As the season wears on I tend to catalog my favorite wins in my head. And this comeback, resilient win is right up there... add in a sprinkle of recency bias, I'll put it at the top of the list.
One thing I swear I am never going to do again, is question Keefe's lineup choices. Credit to him to change the lineup for the 3rd straight game and we can all shut up about it and let it ride. Three straight games he was almost universally questioned and three straight wins.
We really needed a vibe shift, and the cookie reminded all of us that this is supposed to be fun - the last two months certainly were not. As a Yankee fan, it pains me to re-state the obvious parallel to Grimace and the Mets, but fuck it let's embrace the cookie. The players and Keefe have mentioned a few times that they feed off the energy pop in the arena, it galvanizes the boys, they're having fun again.. Time to ride the cookie. Whoever in PR/Partnerships that came up with this (assuming it was a season long promotional bit) deserves all the flowers for this idea - they got minutes of earned value on ESPN's air. I'd love to see the sales bump from this.
OK, on to the game. And to continue a bit of a "three straight" theme, this was the third straight strong start in terms of play through 2 periods. The first 40 minutes were connected, The Devils were on the front foot, all four lines were working well, transitions were crisp, the D-zone was structurally sound, feet were moving and high end energy was there. MacDavid was contained by Nico and Draisatl was bottled up somewhat - he only had a few really semi-dangerous chances. MacDavid didn't even register a shot until late in the game, and not once did they get carved up by either - no cross-slot or royal road opportunities, no Connor knifing through the whole team, no Draisatl one-timers from a preposterous angle. They did get one on a bit of a broken play that maybe could've seen some stronger stick work - but the puck was bobbling everywhere. Through two periods, the Devils were in control at 5v5 to the tune of a 60% CF, 17-10 scoring chance advantage and 55% HD scoring chance advantage. I will credit the Oilers defense, they blocked a TON of shots through 2, and wound up with 16 registered blocks on the night and the Devils had upwards of 14 missed nets. Palat missed a golden oppoortunity on one oft he PPs and Haula got fucking robbed by Skinner.
It doesn't matter now, but the first period PPs looked pretty bad - they couldn't get the puck off the yellow kickplate which doesn't help for control. The puck spins and bobbles like a motherfucker on the kickplate - no matter how nice the arena, that area is always a little gritty. Credit to Edmonton for the pressure they put on us limiting chances, but I will say Luke had a very tough game. Sometimes your hands aren't there, and he was fighting the puck all night and it snowballed pretty badly from those PPs. He had a brutal turnover on one of the slingshot entries, and the puck hopped over his stick twice, and he fumbled a wrapped board play high in the zone. The ratio of good game/bad game for Luke has gone from about 65/35 to 90/10 year over year and he has been excellent the past 10 games. Dust yourself off, get back in there.
In the second our boy Pesce got us on the board off a nice FO win, and gritty play in front. Credit to Haula for winning the draw clean on a set play where Bratt popped up high for a one-timer mid slot. Haula then won a physical battle against Stetcher in front while Glass boxed out Rico.. and Uncle Brett snuck in for the finish. Chef's Kiss, I like this scoring first thing. Erik has looked like a whole new player the past few games, he is actually registering chances and is winning big draws again, and looks like he may have some in the tank left after all. I've also really loved Glass as an addition - I think he might be finding a home here as a 4C with 3C upside.
The defensive game through two was so good, particularly against Connor and Leon. Nico was cooking in the 70s for CF% and high 50s for xGF% after 16 minutes at 5v5, had the better chances and was doing Nico shit - basically forcing Edmonton to stack a line (I don't have access to individualized numbers by period after the game is over). They only conceded 1.18 xGF through 2 periods which is dynamite against these two. Quite frankly, Nico was the better of the two players and really made MacDavid look human.
That obviously shifted in the third, where we were holding on to our butts - got outshot 19-6, out chanced 15-6, and out High danger chanced 8-2. Woof. You could feel their second coming on sustained zone pressure from Edmonton, and sure enough an innocuous looking wrister from the point snuck through. Looked like Jake was flash-screened by Hyman and Timo was in the lane at the point, but I would've loved to see him get that one. He has been nothing short of incredible of late so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt on the screens.
Then, a hero emerged. Round, a little chewy, and with gooey chocolate chips. I want some cookies now, DAMMIT THATS HOW THEY GET YOU. Immediately after Mrs. Fields second consecutive W, the Devils scored 2 goals on 2 shots. First up was Bratter with a seeing eye wrister in traffic that snuck through. Then it was Bratt and Nemo up top with a nice little two man game - setting Nemo up for a one time rocket, again with a screen in front. This little play was cool as hell, as Nemo fed Bratt to get himself in shooting position and Bratt fed him right back. the cookie pop is real.
Man has Bratt really been cooking with his play of late. that's 6 points (2g, 4a) in the last two and really continues to show that he has elevated his game - something he does every year, just getting incrementally better. I forgot to mention last recap that he is the ONLY player in the league with 70+ hits and 70+ points. He is a near lock for new career highs in points and assists, is 3 assists away from the franchise record of 60 (Stevens), and if he continues on this tear, still has an outside chance at 100 points (would need 24 in 16 games). Not bad for a 5'10" 6th rounder.
Nemec had a fantastic bounce back game, and loved what Keefe said about it post-game. Basically that on-ice aside, he owned up to his brutal 3rd period against Winnipeg and really was mature about it. So nice to get him on the board, and hopefully this should springboard some confidence and get him back to the promise he showed all of last year. Still not sure what is going to happen with him this summer, but for now, he is here and that should be the end of the Cholowski experiment.
The last shift with Skinner pulled was the stuff of legends - the boys were NOT letting a thing get through. Nico ate a puck at the blueline. Pesce ate a puck on a one-timer from the left flank. Timo got abused eating a puck to count the clock down at the end. Palat whiffed on an empty netter (for fucks sake man).
Jake was rock solid again, saving 1.39 GAE and continues to earn himself a nice payday somewhere next year, and we will wish him well. When we were at our worst, he really bailed us out - we would be talking about the collapse of the Devils without this guy.
That's 3 in a row kiddos. you know what's cooler? 4 in a row, which we haven't done all season. Pittsburgh has been frisky of late, and with Sid and some new look additions and lines still present a challenge and shouldnt be taken lightly. Get out strong on the front foot and bury these tuxedo chickens.
Hey Valiquette, it's gotta be really embarrassing to be tied with Columbus, eh buddy?
LGD
