Power play? Yes, even devils are angry

The New Jersey Devils are off to a 3-1-0 start to the 2024-25 regular season. There were a lot of ups and downs in the first four games. The Devils have certainly shown so far that they can be a dangerous team, but they have also shown that they are not without their inconsistencies. One of these problems concerns the power play, where the results have not been what the Devils would like.

The Devils (and the Buffalo Sabers) have played the most games in the NHL so far this season (four). This means they are tied with the Montreal Canadiens for the most power play opportunities so far and receive 15 player advantages. Nevertheless, the Devils struggled not only to find the finish, but also to put any pressure on the opposing penalty shootout. In fact, the Devils have had the 25th-worst percentage in the NHL on just two power plays (13.3%).

After Saturday’s win over the Washington Capitals, in which the Devils went scoreless on four power play opportunities, head coach Sheldon Keefe explained that it’s not the system, but the players who are underperforming.

“It’s just the individuals. “You have to make some plays,” said Keefe dissatisfied. “You have to find your way through the pressure. We have to give him some time. It’s not structure based, it’s people based. We have a lot of talent on the ice, these guys have to find their way.”

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It’s hard to believe that a power play unit consisting of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton is having a hard time transforming. The Devils head coach even found it necessary to favor his second unit over his star-studded unit late in the third period against Washington.

“We have to get better on the power play. “Of course I’m not happy with how things went yesterday, but we won the game,” began Timo Meier. “We just have to clean it up because we know how important special teams are. So we have to keep talking, go through the video and practice it. We all know that there is much more to do and that we can do much better than we have shown. That’s why we continue to work and analyze the things we did wrong. We have to get better at this.”

There was certainly frustration on the ice. After the Devils’ second failed power play on Saturday against the Capitals, Hughes became visibly frustrated and slammed his stick on the New Jersey bench as his shift was over. It’s not like the Devils haven’t scored on the man advantage in consecutive games. However, given the abundance of opportunities they received, the sheer number of conversions was quite low.

In short, they know that there is more talent out there than what they have been taught.

Maybe that’s actually not a bad thing. It could mean that the dam needs to break once the Devils’ stars get going and the first unit starts to click. But for now, the Devils know they just have to make simpler plays and their talent will do the rest.

“You have to be on the same page. There is definitely a structure that needs to be maintained. But if you work hard and are sharper, talent will take over,” concluded Meier. “That’s where you can play if you’re disciplined in the work you have to do. They will let the talent take over. So we just have to simplify and work. Then we will let the talent take over.”

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