The New Jersey Devils entered the season with strong goaltending depth, featuring two veterans, Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen.
Building on this confidence, the team extended Markstrom on October 31 and re-signed Allen on July 1st.
However, what began as one of the league's strongest goaltending tandems now appears to be two 35-year-old netminders who may not be able to handle the workload.
On Saturday night, Allen started in the net for the Devils against the Philadelphia Flyers. After delivering a stellar performance against the Florida Panthers on Thursday—ultimately losing but allowing one goal on 24 shots—he was given a second consecutive start.
The game got off to a rough start for Allen; he allowed four goals in the first period. In a complicated sequence, the Flyers managed three goals in just 24 seconds—a franchise record.
Only a single goal beat Allen in the second period. However, the Devils were unable to regain the lead and ultimately lost 6-3 in Philadelphia.
Given recent performances, the Devils may have a goaltending issue.
Markstrom, the starter heading into the season, has struggled early on, with his last start on November 18 against the Tampa Bay Lightning resulting in a 5-1 loss.
This season, Markstrom is 5-3-1 with a .864 save percentage. He was sidelined for 15 games with a lower-body injury.
On the other hand, Allen has won seven games and lost four. He holds a .920 save percentage.
While Allen has been solid early on, allowing four goals in one period and three in 24 seconds is not ideal, but it isn’t catastrophic. The team can afford to drop one game, but if Allen continues to play the way he did on Saturday night and Markstrom continues to struggle with injuries, the Devils could soon face a significant challenge in net.
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