Match Overview

Coming off what was arguably their worst performance of the season Saturday night, the Devils will look to get back on track and close out their west coast trip with a win against the San Jose Sharks tonight. The Devils were thoroughly outplayed by the Kings Saturday night, getting outshot 18-4 at one point. The Devils will need to be better than that against the defending Western Conference champs tonight.

Much like the Devils, the Sharks have struggled to score goals to begin the season. Each team sits with 41 goals on the season, which is in the bottom ten of the league. However, both teams have been sound defensively. It’s fair to say that we could be in for another low-scoring affair tonight.

Projected Lines 

New Jersey 

Bennett/Zajac/Parenteau
Zacha/Henrique/Palmieri
Boucher/Pietila/Smith-Pelly
Kalinin/Fiddler/Lappin

Greene/Severson
Merrill/Lovejoy
Moore/Quincey

Kinkaid

San Jose

Pavelski/Thornton/Labanc
Donskoi/Couture/Ward
Boedker/Marleau/Wingels
Haley/Tierney/Nieto

Martin/Burns
Vlasic/Braun
Dillon/Schlemko

Jones

What to Watch

• The Henrique/Palmieri duo hasn’t exactly been getting it done. Henrique played just 12:52 against LA while Palmieri played 13:02. The Devils need to get these two going with Hall out and it has to happen now. Moving Zacha back to center with Palmieri on his right is a possibility considering the two had success with each other in limited time earlier this season.

• While San Jose may be sound defensively, their goaltending has been surprisingly shaky. Martin Jones has just a .908 save percentage on the season and their team even-strength save percentage is 23rd in the league. If I’m New Jersey, get pucks to the net as often as you can.

• Both New Jersey and San Jose do not give up a lot on the defensive side of things. The Devils give up 52.2 shots attempts per 60 while San Jose gives up 52 per 60. NJ will have to take advantage of the opportunities they get because they’ll most likely be limited.

• Nick Lappin has been impressive in his time in NJ. He has 3 goals and 5 points in 11 games. The Devils could use some goal scoring and could probably benefit from playing him in more than a fourth line role. With Palmieri and Henrique struggling, Lappin could be moved around in the middle forward lines to help give the offense a spark.

• Keith Kinkaid will get the nod for the Devils tonight. He’s 2-0-1 with a .944 save percentage and 1.66 goals against in three starts this season. With the Devils scoring struggles, they’ll need him to be on top of his game.

Tonight’s game can be seen on MSG+ at 10:30 PM.