3 takeaways from the Devils’ 5-3 win over the Chargers – Hockey Writer – New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils must bounce back quickly and get their spirit back after a tough loss to start the season. Well, they did, posting a rare 5-3 road victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Connor Brown led the way with an impressive two-goal performance.

Relevant: Devils score early and often in win over Chargers

Gritsyuk and Brown add key depth scoring

Unlike the Carolina game, this game was very physical. The Devils were constantly getting into scrums, which seemed to lead to them being incredibly dominant in the first inning:

Timo Meier, Brown and Nico Hischier all found the ropes and outscored Tampa Bay 14-2. Brown’s goal was particularly notable because it came off a personal effort and a beautiful pass from Arseny Gritsyuk, giving him his first goal in the NHL.

Depth scoring is a major issue for them heading into the 2024-25 season, so seeing Grichuk connect with Brown must feel especially good for Devils fans. Brown then added an insurance goal in the third quarter to put him over the top merged The Devils’ four regulars in the bottom six after Jan. 1 of last season were equal in strength (1). Those players played a combined 1,317 minutes and 57 seconds during that span…it took Brown just 23 minutes and 16 seconds to surpass them. (via Natural Statistics Tips)

Grischuk only scored one point, but he had plenty of other scoring opportunities but just couldn’t convert. He looked like he belonged.

The trend still needs to be reversed

A common trend last season was for the Devils to fall into ties after building a sizable lead. That’s exactly what happened again; the Chargers pushed the tempo in the second quarter and the Devils didn’t seem to have many answers. Yanni Goode and Ryan McDonald each scored a goal to reduce the Lightning’s deficit to 3-2. Thankfully they bounced back with goals from Jesper Bratt and Brown, but allowing teams to creep back is a trend that won’t return this season.

This isn’t the only worrying trend. As a Devil, Jacob Markstrom oddly struggled in low-to-medium-danger opportunities while excelling in high-danger opportunities. He has yet to allow a high-danger goal this season, but allowed two “low-danger” and one “medium-danger” goals tonight. (via MoneyPuck)

He wasn’t tested much, but all told, he was shutout in 14 of 17 games (0.824%), lowering his season total to a very low 0.837%. He does deserve credit for finishing the game, though: He made some great saves in the final seconds of a 6-on-4 situation. But these were mostly high-risk endeavors, so that’s not surprising.

It’s an odd trend, but even accounting for this quirk, Markstrom was still an above-average goaltender last season. He’s almost certain to bounce back; his numbers are bound to improve as he gets more starts.

power struggle

Simply put: Tampa Bay is (and always has been) a dangerous team. Therefore, it is key for a team to use their power play opportunities to gain an advantage. The Devils went 0-for-4 from the field with the man advantage and often struggled to find offensive opportunities.

Thankfully, in a refreshing comeback, an even offense was enough to see them through. But that left the Devils 0-for-6 early in the game; last season, they ranked third in the league with a 28.2% conversion rate.

Clearly, this team has too much talent to struggle for the long term, but they just don’t look in sync enough.

Return to action

The Devils aim to continue their positive momentum against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, October 13 at Nationwide Stadium. This will be the last of their three road games to open the season.