Sometimes, a team gets a burst of energy -- and, ideally, a bump up the standings -- after a coach has been fired. If the New Jersey Devils are going to soak up more W’s after firing John Hynes, that gratification will be delayed.
The Devils managed leads of 1-0 and 2-1 during their first game with Alain Nasreddine as interim head coach, but they couldn’t hold onto a win. Jonathan Marchessault managed a natural hat trick during the third period, and that burst served as enough of a cushion for the Vegas Golden Knights to beat the Devils 4-3 on Tuesday.
You have to think MacKenzie Blackwood would like at least one of those goals back, as early on, goaltending is dooming the Devils once again:
It’s not all bad.
For one thing, if you were engineering a game to get the good PR bump of winning after firing a coach, you’d probably not want to target the Golden Knights as an opponent. They’ve had their issues, yet can be a behemoth with the puck, and this marks Vegas’ fourth win in a row.
And you can at least point to a pretty solid overall game for the Devils. This Natural Stat Trick Corsi chart shows a decent broader night of effort from New Jersey, even if the result was all-too-familiar:
Ultimately, the Devils fell short of even getting a “charity point,” and some wonder if the 2019-20 season is more or less lost already. The same might be said of Taylor Hall, considering his uncertain contract status, and the shaky situation the Devils find themselves in.
But, hey, you can only do so much in one game, and you could argue that the Devils at least made some baby steps.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.