After a nail-biting 4-3 overtime win against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, the New Jersey Devils (10-4-0, 1st Metropolitan) will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (9-4-2, 2nd Metropolitan) Saturday at the Prudential Center in a battle of the top two teams in the Metropolitan division.
Overview
The Devils are coming off a thrilling comeback win over Montreal that saw them tie the game with the goalie pulled and win with a Jesper Bratt overtime goal. It wasn’t the prettiest of games for the Devils, who earned a 40.46 expected goal percentage (xG%), according to Natural Stat Trick, but they still managed to pull out the victory. New Jersey has had its fair share of similar games this season, but good teams find ways to win, or so the Devils hope.
The Penguins are having a surprisingly good start to their season after many wrote them off before the start of the season. Sidney Crosby remains the centerpiece of the Penguins with 11 goals and 19 points, and Evgeni Malkin is having a hot start with 20 points in 15 games after notching 50 through all of last season. The Penguins are coming off a 5-3 win over Washington on Thursday, and will look to keep pace in the division fight today.
Lines and Pairings
Devils-
Forwards
Noesen-Hughes-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Palat-Glass-Gritsyuk
Cotter-Lammikko-Glendening
Defense
Siegenthaler-Nemec
Dillion-Hughes
Cholowski-White
Goalies
Markstrom
Allen
Penguins-
Forwards
Rust-Crosby-Kindel
Novak-Malkin-Mantha
Koivunen-Hayes-Tomasino
Dewar-Lizotte=Heinen
Defense
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Shea-Letang
Graves-Clifton
Goalies
Silvos
Murashov
Keys to the Game
Injuries Continue to Pile Up
After the game against the Canadiens, defenseman Brendan Dillon lamented that the Devils needed to, “sage the place,” in response to the injuries that have plagued them to start the season. The latest to go down is Dougie Hamilton, who left the game midway through the second period of Thursday’s game and did not participate in practice yesterday morning. Hamilton joins a growing list of injured Devils, including Connor Brown and Brett Pesce. This latest injury has left the Devils’ defense thin and with only one right-shot defenseman in Simon Nemec.
The Penguins have also had their fair share of injuries. Their latest misfortune is goaltender Tristan Jarry, who hit injured reserve on Tuesday and will be out at least three weeks. Pittsburgh received some good news yesterday as Kevin Hayes will likely make his season debut Saturday This will be a big help to a strained Pittsburgh forward corps.
Home Win Streak on the Line
The Devils are looking to win their seventh straight home game today against Pittsburgh. The Devils have not lost at the Prudential Center yet this season and have played their strongest hockey at home. This is not something you could have said last season as New Jersey slogged to a 19-17-5 record at home in comparison to a 23-16-2 record on the road. The Devils are clearly feeling the energy of their barn and will look to capitalize on that today.
Where to Watch
Today’s game can be seen on MSGSN at 12:30 pm ET.