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New Jersey Loses In What Feels Like Recurring Pattern

by Chris Wassel

April 3, 2021

in Featured, Metropolitan Division, New Jersey Devils, NHL, Opinion

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The New Jersey Devils are one of the youngest teams in the NHL with an average age of 25.3. Consider for a second, that the average age of the Washington Capitals is 30. That is a huge gap. This only partially explains why New Jersey seems to lose its head often when the Devils play the Capitals.

Washington again found a way to win 2-1 in overtime against New Jersey on Friday night. It was not the usual suspects like Alexander Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom, this time it was their defensemen — John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov. The defensemen accounted for the goals this time.

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The song seems to remain the same with the New Jersey Devils. That is when it comes to the Washington Capitals. Goals tend to come at the most unexpected times. Washington often appears to toy with New Jersey. Even when it looks like New Jersey has the upper hand, they really do not.

Breaking Down The Goals Against

Goal number one

Friday night was usual in the sense that Washington badly outplayed New Jersey at times. Shots on goal at one point were 21-7 Washington. That included a second period where Washington had 12 of the first 14 shots.

Here is the first goal from John Carlson.

CapitalsPR: RT @PR_NHL: John Carlson of the @Capitals opened the scoring for the second time in as many days and reached the 10-goal mark for a fourth straight season. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/Yfufp0ABFA

— Capitals District (@CapitalsDist) April 3, 2021

The play appeared covered. Carlson simply takes a blast from the point. It finds a way to beat MacKenzie Blackwood. How? Again, it comes down to the same pattern. New Jersey loses the faceoff as Lars Eller wins the draw. The puck goes around a bit and Eller finds Carlson at the point. There is a bit of a funneling effect as T.J. Oshie is basically allowed to get right near Blackwood. It is his subtle screening that inhibits the goaltender’s ability to stop the puck.

The second part of the goal is that the puck is not quite on the ice. It is rolling a bit. That allows Carlson to get a bit of motion on it. The puck definitely knuckles down some as it approaches Blackwood. The goalie does not get a clean look on the puck and is also distracted by Oshie. Oshie never gets a stick on the shot but he executes his job well. Distraction is enough to let the puck go by on what appears to be an innocent shot. It is anything but and the Capitals went up 1-0.

Mikhail Maltsev is the one who loses Oshie at the worst possible moment. He is caught looking at the point where Maltsev should be focusing on Oshie. The reality is the Russian thinks Oshie cannot alter the play but Oshie most certainly does.

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Goal number two

New Jersey forced overtime and nearly won the game a few times in the extra session and then it happened again. Washington scored the game-winner completely against the flow of play. This goal confounded even the goal scorer — Dmitry Orlov.

Dmitry Orlov scores unassisted overtime goal, shrugs like this ¯_(ツ)_/¯ https://t.co/0V8otI05PN @russianmachine #ALLCAPS #HockeyTwitter

— Capitals District (@CapitalsDist) April 3, 2021

Again, this was another one of those goals. But, was it? New Jersey nearly scores on one end as P.K. Subban sets up Travis Zajac but Zajac is foiled. On the other end, Orlov comes up the ice and fires a shot in the tiniest of windows. The odds of the puck hitting where it does is so tiny. One has to give Orlov credit, he fires off a heck of a shot on the second look.

The first look screams that Blackwood should have stopped this shot. Again, appearances are deceiving. Even Orlov could not believe it. The bardown nature of this shot surprised almost everyone. Did the defender’s stick get in the way or alter the trajectory of the puck? The answer on the first is yes but the second still seems to be no. Sometimes one has to tip their cap.

They say teams seem to have a number against certain teams. Lately, Washington has that when it comes to playing New Jersey. For New Jersey, execution has to happen or the result will keep repeating itself. Good teams find a way to win eventually.

These are lessons New Jersey keeps having to learn until they adapt. Maybe, they will next time.