One day after the New Jersey Devils fell to the Nashville Predators at home, they cross state lines to take on the New York Islanders. The Predators beat the Islanders on Thursday before going to New Jersey for the second half of a back-to-back. The team from Music City took both.
While the Devils might not be high flying, the Islanders have had their own well-publicized troubles. They recently broke an 11-game losing streak, although once Nashville came to town they couldn’t put together a winning streak. That’s surprising for a team that had made it to the Stanley Cup semi-final (remember it was called something different last year) the past two seasons.
Keys To Victory
Back to Back: The Devils have played three sets of back-to-backs this season, with this being the fourth. They’ve split two of those back to back. They’ve lost both games of the other. Can New Jersey even up this two-game home and away set?
Welcome To Belmont: They called the Nassau Coliseum “Fort Never-Lose”, but so far UBS Arena has been “Fort Never Win”. After that 13 game road trip, the islanders are yet to win a game in their new home. Hopefully, that streak doesn’t end when New Jersey comes to town.
Capitalize on Chances: Last night was only the second game of the season where New Jersey scored first, yet didn’t even get a point in the standings. Even though that first period was scoreless, New Jersey did have a six to three shot advantage and didn’t capitalize on the chances they were given. That might have cost them the game.
Players To Watch
Zach Parise: You all know why he’s on this list. He’s far from the Islander’s best player, but Devils fans will still pay attention to their former captain. It’s been a while since he left Newark for Minnesota. Devils fans may forgive, but they don’t forget.
Akira Schmid: With the injury to Jonathan Bernier and Nico Daws, the Devils have called up the Utica Devils backstop. With Blackwood starting on Friday’s game he’s sure to make his NHL debut. Schmid has a 1.60 goals-against average and .944 save percentage in the AHL. The Islanders are 30th in the NHL having an average of 28 shots per game. For comparison, Daws saw 25 shots in his NHL debut against the Buffalo Sabres earlier this season.
Jesper Bratt: The Devils leading scorer added an assist on the Devils first goal Friday night. He’s scored at least a point in 13 of the last 15 games. This was after going pointless in the Devil’s first five games.
Projected Lineups
New Jersey Devils
Check back to our media channels on Saturday for up to date information.
New York Islanders
Anders Lee-Mathew Barzal-Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Kyle Palmieri
Kiefer Bellows-Austin Czarnik-Oliver Wahlstrom
Ross Johnston-Zach Parise-Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech-Scott Mayfeild
Andy Greene-Noah Dobson
Zdeno Chara-Sebastian Aho
Semyon Varlamov, Ilya Sorokin
Odds For Tonight’s Game
The money line odds for the Devils tonight are 130 against the New York Islanders. Tonight’s over-under goal matchup is set at 5.5 goals. All odds are courtesy of Betway, sign up at Betway.com today!
Prediction
Let’s hope the Islanders’ struggles at home continue. 3-2 New Jersey Devils. Devils need a win after last night.