Preview: New Jersey Devils Versus Washington Capitals in an Easter Matinee

The New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals meet for the last time this afternoon. (BRUCE BENNETT/Getty Images North America)

Matchup Overview

The New Jersey Devils come into this one off another tough loss at the hands of the Washington Capitals, falling 2-1 in overtime on Friday night. Capitalizing on scoring opportunities was the achilles heel once again for NJ. This is something they hope to fix this afternoon. It’s not going to be easy for the New Jersey to figure out a way to finally beat Washington. Especially, if they are unable to score on their high quality chances.

Projected Devils’ Lines

Please note, these were the Devils’ lines in practice yesterday morning. Last night, Jesper Boqvist was assigned to the taxi squad and Tyce Thompson was recalled. It is yet to be seen who gets the nod there.

Forwards

Johnsson – Hughes – Palmieri

Kuokkanen – Zajac – Sharangovich

Maltsev – Zacha – Wood

Bratt – McLeod – Boqvist/Thopmson

Defense

Smith – Severson

Kulikov – Subban

Murray – Vatanen

Goalies

Blackwood

Wedgeood

Projected Washington Lines

Forwards

Ovechkin – Eller – Oshie

Sheary – Backstrom – Wilson

Panik – Kuznetsov – Sprong

Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway

Defense

Dillon – Carlson

Orlov – Schultz

Chara – Jensen

Goalies

Vanecek

Samsonov

What to Watch

Kyle Palmieri

With the trade deadline closing in and rumors swirling\, it’s getting harder and harder to see Palmieri remaining a Devil once the deadline passes. It’s been a bit of a tough season for Kyle this year, but it feels like he is due to get back in the goal column. Given how good of a Devil Palmieri has been, now is the time to really enjoy him while he’s still around.

Jack Hughes

Although he wasn’t able to capitalize Friday night, Hughes was all around the action and had a handful of glorious scoring opportunities. Hughes continues to show flashes this season, his ability to finish just doesn’t seem to be fully developed quite yet. Whether it’s ringing a shot off the post or getting denied on a breakaway opportunity, he’s so close yet just can’t break through. Look for him to once again be heavily involved in the push offensively, and hopefully today is the day he sneaks one under the crossbar.

It should be a fun one this afternoon, and a very Happy Easter to all who will be celebrating today!

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.