An observation and question.
You have to admit that the Devils are possessing well. They are winning board battles, cycling and getting point shots. However, these shots never seem to produce anything. Is it because these shots create no anxiety from the opponent (too weak, too innacurate)? What's different about the myriad of Devils's point shots relative to other teams? It's not like teams are scoring Kessel-esque goals on a routine basis.
They won't play tough hockey and take the puck into the hard areas and get their nose dirty. Perimeter passing, zone entry along the boards, cycle low, keep the puck to the outside, back to the point, shot wide, cycle back low, to the point, turnover, zone exit, dump and line change - repeat. That is what creates the huge time of possession and low quality shots. Nobody outside Zubrus and ugh, yes Clarkson will try to take the puck into the slot through a defender with a toe drag for good measure. Until you create the chaos in tight, you're not going to pull the defenders out of position and create space for the pass or rebound shot.
The only way this perimeter attack will score is if you have snipers taking one timers on quick passes out high or back door down low (think Stamkos and Ovechkin). The Devils force it to Kovy to do this and tried to get Zidlicky involved but he misses the net way too much for it to really be a threat so they just focus on Kovy when he's out there. Now that he is missing, nobody wants to shoot and honestly I think we are, and have been the absolute worst team at getting off one-timers for the better part of a decade now.
Zach didn't do them, Zajac does a very short quarter version similar to how Arnott did them, Elias is lucky if he gets good contact on them and looks like he's getting a prostate exam when attempting them, Henrique is a pure wrist shot and backhand shooter, Clarkson never gets a pass for them because he's ripping a turnaround or wrap around shot on net instead of trying to pass, and the guys that try them the most is the CBGB line and it's a whiff more times than not. D'Ags, Poni, Josefson, etc... just not part of their game as far as I've seen. Zubrus again is the only person I see that tries it with any confidence and his accuracy is less than stellar at it.
This is why our PP stinks too because it utilizes the same basic principle of perimeter possession and point shots. I think our missed shot % is close to 50% for the entire team and only one defenseman has below a 40% number and that is Mark Fayne. So you throw forwards on the point and then hope you don't take a SHG against, but we do. This is why Shaw drives me nuts. Change it to a high-low system and force a pass from behind the net once in a while to the slot and it will change the look enough to open up a shot from the point that won't hit shinpads because they have dropped down low to support the puck.
