Overview
Following a heartbreaking loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the New Jersey Devils return to action tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. This will be an interesting game for the Devils, as Keith Kinkaid will play his second straight game in relief of the injured Mackenzie Blackwood. Kinkaid struggled against the Golden Knights, as the three goals let in were all savable shots. He will look to bounce back tonight.
Lineups
Devils
Bratt- Hischier- Palmieri
Wood- Zajac- Coleman
Pietila- Zacha- Noesen
Boyle- Seney- Stafford
Greene- Severson
Vatanen- Santini
Butcher- Lovejoy
Kinkaid
Sabres
Skinner- Sobotka- Thompson
Elie- Larsson- Okposo
Sheary- Rodrigues- Pominville
Smith- Mittelstadt- Girgensons
Pilut- Ristolainen
Scandella- McCabe
Dahlin- Bogosian
Hutton
Players to watch
Jeff Skinner… This is painfully obvious. Skinner is approaching 30 goals on the season, and there is a very good chance he reaches this mark tonight. He has been a scoring machine, even in the Sabres recent struggles, where they’ve only won three of the last 10. The Devils are going to have to keep him off the score sheet if they want to win tonight.
Keith Kinkaid… If you have not noticed by now I like to select a goalie to keep an eye on. Why? The goaltender position is very crucial to a team’s success and you are going to need a big game out of them sometimes. Tonight, it is going to be the Devils goaltender again. Kinkaid let in three rather soft goals against Vegas and could use a bounce-back game tonight. He is back in the starters cage in relief of the injured Mackenzie Blackwood, who did practice today. But Cam Johnson will remain back up for the time being.
Prediction
This is interesting for a lot of reasons. The Devils still only have five road wins on the season, but the Sabres only have three wins in their last 10. This is a good game for the Devils to get back on the winning track. But sadly, I do not see that happening. I’ll take the Sabres to win a tight game 4-3.
When/Where to Watch
7:00 PM MSG, MSG-B (Buffalo Area)