Schneider, Devils Fight for Shutout Win / Boyling Cold
The game against the Canucks was always going to test the Devils for a couple of reasons. One, being that they are going out West for the first time this season, and two, the Canucks are the best team so far in a triad of clubs in Northwestern Canada. Like the Devils, the Canucks have gotten off to an unexpected positive start.
As the contest barely began, I remember thinking about how Johansson is the perfect pickup for the Devils and just reveling in his arrival. He represents the type of prime, playmaking player that can be the peanut butter to the jelly of certain teammates — ones such as the "H-men" (Hall, Henrique, and Hischier.)
It seemed almost as I was just starting to come down from a euphoric feeling of having such an exciting and complimenting player, that the next thing that flashes across the screen is Johansson barreling into the end boards, using his face as a stopping mechanism. Unaware, at first, of who it was that crashed, I tried frantically to see before realizing it was someone who would make all of that sweet emotion go to waste real quick. If you saw, you knew it wasn't good and that he wasn't coming back, at least not in the next several minutes with the concussion protocol in place.
As the gameplay went on, the Canucks controlled much of it and seemed the more willing team to breakthrough. What strikes me is that Green is a solid coach for them, having gotten what isn't much of an approved team off to a rather decent start. What was a rather boring squad several months ago, has been turned into one that can be dangerous for an opposition. Part of this can lie between the pipes with Markstrom, who played quite well, but we'll have to wait and see if this is something that he can keep up in order for the green and blue of the Northwest to stay above their Canadian counterparts of the region.
It was always going to be worth mentioning Boyle's debut here. If not for any other reason, watching this matchup was vital to see how the big guy did after being diagnosed with the horrible disease a couple of months ago. Not to my surprise, Boyle played a very slow game, showing the signs of not getting any real action since last Spring. I'm not going to rip the guy. After all, he has been dealing with a physical illness that can certainly cause him to be sidelined for long stretches as this season rolls on. Anyway, it was evident that Boyler wasn't very alert and was very sluggish on his first night out on the ice.
After Jimmy Hayes scored in the second period, Schneider had to be lights out — and he provided. This had to be his best showing as he got his first shutout of the campaign. It was well earned too as he made saves that we were missing from him for the vast majority of last season. If he can give us a little more of an effort like this, it will definitely give the rest of his teammates the confidence to keep playing great hockey.
One aspect of the Devils game still irks me a times, especially at inopportune times. For one instance, when they took an idiotic, blatant delay of game penalty late in the game while only protecting a one goal lead. Schneider and the defense had to come up big again, but the Canucks could have had this game tied for sure — maybe even won if it wasn't for the great goaltending and defensive blocks throughout the course of the three periods.
This run by the Devs has been anything but expected, and as a fan, you just have to take it in as much as you can. As we hone in on some tough games coming up, you have to think that this form cannot continue. With Zajac still out, and Johansson with another injury, the struggles could slowly creep up, as it tends to do after a long streak. It was almost clear at certain points, that the Devils are showing signs of not being able to keep up with the rate of play, despite their winning ways.
Source photo credit: Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images | devils.ice.nhl.com