MORNING SKATE RECAP<\/p>\n
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Devils arrive in Salt Lake City with a clearer sense of who they want to be and a fresh opportunity to prove it against a Utah team that has quietly made its home ice difficult to play on.<\/p>\n
After a win in Vegas that head coach Sheldon Keefe described as process-driven rather than result-based, the Devils are focused less on the scoreboard and more on replicating habits.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to be process-driven,\u201d Keefe said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s five-on-five, penalty kill, or power play, you want to put forth something you can believe in and duplicate and build upon.\u201d<\/p>\n
That mindset showed up immediately against the Golden Knights, particularly on special teams. Even without a power-play goal, the Devils generated momentum early.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin just a few seconds of our first power play, Nico rips one off the post,\u201d Keefe said. \u201cWe had a couple great saves (against us) right after that. That gives the team confidence offensively, and I think that transfers into the five-on-five play too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesper Bratt echoed that sentiment, pointing to the two days between games as a reset.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a little bit more of a meeting to refocus and try to find our identity again,\u201d Bratt said. \u201cThe way the game started in Vegas, first shift, getting thrown into the fire right away, that was good for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Identity Over Outcomes<\/p>\n
For Bratt, the biggest takeaway from Vegas wasn\u2019t what went on the scoresheet, but how the Devils played.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the power play was good as well and pretty much did everything without scoring,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s our reads, being aggressive, the other guys reading off what the first guy\u2019s doing. If he\u2019s pressuring, then everyone else is joining.\u201d<\/p>\n
That aggression has also carried over to the penalty kill.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur swagger on the PK, even on the bench, it\u2019s like, \u2018Guys, we\u2019ll get this done and create momentum and then we\u2019ll go to work,\u2019\u201d Bratt said.<\/p>\n
Keefe agreed that those details have been missing at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of striking early, being organized, solving pressure, winning face-offs, it hasn\u2019t quite been there for us,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I loved how we dug in, won the face-off, were able to strike right away and get the puck back. That\u2019s what you want your power play to look like.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge now is consistency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been doing a pretty good job,\u201d Bratt said, \u201cbut the challenge for us has been to do it over and over again and not take a step back. Today\u2019s the perfect test after the type of game we played in Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Managing the Middle of the Ice<\/p>\n
Against a Utah team that ranks among the league leaders in shot differential and thrives on quick transitions, the neutral zone looms large.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be in and out of our zone quickly, through the neutral zone,\u201d Keefe said. \u201cWhen we do that, we\u2019re able to tilt the ice and get our forechecking game going or even a rush game if you catch them in between.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bratt pointed to improved structure from the forwards as a key factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been talking a lot about having that guy close to the battle but also being ready to skate back the other way,\u201d he said. \u201cStripping pucks in the neutral zone to transition and go the other way. Last game in Vegas, we had a good identity with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keefe noted there\u2019s still work to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there was one area we want to clean up from Vegas, it\u2019s that we lost our (high forward) a few times,\u201d he said. \u201cBut for the most part, we\u2019ve done a good job of being above the threat and killing plays early.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ready for the Test<\/p>\n
Utah presents a different challenge than Vegas, but one the Devils believe fits their focus on habits and detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a team that forechecks well, is dangerous on the rush, and defends through the neutral zone very well,\u201d Keefe said. \u201cManaging that area of the game is going to be important for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Bratt, the circumstances are familiar.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve dealt with this in the past where guys are hurt and the guys in the room have to get the job done,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just about not taking a step back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team held an optional skate after a late and lengthy practice yesterday afternoon. As such, we don’t know much about the lineup including who might start in goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MORNING SKATE RECAP SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Devils arrive in Salt Lake City with a clearer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-358921","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}