The New Jersey Devils have struggled on defense to begin the season. They allowed six goals against the New York Islanders and five against the Utah Mammoth. “There are some defensive habits and details that we didn't do a good job of managing on some of the goals against,” head coach Sheldon Keefe noted after the 5-2 loss to the Mammoth.

It’s not just the scoring chances they’ve allowed either. It’s the net-front goals that are costing the Devils. It’s the skaters who are skating through the high-danger areas unnoticed for easy tip-in goals. It’s the opposition powering to the net where the defense doesn’t remove them from the puck. 

It’s an early-season issue that looks a lot like the problems the Devils have had in the past in the defensive zone. It’s not a red flag but a concern with teams exposing it, and it looks like the weakness that will have them chasing games and a step behind all season. 

The Devils have talented defensemen, certainly on an individual level. However, they lack that defenseman who can eliminate scoring chances in the net-front areas and clean up loose pucks. 

Instead, opponents are finding open looks there with ease. The Mammoth scored their second goal of the game with MacKenzie Weegar skating from the blue line to the net without a skater picking him up. Lawson Crouse scored their fourth goal by gaining leverage and powering a rebound to the back of the net. 

Teams that have a power forward presence in their lineup are taking advantage. Likewise, the teams that have speed are skating past the Devils' defense and gaining possession. The Mammoth have that ideal combination of size and speed, which was on display in Tuesday’s victory. 

This is also a big-picture issue for the Devils. They are a team built on speed that could outskate opponents. It sets up their offense but also helps their defense. Now, every team, certainly the best teams in the league, has the speed to keep up with the Devils, if not outskate them. 

When the game began, the story was a struggling power play. It started the season 0-10 before finding the back of the net in the first period of Tuesday’s game. Now, the problems have shifted to the other end of special teams, with the penalty kill playing poorly. 

“I don’t think we could have given him a worse start to the game, facing the league’s best power play,” Keefe stated when asked about his goaltender, Jake Allen, being thrown into a tough situation. It’s a two-fold issue since the Devils are taking multiple penalties, especially early in games, and allowing teams to capitalize. 

The same issues came up against the Islanders, who allowed the power play to give them momentum and slowly take over the game. The Devils can win games that are played five-on-five, but the reality is that they aren’t. It’s made the penalty kill another issue they must address. 

The Devils aren’t allowing net-front goals on the penalty kill. However, similar issues are coming up when the opposition moves the puck around and goes low-to-high to open up the defense. They allow those open looks in the face-off circles and the slot, which are the ones that cost them. 

The good news for the Devils is that they have time to work on these issues. Their next game is Saturday afternoon against the Vancouver Canucks, giving the team three days to digest the latest losses, watch the film, and practice. 

Plus, it’s a long season with 81 regular season games still on the way. “It’s definitely not time to hit the panic button; we have 81 games left,” Luke Hughes mentioned after the loss to the Mammoth. The Devils have time to become a good team defensively and, specifically, work on their net-front issues. “We’ve got to get sticks in front and box out,” Hughes added when asked what must happen to clean things up near the net. 

It also helps that most of the issues the Devils have are coachable. It’s where Keefe must prove that he can get the most out of this group and have the defense play with structure in their zone. 

The big problem is that the Devils might play the upcoming games without Jonas Siegenthaler, who left the game against the Mammoth and didn’t return. He’s one of their best shutdown defensemen and someone they’ll need to fix the unit. If he's out for a significant time, the defense can go from bad to worse. 

The question is what happens next if the defense doesn't improve. Does general manager Sunny Mehta look to make a move to fix the need? Do changes happen? It's early in the season and the Devils are still working out the issues in their roster but the bigger questions are around the corner, not just because they are losing games, and allowing easy scoring chances but how they are allowing them, where teams get to net without much resistance.