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NHL New Jersey Devils

Lost Leads Will Ruin New Jersey Devils’ Season

Michael Ryder Shootout

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When it comes to the New Jersey Devils, no lead is safe. That was the case on Friday night when the Detroit Red Wings came into the Prudential Center.

The Devils had a 4-1 lead early in the second period. They needed to hold this lead for 39 minutes to come away with a big win. Instead, they blew the lead pretty easily.

What makes this worse is they were playing the Red Wings’ third-string goalie. With the shoulder injury to Jonas GustavssonPetr Mrazek has been given the ability to back up Jimmy Howard. In his second game of the season, he shut out the Devils for the final 44 minutes and did not let them score in the shootout. The is despite having nearly a full two-minute 5-on-3 penalty kill to deal with.

The fact of the matter is the Devils blew another game. This has been a trend this season. They did it against Karri Ramo and the Calgary Flames. They did it against the New York Rangers, the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche. This team is not good enough to let easy points go to waste. This stretch is going to kill them when it comes to the end of the season. When you give up leads and lose games seemingly twice a week, maybe the team isn’t as good as originally thought.

The Devils need to hold the fort once in a while. Despite holding a 4-1 lead at one point, the Devils only took 25 shots in the game. It is clear the Devils took the foot off the gas in the second period. After holding the Red Wings to nine shots in the first, they allowed them to storm back with 17 shots in the second. They realized the error in their ways by only allowing four shots in the third, but one of those shots tied the game.

Cory Schneider needs to be better, plain and simple. His team is scoring for him. He cannot be giving up four goals on any night, but especially when he is given offensive support. The complaints of the past are no longer viable when the team scores and the goalie blows it. On the second, third and fourth goals for the Red Wings, Schneider over committed to the man in front and allowed an easy one-time goal on all three. He needs to be more aware of where every opposing player is, not just the puck handler.

There is still hope for the Devils, but something needs to be done. There are plenty calling for the head of head coach Peter DeBoer for how the team has played. Nobody will say he has done a good job, but there isn’t a clear person to take the job as of now. He needs to find a way to stop a veteran-laden team from giving up leads. If he doesn’t, it will force GM Lou Lamoriello to make a decision faster than he wanted to.

Nick Villano is the New Jersey Devils writer for Rant Sports. He also adds to the site’s NBA, MLB and NFL content. You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your Google circle.

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