Thursday, the New Jersey Devils look to bounce back against the Calgary Flames.
The Devils are currently 32-30-2 after falling to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. The Flames are 25-32-7, they’ve gone just 2-5-1 in their eight games coming out of the Olympic break.
Match Overview
While the Devils are decently out of the playoff picture at this point, the Calgary Flames are firmly out of it. They’ve moved on from some significant pieces since the two teams last met in January, a 2-1 Devils win in overtime.
The blows started just a couple of weeks later, when Jonathan Huberdeau was ruled out for the season following hip surgery. The two biggest moves happened before the NHL’s trade deadline however, when Mackenzie Weegar was traded to the Utah Mammoth and Nazem Kadri was moved back to the Colorado Avalanche.
Lines and Pairings
Devils
Forwards
Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Bratt-Hughes-Brown
Gritsyuk-Glass-Hameenaho
Cotter-Bjugstad-Tsyplakov
Defense
Hughes-Kovacevic
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillon-Nemec
Goalies
Markstrom
Allen
Flames
Forwards
Farabee-Frost-Coleman
Zary-Strome-Gridin
Sharangovich-Backlund-Coronato
Olofsson-Pospisil-Klapka
Defense
Bahl-Maata
Kuznetsov-Parekh
Hanley-Pachal
Goalies
Wolf
Cooley
Keys to the Game
Hot in Net
While the Flames have one of the worst records in the NHL this season, goaltending has not contributed to that. The team ranks ninth among all teams with an .896 save percentage (SV%) and 14th in goals saved above expected (GSAx) at 8.42. Devin Cooley has been the surprise star with a .917 SV% through 23 games.
‘PB&J’ Back Together
For the last handful of games, Jack Hughes has been playing on a line with Connor Brown and Arseny Gritsyuk. While that trio has done well, head coach Sheldon Keefe decided to go back to what he knows works best following a loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, putting Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt back on the same line.
Over the last three seasons when the three of them are on the ice together the team has a 56.67 corsi-for percentage (CF%) and 55.62 expected goals percentage (xG%).
Where to Watch:
Puck drop for Thursday’s game is set for 7:00 pm ET and can be found on MSG SportsNet.