Saturday, the New Jersey Devils look to win their second in a row to start the season against the New York Islanders.
The Devils are 1-0-0 to start the season, while the Islanders are 0-1-0. Both teams missed the postseason last year
Match Overview
The Devils have had a rough history against the Islanders, but last season was especially bad on Long Islans. On December 23, defenseman Adam Pelech blasted a shot past Jacob Markstrom with just 1:15 to go in the third. On January 6, the Devils lost 9-0 despite outshooting the Islanders 44-24. The Devils will be trying for their first win at UBS arena since November 9, 2024.
Lines and Pairings
Here are the lines each team will ice for tonight’s game.
Devils
Forwards
Meier-Hischier-Evangelista
Bratt-Hughes-Mantha
Gritsyuk-Rodrigues-Mercer
Lombardi-Glass-Noesen
Defense
Hughes-Pesce
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillon-Chisholm
Goalies
Allen
Daws
Islanders
Forwards
Heineman-Horvat-Palmieri
Eklund-Ritchie-Schenn
Holmstrom-Pageau-Duclair
Palat-Cizikas-Maccelli
Defense
Pelech-Schaefer
Romanov-Pulock
Stanley-DeAngelo
Goalies
Sorokin
Vanecek
Keys to the Game
An Eye on Finishing
While the Devils dominated the Flyers in the chance department Thursday night, they only barely scraped out a win in overtime. The last season-and-a-half the Devils have had trouble finishing their scoring chances, ranking 31st in shooting percentage (S%) at an abysmal 9.5%. If the Devils can regress to even league average finishing they should be much better this season.
Evangelista’s Strong Start
As far as first impressions go, Luke Evangelista has made a rock solid one. In his first game as a Devil, he racked up an assist along with a 60 corsi-for percentage (CF%) and 69.24 expected goals percentage (xG%). He looked right at home with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier, and if the Devils can solidify one more long term member of the top-six, that would be fantastic for the team’s future.
Where to Watch:
Puck drop tonight is set for 7:30 pm ET. The game can be found on MSG and MSG SportsNet.