As a norovirus bug creeps its way through the New Jersey Devils’ locker room, the team has found themselves in a freefall. Entering today, the Devils were 3-5-3 since the Christmas break, with their offense vanishing without a trace. After arguably their worst effort of the season, a 13-shot, 3-1 loss to the Flyers yesterday afternoon, New Jersey had a chance to right the ship with a home date against the Ottawa Senators. But another pathetic offensive showing sunk the Devils once again, as they fell 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.

Believe it or not, this game started out very well for the Devils. Both New Jersey and Ottawa were on the second half of a back-to-back today, and it was the Devils that looked like the much fresher team. They didn’t produce a lot of grade-A chances in the first period, but they absolutely dominated possession and outshot the Sens 16-2. Yes, New Jersey put more shots on goal in the first 20 minutes today than they did all game long yesterday. They weren’t able to solve Anton Forsberg, but it was a highly encouraging start for the Devils.

But it was all downhill from there. In the final two periods combined, New Jersey recorded an embarrassing 10 shots on goal. This included three in a third period in which the Devils were trailing for most of it. You’d think just based on score effects, New Jersey would be able to generate some more offense. But these days offense is very, very hard to come by.

I know I’m stating the obvious, but that has to be the biggest takeaway from this game for me: The complete lack of offense. Since Christmas, generating offense has been an insurmountable task for the Devils. Each charge through the neutral zone is snuffed out at the opposing blue line, if it even gets that far. Each chance at a cycle is stopped and cleared easily. Each shot attempt is blocked or missed, and in the rare instances where a shot does make it to an opposing goaltender, it’s either swallowed up without a second thought, or quickly swept out of harm’s way by a defender.

Sustaining puck possession has been like pulling teeth. Getting shots on net has been like climbing a mountain. Actually scoring goals has been like pulling teeth while climbing a mountain. The defense could stand to be tighter, but by far the biggest reason the Devils aren’t winning games anymore is the gaping abyss where the offense used to be.

Adding insult to injury, while New Jersey has become wholly incapable of generating offense, opposing teams seem to receive offensive contributions from the unlikeliest of places. The first goal of today’s game was scored in the second period by Zack Ostapchuk, who entered today with 31 NHL games to his name. The goal was the first of his career, and it came on a shot that Jacob Markstrom probably should have had, though to be fair it was through the legs of Brenden Dillon from a weird angle. After Tomas Tatar tied it up less than two minutes later (yes, really), the teams went into the third period tied. Early in the frame, Artem Zub, as much of a stay at home defenseman as there is in the modern NHL, wired a shot top corner through a screen from Nate Bastian for his second goal of the season.

Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, and Dougie Hamilton couldn’t do anything on the offensive side of the puck today. Meanwhile a kid in his rookie season and a defenseman who is generally allergic to offense came up big with goals themselves. If I don’t laugh, I’d cry.

I mentioned the norovirus bug that the team is dealing with right now. Head coach Sheldon Keefe has said before the past few games that multiple players would be gametime decisions, and we’ve even seen Stefan Noesen and Justin Dowling miss games due apparently to the virus. Norovirus is no joke, and if it really is affecting a huge chunk of the team, then it’s much easier to understand their current struggles. The problem is their current struggles began long before someone caught the bug and spread it around. If anything it just seems like it’s made a bad situation worse.

I don’t know what the answer is, but something has to change. The offense has been so bad that Keefe actually gave the fourth line of Tatar, Bastian, and Curtis Lazar shifts late in the third while hunting for the equalizer. To be fair the fourth line did look pretty good today, but that’s as much an indictment of the club’s stars as it is a vote of confidence for the fourth line. It also didn’t help that the Devils committed two bad penalties while trailing in the third in the form of Dillon failing to handle a simple pass and having to trip up a Senator to prevent a potential breakaway, and Noesen getting his stick in between someone’s legs in the neutral zone for another easy tripping call.

New Jersey is doing everything in their power to lose games right now, it’s something they’ve been elite at since Christmas. Watching the offense fruitlessly chase goals makes me feel like Oliver Twist holding out a bowl begging for more. Meanwhile the defense is leakier, and the goaltending, while generally pretty good, has not been able to bail them out. The freefall continues.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

The Game Highlights: Courtesy of the NHL’s website

Four Score And Seven Years Ago

The “Four Score” refers to four goals scored, and the “Seven Years Ago” refers to approximately how long it’s been since the Devils reached that plateau. Since the Christmas break, here’s how many goals New Jersey has scored in each game:

12/27 vs. CAR: 4

12/28 @ CAR: 2

12/31 @ ANA: 2

1/1 @ LAK: 0

1/4 @ SJS: 2

1/6 @ SEA: 3

1/9 @ NYR: 2

1/11 vs. TBL: 3

1/14 vs. FLA: 1

1/16 @TOR: 3

1/18 vs. PHI: 1

Today: 1

So to recap, the Devils reached four goals immediately out of the break, and haven’t been back there since. That’s 11 straight games with three goals or fewer. The Devils have scored six goals in their last four games, and 20 goals over their last 11. Not even two goals per game.

As they say, something’s gotta give.

Juggling The Lineup?

Late in this game, we saw Sheldon Keefe mix and match with his lines and pairs a little bit. Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton were out together for an offensive zone faceoff. Nico Hischier took a shift between Paul Cotter and Dawson Mercer. In fact, Hischier was double shifted a few times in the final frame.

Former coach Lindy Ruff was notorious for being impatient with his lines and pairings, putting them in the blender more times than not during his time in New Jersey. Thus far, Keefe has been the opposite. Aside from injuries, Keefe has been remarkably consistent with his lines and pairs aside from Tomas Tatar and Kurtis MacDermid rotating in and out for each other.

These changes were minor, and they were most likely borne out of desperation for offense late in a game as opposed to changes that will actually stick, but I do wonder if more substantial changes are coming. As it is right now, continuing to run these lines and pairs out there is the definition of insanity. It doesn’t have to be permanent, but I would welcome some line juggling.

Back-To-Back Pain Yet Again

With the loss today, New Jersey drops to 1-6-1 in the second half of back-to-backs this season, with their lone win coming in Prague in the second game of the season. So that means the Devils have now lost their last seven games in this situation. A season after getting done in by their ineptitude in the second half of back-to-backs, this problem is not going away.

For the record, the Devils have four more back-to-back sets remaining. That means four more chances at avoiding pain. And it also means that the Devils have clinched a losing record in the second half of back-to-backs this season.

A Reminder Of The Better Times

Since the Devils have played like it’s the Dead Puck Era recently, now feels like as good a time as any to throw out a reminder: New Jersey’s next game, this coming Wednesday the 22nd, is Ring of Honor night. Former head coach, Hockey Hall of Famer, and Devils legend Jacques Lemaire will become the third person inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor after former owner John McMullen and three-time Stanley Cup champion Sergei Brylin.

Lemaire is the winningest coach in franchise history, and led the Devils to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title in 1995. His accomplishments speak for themselves, he is as good a candidate as any for this honor. If you want a reminder of better times, grab a ticket or tune into the MSG broadcast before the game to catch the ceremony. Congratulations, Jacques.

Next Time Out

As mentioned, The Devils are back in action on Wednesday when they host the Boston Bruins during Ring of Honor night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm.

Your Take

What did you make of today’s game? Would you make changes to the lines and pairings? Do you think the current norovirus bug is affecting the team that badly? What are your fondest memories of Jacques Lemaire? As always, thanks for reading.