Devils will square off against the Winnipeg Jets for the first time this year. –Getty Images
Match Overview
Tonight’s game will feature your New Jersey Devils – who currently own a 6-7-1 record, which puts them last in the Metropolitan Division – and the Winnipeg Jets, who own a 9-5-1 record, which puts them fourth in the Central Division.
The New Jersey Devils are most likely ecstatic going into today’s game. This is certainly not because of their recent performance but because their 1-5-0 road trip is coming to an end. The Devils have seen their team statistics plummet during this road trip. Their goals for and goals against per game both rank in the bottom half of the league. However, their special teams have kept them afloat as both their penalty kill and power play is in the top-10 in the league. It was announced that Cory Schneider will be in between the pipes this evening, and defenseman Egor Yakovlev will make his season debut as he is replacing Mirco Mueller.
The Winnipeg Jets, unlike the Devils, have had a nice start to their season in an uber-tough Central Division. Led by 6th ranked defense and 1st ranked power play, the Jets are poised for another nice season. It was announced that goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (6-5-1, 2.93 GAA, .909 Sv%) will get the start in net tonight against Schneider. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov will miss the game with an upper body injury and forward Brendan Lemieux will miss the game due to suspension.
Projected Devils Lines
Coach John Hynes said that he is still deciding on his new line combinations, but that the team’s traditional top line of Hall-Hischier-Palmieri will be split up in tonight’s game. We encourage you to check our social media pages around 6:30pm for the Devils’ lineups this evening.
Projected Stars Lines
Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Little-Perreault
Tanev-Lowry-Laine
Petan-Copp-Roslovic
Morrissey-Trouba
Chiarot-Byfuglien
Morrow-Myers
Hellebuyck
Devils defenseman Egor Yakovlev is making his season debut tonight. –Getty Images
What/Who to Watch
- Coach John Hynes explained at the morning skate how the top line of Hall-Hischier-Palmieri will be split up in some kind of capacity for the first time this season. The Devils have lacked balance scoring all year. By splitting this lethal triplet up, the Devils will have better balance in their top-6. It’ll be interesting to see what lines Hynes goes with.
- As mentioned above the Jets have the top ranked power play in the league. The Devils will have their hands full as they are one of the most undisciplined teams in the NHL. However, they do have the seventh ranked penalty kill in the league which will be interesting to see against the lethal Jets powerplay.
- Winnipeg Jets forwards Mark Scheifele and Bryan Little have combined for 37 points. If the Devils wish to keep this game close, shutting down this duo is imperative.
- Devils defenseman Egor Yakovlev is slated to make his season debut. After a rough preseason, Yakovlev lit up the AHL compiling 7 assists in 7-games. It’ll be interesting to see the time coach Hynes gives him in his debut.
StatementGames
We are playing tonight’s game on StatementGames.com and you should too! Here’s our two lock statements to get you started:
Sami Vatanen Will Play OVER 22.00 Minutes
Winnipeg Jets OVER 0.5 Power Play Goal
Tonight’s game can be seen on MSG+ at 7:00 PM.