Devils Need to Stick to Team Game to Keep Season Alive

There are a multitude of ways a hockey team can lose a game. It can be self-inflicted, where the club takes ill-advised penalties and poorly manages the puck, or they can simply be outplayed by an opponent with more skill and structure. Of course, there is another way, and it is the worst type of loss for players, coaches, and fans to stomach.

In Game 4 versus the Carolina Hurricanes, the New Jersey Devils' lack of a 60-minute effort led to a crushing 6-1 loss, which puts them down 3-1 in the series. A solemn Nico Hischier met with the media after the game and perhaps summed it up best. 

 "We just stopped playing." 

Head coach Lindy Ruff saw his team get the start they wanted, with Jack Hughes celebrating the first goal of the game. It was the early makings of a Game 3 repeat.

Unfortunately for Ruff, the team's inability to generate offense, 26 giveaways, and a shaky performance in the crease led to what Erik Haula called a flat-out embarrassing game. 

The coaching staff opted to utilize an 11-7 lineup, and the seven blueliners combined for 11 giveaways. Brendan Smith (4), John Marino (2), Dougie Hamilton (1), Luke Hughes (2), Jonas Siegenthaler (1), and Kevin Bahl (1). Damon Severson was the lone defenseman not to have a giveaway in Tuesday night's game. 

Offensively the team looked slow, and from Hischier's standpoint, they simply stopped playing. 

"It's hard to explain right now, but we just stopped playing. We had the game right there. We were where we wanted to be, and then something like that happened, and it's unacceptable. I think we just stopped playing." 

Ruff was visibly frustrated during his postgame press conference, and when asked what he saw from the bench, he didn't hold back.  

"Standing still, making East-West plays, we're not going North. We're not supporting," he said. "It's simple as that. We had guys who just went rogue. You can call that lack of experience. Even the power play turned into one man trying to do something and then the next man trying to do something. There was no support, no team effort. We're a good team when five guys play and support each other."

For the first time this postseason, the Devils face an early elimination. 

Up until this point, New Jersey has proven to be the comeback kids and led the league during the regular season with 26. They are a club that performs well with their back against the wall and erased a 0-2 series deficit against the New York Rangers in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to earn the series victory in Game 7. 

Throughout the playoffs, the Devils have been part Jekyll and part Hyde. Most of their losses this postseason were lopsided, including final scores of 5-1 and 6-1. With that being said, some of their victories have been just as unbalanced, like their 4-0 victory versus the Rangers and 8-4 win against the Hurricanes. 

This begs the question, which Devils team will show up for a critical Game 5 at PNC Arena? 

Before the team flew down to Raleigh, North Carolina, Erik Haula spoke with attending media members. He made it a point to say that individual players struggle when the team struggles. He continued to elaborate on their team game. 

"When we've lost this year in the playoffs, it is when our team game is off," said Haula. "We've gotten rattled, so to say, when we're down in games, and we get away from our game, and that's been a big problem for us. I think that's a correlation to why the scores get so out of hand when we're down, and that's just unfortunate. We are such a good team, and when we're all playing the same way and doing the right things is when we're tough to play against and a tough team to beat, but when we stray away from that, it looks like a different team almost." 

According to the versatile veteran, the mentality going into Game 5 needs to be to go into Carolina and win 1-0 and do their best to make sure they don't give their opponent anything to build off of. New Jersey will look to keep their season alive Thursday night when the puck drops at 7:00 P.M.