Brenden Dillon 'almost speechless' on New Jersey Devils' 3rd-period struggles

1 week ago  /  NHL Trade Rumors  /  Read Time: 1 minute 36 seconds

New Jersey Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon called out his team for their terrible play in third periods. Recently, the Devils haven't been able to hold onto leads and have been crumbling under pressure in the final frame.Dillon spoke to reporters recently and opened up about what needs to change in Jersey to get the Devils back on track, and able to close out games. "Our mindset's got to be, we've got to outcompete that team still for the entire 60 minutes. .. It might take 65, it might take, in playoffs, way longer than that," he said after Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Calgary Flames. "It's sad to say we're learning lessons at game 71, but I feel like that's what we've got to take out of it. You win or you learn. How many games are we gonna look back on now where we had our chance to get points and we didn't? We can sit here and say the same thing, but we've got to be better at it. I'm almost speechless. It's so, so frustrating."The latest crumble came at the hands of the Calgary Flames. The Devils had a 3-1 third-period lead, but gave up four unanswered goals. Dillon couldn't believe his eyes that it was happening once again. "We're up two," Dillon said. "We've got to be confident in that situation. ... Every goal is just self-inflicted stuff, whether that's us having the puck and throwing it away, or a D-zone coverage lapse. It's not like we can sit here and be like, 'Oh yeah, Calgary was just an unbelievable team,' (but) obviously give credit to them for pushing and coming back."Even Devils' head coach Sheldon Keefe doesn't know what's going on recently with his hockey club. "It's caught me off guard, quite honestly," he said of the Devils' last two third periods. "This hasn't been an issue for us all season long. Don't know what to make of that. Thought (Columbus) was maybe our wake-up call. ... As fate would have it, puts us in a similar situation. ... A chance to get it right, and obviously failed to do that. Why is it happening? I don't know."The Devils are dealing with major injuries to Dougie Hamilton and Jack Hughes, and although they're struggling, they still have an eight-point lead on the New York Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Metro Division standings.Photo credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images...

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