Devils lose Nasreddine debut

The New Jersey Devils were overwhelmed by the third-period onslaught of Jonathan Marchessault, who scored three consecutive goals to lift the Las Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-3 win and ruin the first outing of interim head Alain Nasreddine.

The Devils led after two periods 2-1 from a first-period goal from Kyle Palmieri (10) and a second period tally from Jesper Bratt (5) before the assault from Marchessault moved the Golden Knights to a two-goal lead.
Nico Hischier would cut the lead to one goal with his fifth goal of the season, but there would be no further scoring.
The Devils will host Chicago Friday night in their next game.
We will have coverage of that game, but not their Saturday game in Nashville as we will have the Big Ten championship game at the same time.

Hell Raisers

1) Before we turn Jonathan Marchessault into the next Brett Hull as far as goal-scoring, Marchessault scored a third of his goals for the season in that third period.
Add into that, two of the three were part of the puck hopping the wrong way, particularly the first goal which bounced off Marchessault leg following a centering pass.

2) Damon Severson finished with two assists, but the long pass to Jesper Bratt that resulted in the Devils second goal was beautiful.
Severson isn't always the most disciplined defender, but every once in a while he brings an offensive flair that you wish could be corralled and turned into consistency.

3) I thought a first-period boarding call on William Carrier on Matt Tennyson was a really dirty hit and I thought the resulting call on Will Butcher for going after Carrier was one of those that hurt the team, yet was one that needed to be taken.
If you establish that you'll be bullied, teams will continue to do so.

4) I also thought that Mackenzie Blackwood was very good in goal despite allowing four goals.
The scoresheet doesn't show it, but none of those goals was Blackwood's fault and two were bad bounces or deflections.
Blackwood's season numbers haven't looked great, but he has played far better than the numbers show.

5) The Devils did play well in the first two periods under interim coach Alain Nasreddine, but I didn't see a huge uptick in energy.
I saw a definite increase from the trip to Buffalo, but a dead slug might have been more energetic than that game.
I think Nasreddine needs some time to run some practices and establish himself, but I'm not sure that he is the answer and the Devils (so far in limited data) might be best suited to play this out and hire from outside the organization in the offseason

6) Jack Hughes missed his second straight game with a hand injury and I'm looking forward to seeing how the coaching change will help Hughes.
Hughes has four goals and seven assists this season, which is a little disappointing but understandable with the struggles of the team.
The Hockey News wrote an article about the possibility of the Devils allowing Hughes to play for the American team in the World Hockey Junior Championship.
It is intriguing to think about as Hughes isn't going to turn this season around for the team by himself and it could be good for his spirit and development to play in an environment where he would be the dominant player for a while.
Hughes would miss a month, but it is something to at least consider under these circumstances.