The New Jersey Devils enter a back-to-back set this weekend. They’ll remain at home and welcome the Vegas Golden Knights to town. This is the first meeting between the two clubs this season and the first of two games they’ll play one another in a span of 12 days.
New Jersey owns a record of 16-10-1 while Vegas sits at 12-6-8.
Matchup Overview
Credit to the Devils for weathering the injury storm, as they are doing the best they can. It’s been tough sledding for the Devils, as they have gone 4-6 in their last 10 games. This is the span it’s been since losing Jack Hughes to that freak accident injury.
The impact of him being out of the lineup is showing, especially at five-on-five. In this ten game stretch, the Devils sit 18th in Corsi-for percentage (49.31) and 21st in expected goals-for percentage (48.05).
There are bright spots though. Nico Hischier has put the team on his back and has 13 points in his last nine games. Timo Meier has eight points in his last seven games. The big dogs are doing their best to lead the charge. Luckily, the Eastern Conference is a complete mess, but the Devils need to right the ship.
The Golden Knights are one of the stronger teams in hockey and are right on the heels of the Anaheim Ducks for first place in the Pacific Division. Things were tough for the Golden Knights as of late, as they dropped four in a row before winning their last two games. Both were one goal wins and also saw a victory in the shootout against the Blackhawks.
The Golden Knights bring a few good elements to the table. Their special teams play has been solid overall, but they’ve sat middle of the packs in goals scored and goals against. Goaltending has been hard to come by for this group, but did get a boost with the debut of Carter Hart.
Projected Lineups
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Meier-Hischier-Bratt
Palat-Mercer-Gritsyuk
Cotter-Glass-Brown
Lammikko-Glendening-Noesen
Defense
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillon-Hughes
Cholowksi-Nemec
Goalies
Allen
Markstrom
Vegas Golden Knights
Forwards
Barbashev-Eichel-Bowman
Marner-Howden-Stone
Saad-Hertl-Dorofeyev
Reinhardt-Sissons-Kolesar
Defense
McNabb-Theodore
Hanifin-Whitecloud
Hutton-Korczak
Goalies
Schmid
Hart
What to Watch For
Devils Need Depth Scoring
The Devils are struggling to score at five-on-five, as evident above. However, this team needs its depth scoring to come alive because the lifting has been quite heavy for a few players.
Since Jack Hughes has been out of the lineup, only four players have more than one goal. Nemec has two, but you’re seeing Nico Hischier lead the way with seven goals followed by Timo Meier with five. The entire bottom six has combined for only two goals. That’s not good enough.
It won’t be easy, as the Golden Knights have given up the second fewest expected goals against at five-on-five this season.
Key In On Jack Eichel
There is no player more valuable to the Golden Knights than Jack Eichel. He leads the team in points with 32 and tied for the team lead in goals with 11. While he has yet to score a goal on the power play, he has 13 assists and a reason they have the eighth-best power play in the league.
Whichever line he is on, they are producing. Eichel has constantly been with Ivan Barbashev, but has seen Mitch Marner swap out with Bowman. Both combinations have scored seven goals each. Eichel, Barbashev, and Bowman have combined for a 57.8 xGF%, which is enormous. In the end, Eichel is the driving force.
The Devils have struggled a bit defensively and the loss of Brett Pesce hurts more each and everyday. Containing Eichel goes a very long ways, as he’s the driving force for this group.
How to Watch
Friday night’s puck drop is at 7:00 pm ET and can be found on NHLN or MSG.