The New Jersey Devils have been far from perfect in the absence of injured franchise forward Jack Hughes, which means that everyone needs to pull their weight, and perhaps a little extra, for the team to succeed, or even tread water, until conditions improve.
At this point, it is safe to say struggling big-money goalie Jacob Markstrom has not fulfilled his end of the bargain, and that is coming off getting a two-year, $12 million ($6 million AAV) contract extension handed to him on Halloween.
Markstrom, 35, started for the Devils against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, only to put up another dreadful performance in what ended up being an 8-4 loss.