Overview
After suffering their first loss in 14 games, the Devils quickly rebounded with a strong performance against Buffalo and a 3-1 victory Friday night. The trend of strong goaltending continued as Akira Schmid finished the game making 33 of 34 saves and posted a 2.29 goals saved above expected (GSAx). On the second half of a back-to-back, the Devils will look for more stellar goaltending from Vitek Vanecek against his former team.
Lines and Pairings
Devils –
Check our social media pages pregame for the most updated line projections
Capitals –
Forwards:
Ovechkin – Strome – Sheary
Milano – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Johansson – Eller – Mantha
Protas – Dowd – Hathaway
Defense:
Gustafsson – Carlson
Fehervary – Jensen
Irwin – Van Riemsdyk
Goalies:
Lindgren
Kuemper
Keys to the game
Minimize penalties
While the Capitals powerplay is currently ranked 20th in the league with a 20.2% conversion rate, allowing Alexander Ovechkin multiple chances with time and space is not a recipe for success. Ovechkin already beat the Devils for a powerplay goal during their game on October 24 and seems to always love scoring goals against New Jersey, so it would be best not to make it any easier for the greatest goal scorer of all time.
Push The Pace Early
Both teams enter this one on the second half of a back-to-back, but New Jersey definitely has the advantage with their normal pace of play to really come out quick and take control of this game. Washington is dealing with a lot of injuries and aren’t the youngest of rosters, so keeping a high tempo and constant pressure on the forecheck could really cause chaos in the Washington zone.
Where to Watch
If you can make it, tonight’s game will be live from the Prudential Center at 7:00 P.M. ET. The game also will be available to watch on MSG.