To borrow a phrase from Shakespeare, “to be, or not to be, that is the question.” In this particular case, that question was: would the Devils play the role of spoilers with the Islanders looking to clinch a playoff berth?
Monday night, in New Jersey’s season finale, the already eliminated Devils hosted the still-trying-to-clinch Islanders in a game with significant playoff repercussions. A win of any kind for the Islanders would lock up not only a playoff berth but also the number three spot in the Metropolitan Division. A Devils win would mean the Isles would need help to clinch, or, in a worst-case scenario, they would head into their season finale with Pittsburgh on Wednesday in a potential do-or-die situation. After 60 minutes of play, we had an answer to our question. The 4-1 victory for the Islanders meant that doomsday was avoided for the Isles and the Devils finished off a disappointing season with one more disheartening loss.
“I think every team’s a little bit different,” Devils Interim Head Coach Travis Green explained. “Go back to their maturity level, how their team is built. I think our team is in a much different state than the Islanders. They’re an older team. We’re a much younger team. They’ve had the same core group for it seems like a long time now. We haven’t. The two teams are built a lot differently right now.”
The Garden Staters did come out flying to open the game, hemming the Islanders in their own zone for long stretches of time. However, while New Jersey certainly controlled the pace of the game, the Devils only managed two shots on goal through the first 12-plus minutes and no goals. Of course, that was still better than the Isles managed as they were held without a single shot on goal for the first 12:21 of the game.
Then, the game flipped at 12:22 of the first period. Pierre Engvall led a two-on-one rush up the ice with Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Engvall drew Brendan Smith over to the near side and New Jersey goalie, Jake Allen prepared to face the shot. Engvall then saucered the puck over to Pageau, who shot it into the open net for the first goal of the game and the Isles’ first shot.
4:30 later, with Chris Tierney in the box for tripping Kyle MacLean, Mike Reilly fired a shot towards the net that Kyle Palmieri deflected past Allen to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead.
“I thought, in the first period, we played well,” Timo Meier explained. “But we couldn’t get that extra inch. It obviously hurts when you lose your last game at home in front of your fans.”
The Devils weren’t willing to roll over though and when the second period began, after 3:25 had passed, Timo Meier cleaned up a loose puck on Semyon Varlamov’s glove side and brought New Jersey within 2-1. On the play, Nico Hischier led the charge into the Islanders’ zone and passed the puck across the ice to Jesper Bratt. Bratt wired a shot that Varlamov couldn’t close his glove on and Meier was right there to finish off the play.
Not wanting to let the Devils draw even, Brock Nelson took matters into his own hands, and 11:48 into the middle period his shot – following a scramble in front of Allen – gave the Islanders a 3-1 lead.
A Kyle MacLean goal 6:17 into the third period sealed New Jersey’s fate and gave the Islanders their 4-1 win, their playoff berth, and the number three seed in the Metropolitan Division.
Speaking after the game, Meier made it clear he wasn’t pleased with the end result. “If you’re standing here at the end of the year and you’re not in the playoffs then you’re not happy.”
Now that we know how this game has affected the playoffs, let’s take a look at two non-spoiler-related questions that the Devils are facing in the offseason.
1) What happens to Interim Head Coach Travis Green?
When Green took the reins from Lindy Ruff midway through the year many wondered whether or not the Devils would keep him beyond this season. That decision is no longer months away. It would behoove GM Tom Fitzgerald to make his decision relatively quickly and then turn his attention to the team’s other areas of need.
Those who I’ve spoken to have made it clear that Green is the “safe choice” but hardly the “first choice.” There’s a lot of speculation regarding who that “first choice” could be, but there’s no concrete proof, so until Fitzgerald makes his move we’ll just say Green’s future is very much up in the air.
2) Who’s your goalie?
Jake Allen? Kaapo Kahkonen? Akira Schmid? Nico Daws? Jacob Markström? Juuse Saros? Anonymous Goalie A? Take your pick. Tom Fitzgerald has said he aims to “go big-game hunting” this offseason regarding his goaltending. What that means remains to be seen and it’ll likely be a while before we have any answers to this question.
One thing is certain though, if the Devils want to get back to the playoffs, they will need their goaltending to be leaps and bounds better than it was this year.
That’s a wrap on the Devils’ 2023-24 season. Exit interviews will take place in a couple of days and then the team can start to move past this year and look towards 2024-25.
