The New Jersey Devils began their road trip with a surprising win over the Dallas Stars. The Stars are still in the Western Conference playoff race. After a second period power play goal from Ryan Sutter, New Jersey scored three unanswered to beat Dallas on their own ice.
The road trip continues as the Devils take on the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night. The Coyotes are the worst team in the NHL this season when it comes to point percentage. They sit at a .340 points percentage, although their 22 wins is still more than the Montreal Canadiens. One of those 22 wins was a 5-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils in Newark earlier this year. Thats was one of the low points of this Devils’ season. New Jersey will try to even the season series.
Players To Watch
Karel Vejmelka:
Statistically, the Coyotes number one in net is one of the NHL’s worst when it comes goals saved above expected. Arizona’s netminder does have the ability to steal a surprising game here and there. Remember that 45 save win over the heavily favored Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this season?
Fabian Zetterlund:
Everyone’s waiting for one of the AHL’s top scorer to find the back of the net for his first NHL goal during this call up from the Utica Comets. Zetterlund finished in Saturday’s game with two assists and two shots on goal. Those were his first two career NHL points.
Dawson Mercer:
With his goal on Saturday, Nico Hischier became the fourth Devils’ player this season to reach the 20 goal mark. The next closest is rookie Dawson Mercer who has 16 goals on the season. Can he get four more before the season ends? Playing against an Arizona team that allows 3.63 goals per game should help.
Keys To The Game:
Better Reinforcements:
The Devils are dealing with injuries to key players, especially Jack Hughes. Arizona has lost Clayton Keller to a season ending injury, and defensemen Jakob Chycrun remains out. The Devils reinforcements of Fabian Zetterlund, AJ Greer and Kevin Bahl seem better than their Coyotes counterparts of Jan Jenik and others.
Take Advantage Of Power Plays:
The Devils haven’t scored a power play goal since their shootout win against Montreal on March 27th, which was also their last win before Saturday’s game in Dallas. Arizona has the league worst penalty kill. If there’s a team for New Jersey to finally score against on the man advantage, this is their best bet. The Coyotes have also allowed 219 power play chances against, compared to the league average of 209.
Five On Five Offense:
One of the few areas where the Coyotes are an above average NHL team is on five-on-five shooting percentage. The Coyotes shoot at 8.6% compared to a league average of 7.8. That did not translate over to actual five-on-fivr goals for, where the Coyotes have 136 goals compared to the league average of 149 goals.
Prediction
If the Devils can beat Dallas, they should beat Arizona. Arizona is borderline tanking (we’ll give them credit that they do at least try to win games) and the Devils still have some good pieces in their lineup. Don’t expect this one to be exciting, but 3-1 New Jersey.
Where To Watch
It’s a late night puck drop from the West Coast as the game is scheduled to begin at 10:00p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast on MSG+.