Devils Goaltending Gets Exposed in Series Against Carolina

The Carolina Hurricanes exposed a major weakness in the New Jersey Devils lineup in their second-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That weakness was goaltending.

General manager Tom Fitzgerald thought he had solved the Devils issue of goaltending with the acquisition of Vitek Vanecek. Despite a great regular season with a record of 33-11-4 with 2.45 goals against average and a .911 save percentage, those numbers are right around league average. However, Vanecek has not got the job done in the playoffs.

Again this is the most hockey Vanecek has played in his career. You can point to how the Devils handled the goaltending situation down the stretch. The Devils were rotating between Vanecek, Akira Schmid, and Mackenzie Blackwood. That might have thrown off Vanecek and his play. But still, he has not given the Devils the timely save they needed in the playoffs as he had all season long.

At times, Vanecek looked solid for the Devils, but once one goal went in, his confidence was shot. Thus the Devils had to make a goalie change in Round 1 against the New York Rangers.

Schmid entered the series and gave the Devils exactly what they needed. A calm and cool presence in between the pipes. He got the job done outside of Game 6 in the Garden. Schmid had two shutouts in the five games he played in the first round. His numbers were solid too and so was the team in front of him. Schmid finished the playoffs with 2.35 goals against average and a .921 save percentage with two shutouts.

But we have to remember, Schmid is 22 years old. So like the rest of the team, he is young and does not have experience in the playoffs. Now, Schmid could be the future goalie of this team, but it will take time.

Then there is Blackwood. He has not played a game since the last game of the regular season when he was pulled. Blackwood has shown flashes of brilliance but has not consistently been able to put it together. Whether it is from injury or other issues, it felt like Blackwood’s time with the Devils was coming to an end. That might not be the case anymore.

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If the Devils want to take the next step, they need a true number-one goalie. They need someone who can make the timely save. Schmid did his best and so did Vanecek, but the Devils need someone they can count on. And again maybe Schmid is that guy, but goaltending wins you a Stanley Cup and the Hurricanes got the timely save.

Now regardless of who was in the net for the Devils in Game 4 of the series, they were not going to stop the puck that evening. Call it a lack of effort, lack of defence, and poor goaltending. The Devils just quit in that game.

However, having a number one goalie that can stop the puck gives the players a boost of confidence. Now that will cost the Devils a pretty penny. The names out there this offseason include Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta of the Hurricanes, Jonathan Quick, Laurent Brossoit, Semyon Varlamov, and Jonas Korpisalo.

And of course, they could trade for someone like Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets. Hellebuyck has made it known that he does not want to be a part of the rebuild. He has one year left on his current deal and wants to win a Stanley Cup. With the way the Devils are coming, Hellebuyck to the Devils makes sense. Again it may cost the Devils a player like Jesper Bratt.

That is where it needs to start. While the Devils defence can improve too, and don’t think Fitzgerald has not noticed that too, having a number one guy can help those defenders feel more confident in their own play.

The Hurricanes did a job of exposing a young and inexperienced team in the playoffs. The issue of goaltending, which everyone thought the Devils had fixed, is an area the team must again address this offseason.