The Devils Need To Rethink Their Overtime Strategy (Hint: Less Sami Vatanen)

The Devils are 1-7 in games that are tied after regulation. It’s not a fluke either — the record is well-deserved. The Devils have the worst shot differential, goal differential, and expected goal differential in the NHL in 3v3 play according to Corsica. There are many things in analytics that are vague or debatable. You will seldom see something as unambiguously true as the following statement: The Devil have been the worst OT team in the NHL this season.

Why is that? We have one of the best young players in the league in Nico Hischier as well as a reigning MVP in Taylor Hall. Top-heavy teams should thrive in OT no? We were, by all those metrics, a slightly above average NHL team in OT last…