New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff deflects blame for team's power play struggles, grills media for creating excess pressure

By Abhilasha Aditi

Modified Feb 23, 2024 18:06 GMT

New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff found himself addressing the team's recent struggles on the power play after a disappointing 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers. Ruff did not shy away from expressing his frustration, particularly with the media's role in exacerbating the pressure on the struggling team.

Ruff told reporters (via NJ.com):

"When you're struggling, and I imagine you've asked every player, now they're feeling it."

Ruff acknowledged the team's efforts to address the power-play issues, emphasizing the coaching staff's commitment to making necessary adjustments.

Lindy Ruff continued, directing his remarks towards the media:

"You guys are creating excess pressure. Us, as a staff, we'll go through that power play. We changed things up. We met with individual groups tonight versus, usually, you meet with all 10 or 11 of your power-play guys. We'll go through the whole thing again and just try to keep getting better."

The Devils, who currently hold the 15th-ranked power play in the NHL, have faced a recent decline in performance. Ruff acknowledged the team's struggles by saying:

"When we have two young defensemen that are anchoring, there's really not a replacement up top for us."

Rookies Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec have been tasked with quarterbacking the power play in the absence of the injured Dougie Hamilton.

Lindy Ruff said:

"They've probably done a better than expected job for me — both those kids — and they're going to continue to grow. There's a lot of stuff you like about their game. But ... with young defensemen, there are going to be mistakes and poor decisions at times. But you have to just live with that and grow through it."

The game for which Lindy Ruff defended the Devils

The New York Rangers secured their ninth consecutive win, tying their longest streak in eight seasons, with a dominating 5-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Center Mika Zibanejad emphasized the team's confidence in its penalty kill, saying:

"I think just in general, especially after the first five-minute kill, we had confidence in our kill and the way we were pressuring, the way we were taking time and space away, with all the kills. That was great."

Captain Jacob Trouba highlighted the team's attention to detail in penalty killing. Alexis Lafreniere scored two goals, and goaltender Igor Shesterkin's outstanding performance, with 39 saves, played a crucial role.

The Rangers are now one win away from tying their franchise's longest winning streak.