After a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres yesterday in Buffalo, the 6-4-4 Vancouver Canucks will visit the Rock in a late afternoon puck drop today against the 7-5-1 New Jersey Devils.
Today’s 5:00 PM game is the second stop on Vancouver’s season-high seven-game road trip.
The Devils are coming into today’s game having defeated the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 on Friday night in Newark. Today’s game is the second of their three-game homestand against Western Conference teams.
Last season, the Devils split the season series against the Canucks losing 2-0 on November 25th in Vancouver and winning 4-2 on Feburary 20th in New Jersey.
Cory Schneider stopped 27 of 29 shots on Friday night and Lee Stempniak, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri, and Mike Cammalleri each scored for New Jersey.
Our post-game recap of Friday night’s victory against the Blackhawks can be found by clicking here.
After starting 10 consecutive games, it is unknown whether or not Cory Schneider or Keith Kinkaid will be between the pipes this afternoon.
Coach Hynes mentioned that there is no definite starting goalie for Sunday’s matchup. However, it remains a possibility that Kinkaid may get the nod.
“I think this is a week where, the way the game schedule is set up, we’re going to get [Keith] a game,” Hynes said to northjersey.com. “I’m not sure it will be [Sunday] or not, but this will be a week he will play.”
Projected Goaltending Matchup:
Vancouver:
Goalie Ryan Miller (#30) of the Vancouver Canucks gloves the puck during the first period of the game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center. The visiting Vancouver Canucks shutout the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 4-0 during regulation. (insidehockey.com)
Ryan Miller (Record: 5-4-4-1 in 13GP) – The three-time United States Olympian most recently played in his first game in Buffalo since being acquired by the St. Louis Blues via. trade in 2014. In yesterday’s game, Miller stopped 19 of 22 shots and maintained an .864 save percentage in 59:43 played. Miller currently has a .919 save percentage and a 2.21 goals against average in 13 games played this season.
Canucks goaltender Richard Bachman. (Credits: theprovince.com)
Richard Bachman (Record: 1-0-0-0 in 1GP) – Vancouver’s 28-year old backup netminder has only played one game this season against the Arizona Coyotes stopping 28 of 31 shots in a 4-3 victory for Vancouver. Bachman currently holds a .903 save percentage and 3.00 goals against average.
New Jersey:
New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider in 2015. (Credits: foxsports.com)
Cory Schneider (Record: 7-3-1 in 11GP) – The number-one netminder for the Devils has played in all of New Jersey’s last ten games. It still remains unclear whether or not he will start this afternoon against his former team. In 11 games played this season, Schneider holds a .923 save percentage and a 2.15 goals against average.
New Jersey Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid. (Credits: foxsports.com)
Keith Kinkaid (Record: 0-2-0 in 2GP) – The backup goaltender for the Devils would appear in only his 23rd career National Hockey League game if he started between the pipes this afternoon. In just 2 games played this season, Kinkaid holds a .913 save percentage and a 2.59 goals against average. He has not played since October 13th against Nashville.
Projected Line Combinations (per dailyfaceoff.com, subject to change)
Vancouver:
Forwards: D. Sedin-H. Sedin-Vrbata;Burrows-Sutter-Virtanen;Baertschi-Horvat-Hansen;Higgins-McCann-Dorsett
Defensemen: Edler-Tanev;Hamhuis-Bartkowski;Hutton-Weber
Goaltenders: Ryan Miller/Richard Bachman (vs. Schneider or Kinkaid)
Injury List: Brandon Prust (out 4-6 weeks, ankle)
New Jersey:
Forwards: Cammalleri-Henrique-Stempniak;Tlusty-Zajac-Palmieri;Kalinin-Josefson-Tootoo;Farnham-Gionta-O’Neill
Defensemen: Greene-Larsson;Moore-Severson;Merrill-Schlemko
Goaltenders: Cory Schneider/Keith Kinkaid (vs. Miller or Bachman)
Injury List: Ryane Clowe (concussion symptoms, long term injured reserve), Patrik Elias (lower body, day-to-day)
Players to watch:
New Jersey:
Devils forward Kyle Palmieri. (Credits: Getty Images)
Kyle Palmieri – Friday’s first star of the game is familiar with the Canucks as a team since he has played them frequently in the Pacific Division with the Anaheim Ducks from 2010-2015. In 11 career games against the Canucks, Palmieri has recorded 3 goals and 2 assists (per hockey-reference.com). This season in New Jersey, Palmieri currently has 4 goals and 6 assists in 13 games played.
Vancouver:
Daniel Sedin in 2015. (Credits: nhlnumbers.com)
Daniel Sedin – The 35-year old Swedish alternate captain for the Canucks leads the team in points with 4 goals and 7 assists in 14 games played this season mostly playing on Vancouver’s top line with Henrik Sedin and Radim Vrbata. He is coming off of a successful 76-point (20G-56A) campaign in 2014-15 (his highest since recording 104 points in 2010-11).
Credits to NHL.com, Fire & Ice Blog, and hockey-reference.com for all quotes and statistics.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for all updates throughout the afternoon. Our Twitter and Instagram pages can be found by searching @DevilsArmyBlog. If you are unable to attend the game, it will be televised on MSG+2 beginning at 4:30 PM.
If you are interested in obtaining tickets for this afternoon’s game, be sure to take a look at all listings provided by tiqIQ.com by clicking here.
Nick Papadimas is a New Jersey native, New Jersey Devils season ticket holder, and avid hockey fan. He is an aspiring sports journalist who has covered high school sports and local events for TAPinto.net since 2012. Nick can be reached on Twitter (@ngpaps) or by e-mail at papadimasn@icloud.com.