The New Jersey Devils (1-0-1) keep their home cooking going as they welcome the Florida Panthers (0-2) to town. Florida has began its first two games on the road and continue as they make their way back east. The Devils are coming off a shootout loss to the Arizona Coyotes and will look to rebound.
Match Overview
The stars will be out in Newark, New Jersey as two of the best American born players take the stage. Jack Hughes has been great from the start and has five points to begin the season (2 goals, 3 assists). Meanwhile, Matthew Tkachuk has two assists this season, but is coming off back-to-back 100-plus point years. He’s by far Florida’s strongest player and his clutch play in the postseason makes him a threat when on the ice.
Both teams have played two games and both enter play playing at the same level at five on five. Florida is a step ahead when it come to puck possession (55.77 Corsi-for percentage), whereas the Devils are right on their heels (54.77). Meanwhile, Florida holds the edge with a better expected goals percentage-for percentage (xGF%) at 57.23.
As for in between the pipes, New Jersey has received solid goaltending, with both Akira Schmid and Vitek Vanecek posting a positive goals saved above expected (GSAx) in their starts (Schmid 1.5 and Vanecek at 1). Additionally, whatever magic Sergei Bobrovsky had during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs has wore off, as he is boasting a -2.2 GSAX and a .873 save percentage (SV%).
Overall, Florida has struggled getting results through their first two games. They suffered a 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild in their first game then a 6-4 thumping in Winnipeg.
Projected Lineups
Florida Panthers
Forwards
Verhaeghe-Barkov-Rodrigues
Samoskevich-Luostarinen-Tkachuk
Cousins-Lundell-Reinhart
Lomberg-Stenlund-Lorentz
Defense
Forsling-Ekman-Larsson
Mikkola-Kulikov
Mahura-Balinskis
Goalies
Bobrovsky
Stolarz
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Meier-Hischier-Palat
Toffoli-Hughes-Bratt
Mercer-Haula-Holtz
Lazar-McLeod-Bastian
Defense
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Bahl-Marino
Hughes-Smith
Goalies
Vanecek
Schmid
What to Watch For
Avoiding a Slow Start
The first two games have followed the same script. While the Devils managed to pull out a victory and nearly secured another, they’ve started slow both games. Once the puck dropped, the opposing team came ready to play and got after the Devils early on.
Detroit came in and played with great pace and the Coyotes did the same thing. It is only two games but this is a trend they’ll be looking to break. If the Devils have a slow start against the wrong team, it could be trouble. This challenge presents itself against the Panthers.
Florida may be 0-2-0, but they aren’t playing like a team that has lost two games. If it wasn’t for Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson finishing the game with 3.20 goals saved above expected, the Panthers would be 1-1-0.
The Devils may get a breakthrough, as Florida has only one goal to show for their efforts. However, the puck could bounce their way and the Devils will need a strong start against a Florida team that is tougher than the first two teams they’ve played.
Getting the Top Line Going
During the preseason, the line of Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Alexander Holtz developed good chemistry. Their styles of play meshed with one another and pucks were finding their way to the back of the net. However, head coach Lindy Ruff went a different direction and switched things up.
Whatever the reason may be, this new line has not clicked and has not been impactful. As a line, they’ve gotten caved in and have a CF% of 42.22. They have been outshot heavily (18-9), and are getting dominated in terms of goal generation (2.09-1.43 expected goals for).
With Palat a new member of that top line, it’ll be interesting to see how they gel.
Where To Watch
Tonight’s puck drop is at 7:00 pm ET and can be found on MSG.