Thursday, the New Jersey Devils look to win their seventh straight home game, against the Washington Capitals.
The Devils are 13-6-0 to start the season after losing to the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 Tuesday night. The Capitals have been a solid team through their first 16 games, holding a record of 10-6-0 following a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators.
Match Overview
The Devils and Capitals have been two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference this season, and looking forward, could match up in the playoffs. This is the first game of a home-and-home between the two teams that sees them facing off in Newark Thursday and D.C. on Saturday.
The Devils are dealing with multiple injuries for the first time this season. They’re without Anthony Mantha, who is dealing with a neck injury, and Jonathan Kovacevic, who left Tuesday’s game with an undisclosed injury.
The Capitals are missing a pair of crucial pieces on their blueline, being without Rasmus Sandin, and recent free agent acquisition Vincent Desharnais.
Washington took the first meeting between these teams, 4-2, just a few weeks ago. After this home-and-home, the Devils only play the Capitals one more time this season, at home on January 24th.
Lines and Pairings
Here are the lines each team will ice for tonight’s game.
Devils
Forwards
Meier-Hischier-Evangelista
Bratt-Hughes-Gritsyuk
Rodrigues-Glass-Brown
Tufte-Lombardi-Boqvist
Defense
Hughes-Pesce
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Chisholm-Dillon
Goalies
Hellebuyck
Allen
Capitals
Forwards
Tuch-Strome-Kyrou
Protas-Dubois-Wilson
Ovechkin-Sourdif-Beauvillier
Jenner-Protas-Leonard
Defense
Chychrun-Roy
Fehrevary-Liljegren
Hutson-St Ivany
Goalies
Thompson
Lindgren
Keys to the Game
Beating Thompson
During Logan Thompson’s time as the Capitals starting netminder, he’s been great against the Devils. In six games, Thompson is 4-1-1, with a .901 save percentage (sv%). If you remove the one regulation loss, that sv% shoots up to .919. This season he’s been middling however, hovering just over one goal saved above expected (GSAx).
One of his best games of the young season was against the Devils just a few weeks ago. In that game, Thompson stopped 29 of 31 shots and held a 1.7 GSAx. Those numbers look worse because of a garbage time goal by Timo Meier.
Hughes-Pesce Pair
Since Brett Pesce joined the Devils in 2024, no duo on the team’s defense has logged more minutes together than him and Luke Hughes. The pair makes sense on paper; Hughes can skate like the wind and make things happen in the offensive zone, and Brett Pesce can keep up with him well enough on top of locking things down in the defensive zone.
Over the last two seasons and change, Hughes and Pesce have played nearly 1000 minutes together, holding a 53.1 expected goals percentage (xG%) and 53 corsi-for percentage (CF%).
The goals weren’t coming with them on the ice, but that’s changed this season. In a league-leading 309:43 of ice time together (among defenseman), they’ve held a 65.5 goals for percentage (GF%) and 55.6 xG%. Those numbers are up from a 47.6 GF% and 54 xG% in just 27 games.
Where to Watch:
Puck drop Thursday is set for 7:00 pm ET. The game can be found on MSG SportsNet.