I don't think Ruff's answer was as truculent as the abbreviated reporting of it has made it out to be. Sure, the beginning was snarky and unnecessary, but Ruff has to be as frustrated as we are with the team slipping away again. [edit: FWIW: I agree that we should not be throwing pucks to middle of ice]
Holtz did make a bad pass there. Bahl was his intended recipient but the backcheck on Bahl was good and Bahl is not super strong for his size, so he did not get the puck, so it was a glorious turnover. Holtz needs to see that Bahl is being molested and make a different pass. Keep the puck and skate up, and be willing to take a hit and a board battle, or chip it up and out of the zone. That's a safer turnover.
That said, talk to him. And don't sit him every time he makes a mistake, because you'll end up having a player anxiety ridden about making mistakes. His production is pretty good for his ice time - 0.5 ppg for 8 minutes is excellent in this league.
There are plenty of Devils who turn the puck over. We have gaffes all the time that end up in the middle or a good rush. Nemec last night had a drop pass that led to a rush into our zone. Hughes we've talked about (both of them).
There are plenty of Devils who are struggling in general. Marino and Siegenthaler this year. I get that D is harder to deal with. Meier was on for the first two goals against if I'm not mistaken. I'm not thinking Meier should have been benched.
The team went to 3 lines after the tie too, if Holtz didn't play much, and that seemed to gas them. Not recognizing that is an issue.
My point I guess is that there's plenty of targets to shake fingers at, Holtz being held to a standard different from everyone else seems unfair.