While the playoffs are all but a distant dream, the New Jersey Devils still have things to learn as a group and fight for individually over these last seven games.
"How frustrating is it... How disappointing is it..."
New Jersey Devils players have fielded these questions time and time again after a disappointing 2023-24 campaign, where they sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division with seven games remaining.
After impressively winning two games against the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs, the Devils squandered their leads to the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, losing four critical points in the playoff race.
"It is going to keep on happening if we don't learn. You would think we would kind of be past that point, but we are not," Curtis Lazar said after his team's loss to the Penguins.
After surrendering the game's opening goal, the Devils scored three straight goals against the Penguins to enter the third period with a 3-1 lead. Timo Meier, Lazar, and Jesper Bratt all found the back of the net, and Nico Hischier and John Marino each earned two assists.
Things appeared to be on the up and up as Pittsburgh entered Tuesday's contest with a 3-21-6 record when trailing after two periods.
In the final frame, New Jersey collapsed.
Sidney Crosby scored twice, Evgeni Malkin scored twice, and Rickard Rakell scored once for five goals, leading to a 6-3 Penguins victory.
"I thought we played a good game for 40 minutes. The last period, we pretty much gave it away," Meier said.
The power forward and Jonas Siegenthaler used the word scared in their postgame media availabilities on Tuesday.
"We played good hockey in the first, second, and third, but after that (Sidney Crosby) PK goal, we got scared, stopped playing hockey, and didn't make the plays," the defenseman said.
"We almost looked like we were scared after they scored. That's not how you win," Meier said to a scrum of reporters.
Over the past few weeks, fans have heard the players and interim head coach Travis Green use the words scared, immaturity, and confidence. What all those things have in common is they deal with the mental aspect of the game.
The team's collective mental toughness has been questioned throughout the season. As players have said, good teams close out games when they have the lead entering the third period. Tuesday night was another example of the Devils shooting themselves in the foot.
Green's club has an opportunity to turn things around Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden when they face the New York Rangers. While the playoffs are all but a distant dream, New Jersey still has things to learn as a group and fight for individually over these last seven games.
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