The New Jersey Devils are set to begin the new season tonight at the Prudential Center. The Chicago Blackhawks, who dropped their opening game 4-2 in Colorado, will travel to Newark. Each team plenty of new faces in comparison to last year, so what should we expect tonight?

Overviews

The New Jersey Devils brought in a plethora of new talent during the offseason. From all-star defenseman Dougie Hamilton, to the former PTO Jimmy Vesey, there will be many first-time Devil debuts tonight. Despite this, there will also be a lot of old faces as well. However, it appears at least four of them will not be in the lineup. Damon Severson and Ty Smith have been skating on their own, but it appears neither will play until at least the second game. Mackenzie Blackwood, meanwhile, missed a couple practices recently as he is receiving additional treatment on his heel. Also, Miles Wood has not resumed practicing yet and it does not appear he will play tonight.

Given the Blackwood news, it appears another newbie, Jonathan Bernier, will get the opening night start. The 33-year old signed a two-year contract with New Jersey in the offseason to help alleviate the load off Blackwood. Bernier has a career .920 save percentage in 13 career starts against Chicago.

The Blackhawks, as mentioned above, lost to the consensus Stanley Cup favorite Colorado Avalanche to open their season. Chicago had a rough, rough go of it in their own end as they allowed 70 total shot attempts and gave up an expected goals-against (xGA) of 3.38. Despite this, the Blackhawks appear to be an improved team adding possible hall of fame goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, Tyler Johnson, and, albeit overrated, defenseman Seth Jones.

Projected Lines

New Jersey Devils –

Forwards:

Sharangovich/Hughes/Kuokkanen

Zacha/Hischier/Bratt

Johnsson/Mercer/Tatar

Studenic/McLeod/Vesey

Defensemen:

Graves/Hamilton

Siegentahler/Subban

White/Jaros

Goaltenders:

Bernier

Wedgewood

Chicago Blackhawks –

Forwards:

Debrincat/Johnson/Kane

Kubalik/Toews/Kurashev

Borgstrom/Dach/Hagel

Khaira/Entwistle/Carpenter

Defensemen:

de Haan/Jones

McCabe/Murphy

Stillman/Mitchell

Goaltenders:

Fleury

Lankinen

Who/What to Watch for?

• As mentioned above, the Blackhawks brought in defenseman Seth Jones and signed him to a monster extension. Well, his first game in a Chicago sweater was a struggle. When he was on the ice at five-on-five, the Blackhawks got out-shot attempted 15 to 32. He and his defensive partner, who logged close to 19-minutes of five-on-five ice time, combined for an expected goals-for % (xGF%) of 23.36. Whether it be the Jack Hughes or the Nico Hischier line, the Devils must take advantage of a defensive pairing that bled chances against Colorado.

• A lot of eyes, and rightfully so, will be on the Devils’ third line. Rookie Dawson Mercer made a strong impression in camp and earned the third-line center role. He will center new Devil, and career top-six forward, Tomas Tatar and the highly scrutinized Andreas Johnsson. For the first time in a while, the Devils have a top-nine that can all contribute and keep their opponent on their toes. Do not be surprised if this trio is the Devils’ best line tomorrow night.

• Due to injuries to both defensemen who would have made the Devils’ second pairing, Christian Jaros and Colton White will serve as the team’s third pair. Each Jaros and White put up average underlying numbers in preseason but apparently did enough in training camp to get the opportunity to hold down the fort until Severson and Smith are ready to go. Luckily, being he home team, head coach Lindy Ruff will be able to shelter the duo as much as possible. Given their track records, this will be important to do to help avoid the Blackhawks taking advantage of them.

• Special teams have seemingly plagued the Devils for years. Last season, the Devils’ power play ranked 28th and the penalty kill came in at dead last. In preseason each did look a bit better, but only time will tell if real improvements were made. The Blackhawks did score a power play goal on one of their three chances on Wednesday night. Whenever you have players such as Patrick Kane, Dominik Kubalik, and Seth Jones headlining your power play unit, it is going to excel. It will certainly be a test for New Jersey tonight.

Tonight’s game is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM ET. It is being televised on NHL Network and MSG+.