December 2024 Month in Review of the New Jersey Devils

Yesterday was the first day of 2025. The New Jersey Devils played on that day so it made more sense to put up the December month in review after that. It was a very good December for the Devils. The team went 8-4-1. The ninth best record in the NHL for December, tied with Florida and Washington. You can can count the number of losses in December on one hand. They entered the final part of 2024 in first place in the Metropolitan Division. They won games at home. They beat down Our Hated Rivals twice. They are a point behind first in the division and entered 2025 with the league’s fourth best record. The team’s playoff odds per Moneypuck can be described as “nearly guaranteed.” While January has already started, let us take a quick look back at what happened last month, how the team performed, and who excelled the most.

The Games of December 2024

The New Jersey Devils started the final month of the calendar year with their first game of the season against Our Hated Rivals. These games are always important. The People Who Matter remember them well. And so many were very happy that the Devils just smacked them down 5-1. Thanks to Steve Valiquette, there is even a term to describe it: “Instagram Hockey.” Keep that in mind for later in December; the Rangers would get posted up even worse.

After the win in Manhattan, the Devils began a five-game stay at home. This was a bit of a concern as the Devils’ home record was not so strong. But it would be successful.

• The homestand on December 6 started with a 3-2 win over Seattle. As Jackson noted, this game included Jesper Bratt’s 500th NHL game, Dougie Hamilton’s 800th game, Timo Meier’s 200th goal, and Luke Hughes’ first goal of the season.
• On December 8, the team was not so good and got goalied up by Scott Wedgewood of the Colorado Avalanche. The Devils lost 0-4 to the Avs.
• Frustration and/or defensive dominance hit a high on December 10 against Toronto. The Devils held the Maple Leafs to 17 shots. They lost 1-2 in overtime due to Jacob Markstrom not closing his five hole in regulation and Auston Matthews not missing his fourth attempt at a one-on-one attempt in OT.
• The Devils would bounceback on December 12 against Los Angeles. Against a defensively strong Kings team, the Devils out-shot them 26-14. They won 3-1 featuring a Brett Pesce shorthanded goal as insurance.
• It seemed like the Devils would get goalied again on December 14 to Drew Commesso of the Chicago Blackhawks. Then the third period happened and the Devils beat him four times. Most notably, a goal after a monster possession shift after a Blackhawk icing and a Jesper Bratt hit on a forecheck that created Jack Hughes’ goal. The Devils won 4-1 and held the Blackhawks to 17 shots on net.

The Devils went 3-1-1 on the homestand. Seven out of ten points is a winning result. Perhaps more impressively as how they kept every one of their opponents to 25 shots or fewer. In fact, the last three games had the Devils’ opponents held to fewer than 20 shots on net. It would be a run that would mark the next four games for the Devils.

On December 17, the Devils hit the road to play St. Louis. Jordan Binnington goalied and shutout the Devils in his last appearance against them in November. On that day, when Ondrej Palat rifled a shot shortside after a dump-in off the endboards, you knew it was not going to happen again. The Devils owned the game in a 4-1 victory. The Blues were held to 20 shots. Unfortunately, the goalie-ing would happen two nights later in Ohio. Elvis Merzlikins stood on his head and put in one of the best performances of his career against the Devils. He made 40 out of 42 saves, including several that made all involve look up to the sky in amazement. The Devils were not as sharp and so they lost 2-4 to the Blue Jackets. Still held Columbus to 20 shots on net. The Devils then had a run of five games of keeping opponents to 20 or fewer shots.

The first meeting against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have since salvaged their horrible start to the season, took place at the Rock on December 21. The Devils simply out-worked and out-performed the Pens. Jacob Markstrom made two huge saves amid just 12 by the Penguins as a whole. The Devils went up a goal and never looked back in a 3-0 win. It would be an appetizer for Festivus afternoon against Our Hated Rivals.

On a 1 PM ET start time on December 23, the Instagram Hockey playing New Jersey Devils put in one of the most dominant performances of the season. Pittsburgh had two big chances to score in that one. The Rangers arguably did not have much of any amid their 12 shots. The Devils went up early. Their power play blew up the score. They kept adding to it. The Rangers wanted fights and the Devils won those too. Pick an aspect of a hockey game and the New Jersey Devils were just better than Our Hated Rivals in that afternoon. Even the trash-talking was epic. The Devils won 5-0. Easily one of the best games of the year. And the Devils set a franchise record with seven straight games of holding opponents to 20 shots or fewer.

With a home-and-home against Carolina, that record was not going to last. And it did not against the high-event, high-pressure, shoot-from-anywhere-and-shoot-some-more Hurricanes. The Devils prevailed in the first half at the Rock on December 27. The Devils may have not repeated their gameplan to dull the Carolina pressure, but they did pounce on rebounds and make Carolina suffer within their own gameplan. Markstrom was quite good and the Devils won 4-2. This was the last home game of December; the Devils’ home record improved to 12-6-3 from it. Unfortunately, the home-and-home would not be a sweep on December 28 in Raleigh. Jake Allen was great for two periods but let in a poor goal that tied it up. An amazingly bad call against Timo Meier for kneeing Martin Necas was made after a review. He got a major and a misconduct on a check where Meier did not even lead with the knee and Necas never missed a shift. Carolina got one on that power play, got another shortly after, and the Devils were not going to come back in that one. So they did not in a 2-5 loss to the Canes.

The Devils ended the new year in Orange County, California. The Devils’ game in Raleigh began a six-game road trip that will take the team through California. The Devils beat Anaheim earlier in the season. They would put in a disappointing performance. Lukas Dostal goalied them for a period (and overall). Then the Devils got sloppy and undisciplined. The team did rally and ended up tying up the game at 2-2. But a late third period goal ended the game - and the year of 2024 - with a 2-3 loss. Sheldon Keefe was not happy with that performance and the grind of the season continues onward.

By the Numbers

All stats come from Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com where mentioned. Stats in the top ten are colored in green; stats in the bottom ten of the league (23rd to 32nd) are colored in red. Ties in rank are rounded up to the highest rank.

5-on-5 Play: In a word: dominance. Except in one thing.

Natural Stat Trick

The one thing is that shooting percentage. It was one of the few things about December’s 5-on-5 performance that did not end up in the top-ten and so the Devils’ production was not in the top-ten. You can blame it on a few goaltending performances by the opposition - Wedgewood, Stolarz, Merzlikins, and Dostal. You can blame it on fortune. However, when the broadcast or Keefe or someone like me points out that the Devils are doing the right things, this is what that looks like from a numbers-perspective. The Devils went 8-4-1. It is a very good process.

And that is what all of the green is for. The Devils were a top-five team in shooting attempts in December. Given their streak of 20-or-fewer-shots-allowed, they finished first in the NHL in shots allowed per 60 minutes. They were exceptional relative to the league when it came to chances for and against, high danger and otherwise. The goaltending was on point for a change, largely driven by Jacob Markstrom’s hot December. The expected goals prove that the Devils did a whole lot of good things in December. If the shooting percentage was a bit higher, then the Devils could have won 9 or 10 out of 13 games. The player 5-on-5 numbers for December were great across the board with only Curtis Lazar and his three appearances being the lone player with a sub-50% xGF%. Again, it is a very good process. The worst thing the Devils could do is throw away part or all of it because the team went 8-4-1 in December instead of 9-3-1 or 8-3-2.

Production-wise, it is not as impressive given the team’s 9.12% shooting percentage for the month. Only Jesper Bratt hit double-digits in 5-on-5 points with 11. Ondrej Palat led the team with five goals, followed by The Big Deal. As you would expect, the production was largely supplanted by the second line - which graciously returned to Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Stefan Noesen - and defensemen. A bottom six combination of Paul Cotter, Tomas Tatar, Erik Haula, Justin Dowling, Lazar, and Nathan Bastian combined for one goal in 5-on-5 play. That goal was by Cotter in the second game against Carolina on December 28. Dawson Mercer and his three goals and one assist in 5-on-5 led them all when returned to them. If you are looking for improvement for offense, there it is; although that bottom six has kept their opposition to not a whole lot and that is usually good enough for third and fourth line play. Still, it would have been nice if they would chip in a goal here and there. Maybe in January.

Still, the process was excellent in December and a big reason why the Devils choked out opponents for six straight games on their way to going 8-4-1 in the month.

Power Play Situations: Similar to the 5-on-5 play, only with one additional downside.

NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick

If you felt that the Devils were not getting some calls, then this backs you up from a bigger picture. It is surprising to me that a team that dominant in the run of play in 5-on-5 would draw just 30 power plays. The Devils were victims of “game management” by the officials on some of the nights in December. That did not help.

Similar to their 5-on-5 play, the Devils were awesome in their process but a low shooting percentage - one of the lowest in the NHL in December - kept the power play back from scoring more than just six goals. (Note: The Big Deal was involved in all but one of them on the scoresheet.) You could say they cooled off after a fantastic October and November where they scored 28 PPGs. As of January 1, they are second to Winnipeg for the most power play goals in the league in this season - which speaks to how lethal they were. That took a step back in December. Again, the underlying rates were so high that I do not think the Devils really need to change anything. Personally, I would like to see Luke Hughes not do risky back-passes on slingshot breakouts. But that is really it. I would hate to see the staff change something significant because of a low shooting percentage for a month.

Penalty Kill Situations: This was straight forward for December: it was really good.

NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick

Even with a cold power play, the Devils managed to be a net positive on special teams because the penalty kill allowed so little. Four goals allowed in a month is exceptional for a penalty kill. I do mean the penalty kill as a whole. The goaltending was quite good but not the very, very best. This was a team effort. The discipline, outside of some moments in games, was generally good with the team conceding just 33 shorthanded situations. The on-ice against rates were all in the top-ten outside of high danger chances per 60 minutes, and even that was just outside of the green zone. The team was expected to allow 7.43 goals per 60 minutes and actually allowed less than 4 per 60 minutes - and 4 in total. The PK was led by Johnathan Kovacevic, Brenden Dillon, Nico Hischier, Brett Pesce, Dawson Mercer, and Jonas Siegenthaler. Pesce and Siegenthaler had awesome results in December. This month also featured more PK work from Jesper Bratt and The Big Deal, which went well and deepens the options for the coaching staff in terms of who to throw out there. This was great and, again, should not really change for January.

Goaltending: I will spoiler this right now: Jacob Markstrom is the Devil of the Month. Here is why:

Natural Stat Trick

Jacob Markstrom was one of the best goaltenders in the league for December. Yes, he let in some bad goals. Yes, he had the benefit of the Devils defensively locking down opponents like it was 1995. I implore you to look at those wonderful numbers in green. In 5-on-5 situations and all situations, only two starting goaltenders for their respective teams put up better numbers than Markstrom in December: Linus Ullmark and Connor Hellebuyck. And prior to the loss in Anaheim, he had a better 5-on-5 save percentage than both with an astounding 96.3% in 9 games of 5-on-5 play and an astounding 94.5% in all situations play that beat Hellebuyck and fell behind Ullmark. The man was expected to give up 16-17 goals in 5-on-5 play and allowed just 8. 24-25 goals in all situations and actually allowed only 13. He put up top-tier high-danger save percentages too, even amid the nights with low shots. Markstrom was hot in December and a major reason why the Devils were as successful as they were in the month. And when the volume picked up, he made plenty of important stops. He was great. This is all without me mentioning the back-to-back 12-save shutouts over Pittsburgh and Our Hated Rivals.

Jake Allen, well, not so much. He did pick up an injury that required Isaac Poulter to mind the door on the bench for a few games. Still, he was limited to three appearances and they did not go quite well. He was not a disaster, but giving up three more goals than expected in just three appearances is not good. Posting league-worst high danger save percentages is also not good even with limited time. Allen could have been better than this and likely will be. Fortunately, the Devils had Markstrom in full effect for the month.

Additions and Subtractions

If you want another thing to be thankful for as a fan of the New Jersey Devils, then the team’s health is a great choice. The Devils avoided serious injuries for another month and received their regulars back during this past month. They did recall Mike Hardman and Nathan Legare for the December 2 game against Our Hated Rivals. Both played in that one. Hardman was sent down on the next day. Legare would stick around for a few more games. Legare was ultimately sent down to Utica on December 10 when the Devils activated Nathan Bastian. The fourth-line winger returned to the lineup against Toronto and has been playing well in his role since his return.

There was a minor injury to Jake Allen from the December 8 loss to Colorado. Isaac Poulter was called up to back up Markstrom for a few games. Nico Daws had it for a day on December 15 and was returned on December 16. Allen returned to the team shortly thereafter. He started in the losses to Columbus on December 19 and Carolina on December 28. The goaltending tandem has been set otherwise.

The other big return was Curtis Lazar. Lazar was out with knee surgery and returned in St. Louis on December 17. This meant Justin Dowling was placed on waivers for assignment to Utica. Dowling cleared waivers and returned to New Jersey. Lazar’s knee was not quite ready to go for full-time duty. This meant some more games for Dowling. Lazar re-returned to the lineup on December 28 in the loss to Carolina.

In terms of other roster moves, Colton White (December 12 to December 22) and Nick DeSimone (December 27 and ongoing) have had recalls, with the latter being made prior to the team’s road trip. Neither saw any action. They were just spares in case there was any injury to the defensemen. There were none, so that was it. Kurtis MacDermid was often a healthy scratch for December. He played in just three games: the wins over Los Angeles and Chicago and the loss to Anaheim. It was a quiet month for additions and subtractions to the team’s roster.

Devil of the Month

In a positive month for the team, there were plenty of Devils who had good months. Jack Hughes, the Big Deal, and Jesper Bratt led the team in scoring with 16 points in the month. Timo Meier matched The Big Deal for the most goals with six. I already told you who the Devil of the Month was. Let me get to an honorable mention that is a bit off the board but also not really.

I want you, one of the People Who Matter, to hold up one finger. No, not in the sky unless you want to acknowledge The Tribal Chief. Just hold up one finger. Only one. That is how many goals the Devils have allowed in December when Jonas Siegenthaler was on the ice. One. Granted, he is not the only Devil to have just 1 GA. Haula, Tatar, Bastian, Lazar, and Legare can all claim the same. Unlike those five, Siegenthaler is a defenseman who played 227:40 for the Devils in all situations in December. He plays a lot on the team’s penalty kill and has been used in a defensive role next to Kovacevic since the start of the season. He has faced tough competition and the Devils often won that matchup. He was brilliant in his own end in December. Just look at the Devils’ rate of expected goals against when he was on the ice in December. Again, in all situations it was 2.04 per 60, which is really good and the best among all Devils defensemen in the month. The actual goal against rate was 0.26 - which was because the opposition just got one goal when #71 was on the ice. Remember that the Devils have allowed 20 or fewer shots in seven games in a row in this thirteen-game month. Siegenthaler was a key reason why as the Devils allowed just 63 all month in all situations when he was on the ice. Only one went in. For a month where the defense was a standout, Siegenthaler was the definition of a shutdown defender. For this, he is the honorable mention for Devil of the Month for December 2024.

The All About the Jersey Devil of the Month for December 2024 is Jacob Markstrom. Markstrom was legitimately one of the best goalies in the NHL and, by extension, the world for December 2024. I covered his numbers in detail in the Goaltending subsection of the By the Numbers section. Go read that again to understand why he is the one here.

Concluding Thoughts & Your Take

It always feels a bit off to write that a month was good when the last game was a loss. Just like last month’s month in review post. I get it. In this day and age, it is not about what was done but what just happened and those feeling overwrite the facts. However, this post (and much of this site) is often more about the facts over the feelings. The fact is that the Devils had a good December. They went 8-4-1. They entered the month in second place in the Metropolitan Division. They left December in second place in the Metropolitan Division. They had awesome underlying rates, apparent from just watching the games, but done in by a combination of puck luck and a handful of goalies having amazing nights. Even so, the Devils won 8 out of 13 games and erased a number of concerns:

• Could the Devils win at home? The Devils had a five-game homestand at home amid eight out of thirteen games at the Rock. They went 6-1-1 against them.
• Could the Devils get good performances from Markstrom or do they need to give more minutes to Allen? Markstrom soared in December.
• What happens if the power play goes cold? Well, it did to a point and the Devils won 8 out of 13 games.
• When will Luke Hughes score? He got a goal and Luke Hughes was great in December.

By month’s end the only major one that remains is the lack of scoring from the team’s bottom six forwards. Which is an issue to a point. Even if they are keeping opponents at bay, getting nothing from them on most nights limits the Devils’ offense. What about losing to teams like Anaheim and Columbus? Like getting goalied, it happens to everyone. For example: the league-leading Winnipeg Jets have losses to Columbus and Anaheim in December as well. Even the top teams blow games to lesser opponents in this league.

If you want to look at the glass as half-empty, then do not be too annoyed when I tell you it is over halfway full. Because it was in December with the eight wins, which included regulation victories over contending teams like Los Angeles and Carolina. Plus absolute embarrassments of Our Hated Rivals. If the Devils can accomplish this with lower shooting percentages than expected, then imagine the amazingness yet to come. This is a really good Devils team and the past month further proved how good Instagram Hockey can be. Let’s resolve to accept that in 2025. Even if Steve Valiquette will not.

Now that you know what I think about this past month, I want to know what you think of how the team performed in December. Are you convinced that the team is Actually Good? What do you want to see from the team in December? What does a successful December look like to you? Would you agree that Jacob Markstrom is the Devil of the Month? If not, who would you pick and why? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about the past month of Devils hockey in the comments. Thank you for reading.