newjerseynewsroom.com

BY SAM HITCHCOCK

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

It has been said that the best defense is a good offense. Well, the reverse can also be true, and the Devils defensemen have underscored this over the last four games.

When watching the backlines on teams like the Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, or in the Ottawa Senators’ case, Erik Karlsson alone, having defensemen who can move the puck and contribute offensively is more important than ever in the increasingly fast-paced NHL.

With the elimination of the red line and the development of the stretch pass, teams are more vulnerable defensively. With increased emphasis on preventing blindside open-ice hits, and further limitations to defensemen’s abilities to slow down forwards in their defensive zone by holding them or obstructing them with their stick, teams are more handcuffed defensively, which makes them more inclined to clog the neutral zone by only sending one forechecker. This slows the pace of the game down and keeps the score lower.

Which is where a highly skilled offensive defenseman comes in, and is a big reason why the 21-year-old Karlsson will win the Norris Trophy this season. Teams that push the tempo and offensively transition quickly with their defensemen, allow for more space for their forwards to maneuver and open up the offensive attack.

Admittedly, it took Marek Zidlicky a few games to find his groove, but his vision with the puck and quarterbacking of the power play have concentrated opponents’ even- strength defense and penalty kill to a smaller space, allowing the Devils offense to get better shots from closer to the net.

But what has been the most fascinating development of this four-game stretch has been that other Devils defensemen have slid down into the offensive zone and successfully created offense.

Starting with Tuesday a week ago against the Blueshirts, Kovy finally broke his nine-game goalless drought on a breakaway. Thanks to a nice saucer pass by Parise, and Ryan McDonagh falling on his back, Kovy slipped into the offensive zone unobstructed and fired a shot past Lundqvist to give the Devils the early lead. But just seconds earlier, this scoring play began when Greene created a turnover in the neutral zone, and chipped the puck past Rangers forward Derek Stepan onto Parise’s stick.

On Thursday, the Devils defense had a big impact on the scoring end from the first whistle. Kovy’s first goal came after all three of his line touched the puck, with Henrique passing it to Parise who pushed it to Kovy. But Henrique got control of the puck behind the goal line because Fayne made a nice pinch along the boards that kept the puck in the Devils offensive zone and towards the net.