Devils Make Full Scale Line Changes | BLOG

Arguably the Devils' most productive line last season was the trio of Pavel Zacha, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt.
So far this season, that trio has been on the ice for only one 5-on-5 goal, which came 17 seconds into the season-opener against Chicago (Dougie Hamilton). Since then, that line struggled to re-find the chemistry that defined them in the previous season.
"When you don't play for four, five months it's something you have to work on in practice and games," Zacha said. "We had good chemistry there. We showed it on some shifts. We still have to work on it."

After seven periods, head coach Lindy Ruff had seen enough, splitting up the top line during a 4-1 loss to Washington after the first period. They reunited for the start of Saturday's overtime win against Buffalo, only to be reconfigured once again following 20 minutes of play.
"It seems every time I've flipped some personnel, second or third period, we've played better," Ruff said.
So, now Ruff is making the flips before the start of the first period. The team used the following workflow at Monday's practice:
Kuokkanen-Hischier-Sharangovich
Zacha-Mercer-Tatar
Johnson-McLeod-Bratt
Vesey-Gauthier-Geertsen
"Part of the thought was trying to give every line a guy that will get to the net front, create a few more net-front screens and second opportunities," Ruff said. "There's an opportunity just to try some combinations. Maybe a little more net-front, maybe a little more excitement from guys playing with different personnel. That's all we're looking at."
While there is a comfort level among some of the previous line combinations, a change may be what the individuals need to spark some play.

"Lines change and you have to find someone on every line that you click with," Zacha said. "It's something every line has to work on to get better.
"I'm happy to play with them and see where we go. It was our first practice (with new lines). We had some talks of what we want to do. We just have to carry it over for (Tuesday against Calgary)."
Though the club is beta testing some new configurations, that doesn't mean that at some point the Zacha-Hischier-Bratt line won't be reunited.
"We are all confident in ourselves that the chemistry is right there. Right now, we have to simplify it and get into the game a little bit," Bratt said. "For me, it becomes being harder on pucks, winning more of my battles, being harder down low, protecting the puck and keep being the offensive threat that we want to be, try to create stuff every single shift and be the player and line for the team."

Ruff also switched up his backend, most notably pairing the team's two best offensive defensemen together in Ty Smith and Dougie Hamilton. Ruff said the move was meant to top load talent for more offensive production.
"An opportunity to play them with our top offensive lines and try to help us create a little bit more," Ruff said of that top pairing. "We really feel the way we're setup, that group of six can play against anybody and we have a little bit of offense in every group."
Ryan Graves was paired with Damon Severson. P.K. Subban remained with Jonas Siegenthaler, the only hold over from the start of the season.