A leaky defense has led to consecutive losses for the New Jersey Devils, wasting some solid offensive work in the process. They’ll strive to play a more complete game when they visit the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.
The Devils dropped a 6-5 overtime decision to Washington on Saturday, then allowed a season-high in goals in an 8-5 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday. They didn’t give up more than six goals in any game last season.
In the second period alone, the Lightning tallied five goals.
“We have a lot of games in a short period of time,” Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “Whether it’s us playing well or not playing well, we have to wash it. Take the good from it, learn from it. We’ll meet (Wednesday) and talk about it.”
New Jersey was 5-2 heading into those home games. The five-goal outputs matched its season high. Timo Meier led the way against Tampa Bay with two goals.
That didn’t erase all the defensive breakdowns.
“The second period was just terrible,” Meier said. “We made so many mistakes starting with the breakout. If you give them that much, they’re going to take it. They have a lot of skill on their team.”
Meier and Stefan Noesen, who also scored on Tuesday, lead the club with nine points apiece.
The Red Wings have won their last two games, both on the road. They topped Nashville 5-2 on Saturday, then grinded out a 1-0 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Detroit achieved a rare feat against the Islanders, pulling out a victory while firing just 11 shots on goal.
“There’s going to be nights throughout the season that you’re not going to have your legs,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “I knew early on we didn’t. But for the most part, it’s a pretty good defensive effort. The lack of legs showed up on the offensive side of things, but it didn’t on the defensive side.”
The Red Wings came out of a training camp with a three-way battle for the goaltending spot unresolved. Opening-night starter Ville Husso, free agent pickup Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon were all in the mix. Lyon, who emerged as the top goalie last season when Husso was injured, appears to have taken the top job again.
Husso was placed on waivers after the 6-3 opening night loss to Pittsburgh, while Talbot allowed five goals in 1 1/2 periods before being pulled in his last start.
Lyon made 37 saves against the Predators and 30 more against the Islanders to record the shutout.
“You can tell when he’s on his toes and sharp, he has a confidence about him and he had it,” Lalonde said. “It just gives our group some confidence. We could have done a little more in the third (period), but I think the guys felt he was at the top of his game, and if we could manage that third properly, and for the most part we did, it gave us a chance to win and it did.”
–Field Level Media
