The New Jersey Devils did not get any sort of “new-coach bump” on Tuesday night.
They quickly fell behind the Florida Panthers, 2-0, and eventually lost, 5-3, in Travis Green’s coaching debut.
Green was named as the interim head coach after Lindy Ruff was fired on Monday.
On most nights there’s really no shame in losing to the first-place Panthers, but most folks around the league expected a better effort from New Jersey given the circumstances.
Not only was it Green’s debut, but the Cats were playing for the second night in a row after defeating the Rangers on Monday.
Devils vs. Blues prediction
(7 p.m. ET)
It mattered not, as the Devils were still leaky defensively and didn’t get strong goaltending from Akira Schmid.
The task gets easier on Thursday night with a visit from the inconsistent St. Louis Blues, who are playing their third game in four nights, but these Devils have shown they’re more than capable of losing to anybody on any night right now.
No matter how much of the puck they own or how lopsided the shot clock is, the Devils can come unglued at any time thanks to porous goaltending and a defense that has struggled to support its netminders.
That’s a recipe for disaster against a team like St. Louis.
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The Blues really struggle to push play at five-on-five, but they’re a clinical offensive team that does a good job of unlocking defenses with seam passes and getting the goalie to move side to side.
St. Louis may not generate a ton of chances, but the ones the Blues do create are often of high-quality.
In short, it’s really tough to trust the Devils at this kind of price right now.
The play: Blues (+150, BetMGM)
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