In the midst of a three-game winning streak, the New Jersey Devils (11-5-0, 2nd Metropolitan) will face the New York Islanders (7-6-2, 5th Metropolitan) at UBS Arena Saturday.

Summary

The red-hot Devils are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, but they haven’t outright dominated those games. Thursday, they blew a 4-1 lead to the Blues, forcing them to fight it out and earn the win in overtime. The positive throughout this hot streak has been that the Devils have found ways to win, though they’ll want to win in regulation against the Islanders, a team that has mastered the loser point over the last few years.

The Islanders are on a two-game skid, having lost to the Hurricanes 5-3 on Thursday. New York hasn’t won a game in regulation since October 20, and they’re struggling to keep pace in a heated Metropolitian Division. A win against a hot, upstart team in the Devils would go a long way to getting them back in the fight, especially if their superstar defenseman, Matthew Schaefer, leads the charge.

Lines and Pairings

Devils

Forwards

Meier-Hischier-Evangelista

Gritsyuk-Hughes-Bratt

Mantha-Rodrigues-Boqvist

Lombardi-Glass-Brown

Defense

Hughes-Pesce

Siegenthaler-Hamilton

Chisholm-Kovacevic

Goalies

Hellebuyck

Allen

Islanders

Forwards

Holmstrom-Horvat-Palmieri

Heineman-Schenn-Eklund

Palat-Pageau-Duclair

MacLean-Cizikas-Chaffee

Defense

Stanley-Schaefer

Pelech-DeAngelo

Kessel-Mayfield

Goalies

Sorokin

Varlomov

Keys to the Game

Play A Full 60

The Devils blew leads in each of their last two games. They blew a 4-1 lead on Thursday and a 3-1 lead on Tuesday against Edmonton, forcing them to win in the shootout. Not only is it a bad look to blow leads like that, it has forced the Devils to play more hockey than necessary, leading to exhaustion. Head coach Sheldon Keefe cited this exhaustion as the reason Hellebuyck faded on Thursday.

Anthony Mantha’s Quiet Performance

When you think about who the Devils’ top performers have been this year, you might come to the obvious answers of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, or even Luke Hughes, who’s off to an electric start. When you look at the stat sheet, however, Anthony Mantha is all over it.

Through 16 games, Mantha has five goals and four assists for nine points, mostly from a third-line role while averaging just over 13 minutes a night. Those goals have come on only 21 shots, a 23.8 shooting percentage, which is exactly the finishing touch the Devils brought him in for after finishing 31st in five-on-five goals last season.

And he got there after a slow start. He’s racked up four goals and three assists over his last seven games, including a two-goal, one-assist night in Thursday’s 5-4 overtime win over the Blues. For a guy who started the year a step behind Hughes and Bratt, Mantha has quietly become one of the most productive forwards on the roster.

Where To Watch

Tonight’s game can be seen on MSGSN at 7:00 pm ET.