for his hit on Matthew Tkachuk. New Jersey did not allow the Panthers to register a shot on goal during the two-minute penalty. Mackie Samoskevich then gave the Devils their first power-play opportunity of the game at the 4:52 mark of the first period when he was called for holding Brett Pesce. However, the Garden Staters did not capitalize on the opportunity, recording just a single shot on goal. 

To further exemplify how little either team was able to create in the opening minutes, the Devils held the Panthers without a single shot on goal for the first 8:49 of the game. By the time the first period came to a close, the shots on goal meter read Devils six and Panthers five. 

The first half of the second period was more of the same. Very little action. Next to no space on the ice. Both teams played a defensively sound, responsible game. The action picked up in the second half of the middle period and was punctuated by a Nico Hischier break-in try that turned into a two-on-one with Tomas Tatar that briefly brought the fans out of their seats. But Spencer Knight turned aside Hischier’s shot and kept the ensuing secondary chances out as well. 

“Even when sometimes, not a lot is going on,” Nico Hischier explained, “We have to not force it. Just stick with it and eventually one team’s gonna crack. Some games are like that and no team wants to risk too much. We know they can score in a rush and they know we can score in a rush. So it was a really slow game. I feel like the first two periods, not much was happening.”

Onto the third period and Florida got the jump on New Jersey. Jesper Boqvist scored 41 seconds into the period while falling to his knees to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Hischier tied the game 1:46 later and then, shortly after his goal, had a brief fracas with Matthew Tkachuk. 

There wasn’t much else to say about the third period and with no more goals being scored, overtime was needed. Alas, neither team scored in the extra period so the game went to a shootout. Paul Cotter actually led off for the Devils and potted a nice goal, but Florida’s Aleksander Barkov immediately knotted the shootout at a goal apiece. 

Jesper Bratt, Sam Reinhart and Jack Hughes all failed to score before Anton Lundell netted the shootout winner in the last half of the third round. 

For the Devils, the loss halted their home winning streak at six games and prevented them from sweeping the season series from Florida. Next, it’s onto Toronto for a Thursday night matchup with the Maple Leafs. 

Perhaps New Jersey’s secondary scoring will have better luck north of the border.

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