Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils (2-3-0) will hit the road and play the second half of their back-to-back against the Detroit Red Wings (1-3-1).
Match Overview
The Devils are coming off a rough 4-1 loss to the Senators Monday night, where they once again had trouble finishing their chances. New Jersey scored just one goal on 30 shots against Linus Ullmark and the Senators, and their 11 goals scored so far this year rank them 26th in the NHL.
One spot below New Jersey in that category are their opponents, the Detroit Red Wings. They’ve also had a tough start to the season, with just one win and two shutout losses. With a lot of noise surrounding their now-former captain, Dylan Larkin, this Red Wings team certainly would like to block out that noise and find some winning ways.
Lines and Pairings
Devils
Forwards
Mantha-Hughes-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Evangelista
Gritsyuk-Rodrigues-Mercer
Lombardi-Glass-Boqvist
Defense
Hughes-Pesce
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillon-Chisholm
Goalies
Allen
Daws
Red Wings
Forwards
Arvidsson-Larkin-Raymond
Debrincat-Finnie-Brandesegg Nygard
Rasmussen-Copp-Kolesar
Danielson-Mazur
Defense
Chiarot-Seider
Johansson-Johansson
Wallinder-Faulk
Pellika
Keys to The Game
Score First
“1-0 them,” has become one of the most hated phrases throughout New Jersey. The consistent problem the Devils have dealt with over the past two years has once again resurfaced.
New Jersey has now let up the first goal in all five of their games to begin the year, following a season where they let up the first goal 47 times. Whenever they scored the first goal last year, the Devils went 27-6-1, so figuring out a way to score first will be crucial to their success moving forward.
The Fourth Line
One of the bright spots for New Jersey to begin the year has been the play of their fourth line. Ever since bringing Jesper Boqvist into the lineup, the fourth line has been amazing.
Boqvist has recorded two goals, Amedues Lombardi has shown flashes that he can be something special, and Cody Glass’ two-way game is the perfect finishing touch on this line.
In their game against Ottawa Monday night, the line registered more ice time than any other line while recording a 64.3 expected goals for, by far the highest of any line last night. With Connor Brown returning soon from injury, it will be hard for the Devils to split up this line to make room.
Where to Watch
Tuesday’s game can be seen on ESPN, with puck drop set for 6:00 pm ET.
