The New Jersey Devils have not converted on the power play over their last eight games.
The New Jersey Devils played a solid game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night despite falling in overtime, 1-0.
The club was defensively strong, and goaltender Vitek Vanecek made 31 saves on 32 shots. New Jersey was perfect in their own zone for 63 minutes.
"As a group, we skated well; I thought our detail was just real good; we took away time and space, we kept our feet moving in the O-Zone, we generated the opportunities we needed to generate, we just didn't finish," head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game.
New Jersey's penalty kill was a perfect two-for-two, while the power play went zero-for-four.
"I thought we did a really good job of finding the open guy (on the power play)," Tyler Toffoli said. "Nico (Hischier) did a really good job in the bumper spot and had a ton of looks. If we keep doing that, it'll crack open and be successful again."
On Saturday night, the Devils moved the puck well while on the man advantage and finished the game with a couple of good scoring chances.
"The opportunities were there. We're moving the puck really well," Luke Hughes said. "Getting back into stride with that unit. They're going to come at some point. With the players we have and the chances we can create, they're going to come."
On Monday night, the Devils will host the Seattle Kraken, who are 13-6-3 in their last 22 games.
Since the 2021-22 season, the Kraken's penalty kill has gone 12-for-14 (85.7%) against the Devils. Leading the way for Seattle is their first penalty kill unit, which includes Jamie Oleksiak, Adam Larsson, Brandon Tanev, and Alex Wennberg.
"You look at some of the Grade A (chances) we had on the power play (against Carolina). We caught them being aggressive," Ruff said. "It's really just converting. What we try to do tonight will be a little bit different. They kill different than Carolina. Play quick and convert the opportunities."
At such a critical time of the year, New Jersey can not afford not to take advantage of power play opportunities. Entering tonight's game, the Devils have not converted on the man advantage over their last eight games.
New Jersey is currently in the fourth wild-card spot, two points behind the New York Islanders, who face Seattle on Tuesday night. Puck drop between the Devils and Kraken is 7:08 P.M.
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