The New Jersey Devils (31-12-4) will take on the Nashville Predators (23-18-6) at Bridgestone Arena tonight. The Devils snatched a 3-2 overtime win from the Vegas Golden Knights in their last contest.
The Devils have been on an 8-1-1 roll over their past ten games, with their last four games going to overtime. They outshot and out-chanced Vegas on Monday, and Dougie Hamilton led the charge with two goals, including his second-consecutive overtime-winner. This grueling, yet exhilarating stretch, continues as they’ll face stiff competition against a hungry Nashville squad.
The Devils stand at 66 points in the standings, just two behind the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes. On the other hand, the Predators have 52 points, good for fifth in the Central Division.
Lines and Pairings
Devils-
Forwards
Palat-Hischier-Bratt
Haula-Hughes-Tatar
Boqvist-McLeod-Mercer
Wood-Sharangovich-Bastian
Defense
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Graves-Severson
Okhotiuk-Smith
Goalies
Vanecek
Blackwood
Predators-
Forwards
Forsberg-Glass-Duchene
Niederreiter-Johanssen-Granlund
Smith-Parssinen-Sissons
Trenin-Novak-Jeannot
Defense
McDonagh-Josi
Ekholm-Carrier
Lauzon-Fabbro
Goalies
Saros
Lankinen
Keys to the Game
Keep it in Regulation
With four-straight games that have gone to overtime, the Devils are flying by the seat of their pants. Sometimes they don’t play well but get lucky, such as against the Sharks and Kraken, but other times their opponent is the benefactor, such as against the Penguins and Knights.
One thing’s for certain, this team has got to be exhausted, so a regulation win would be everything tonight. Let’s not forget, this is a front end of a back-to-back which continues on Friday.
Dougie on a Rampage
With that being said, one player who has made the most of these overtime games is Dougie Hamilton. Over this span, Hamilton has three goals and five points including two overtime goals in the past two games. Look for Hamilton to drive the offense from the blue line tonight.
Tonight’s game can be seen on MSGSN at 8:00 P.M. EST.