After a nice start to the year -- they were 9-3-3 on Nov. 15 -- the Devils have hit the skids lately. Sunday’s 5-0 blowout loss to the Rangers was their third in a row and, all told, they’re just 3-7-3 in their last 13 games.
Needless to say, New Jersey needs to turn things around.
“We got in this together, we have to get out of it together,” captain Andy Greene said, per NorthJersey.com. “We can’t just sit there and start pointing fingers and blaming guys, blaming someone else.”
Of course, there are individuals that could shoulder some blame.
A big reason for New Jersey’s hot start was the play of netminder Cory Schneider (and, to a lesser degree, backup Keith Kinkaid). Schneider has come back to earth recently, though, and Sunday’s loss was the eighth time in the last nine starts he’s given up at least three goals. As a result, his numbers on the year have come back to earth as well -- 9-8-1, 2.83 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
Head coach John Hynes didn’t exactly call Schneider out after the Rangers game but did say that he, along with the rest of the Devils, needed to be better.
Offensively, the club has scored just three times over the current three-game losing streak. Kyle Palmieri, who scored a career-high 30 goals last year, has just four through 26 games and is on pace for a mere 12. He’s found the net just once over his last 12 contests.
The Devils could also be feeling a sense of deja vu.
They got off to a good start last year, too -- 10-6-1 in mid-November -- but couldn’t sustain that success, and finished 12 points back of the final wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.
All of this makes for a hugely important rest of December, but it won’t be easy. New Jersey has a tough, quirky schedule -- after playing the next three on the road, it returns home for dates against the Preds and Flyers. Then it’s a home-and-home series against the Penguins on the Dec. 23 and 27, followed by another home-and-home against the Caps on the 29th and 31st.