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Matchup Overview
After being routed 6-2 by the Buffalo Sabres prospects at First Niagara Center last night, the New Jersey Devils prospects will wrap things up tonight against the Boston Bruins prospects at the Harborcenter. This will be the second game the Devils play in as many nights. While the Devils will conclude their pair of games in the tournament, the Bruins prospects will make their debut this weekend before playing the Sabres tomorrow. While the Devils played against a Sabres team that was simply better than them in every aspect, the Bruins should serve as a more graspable opponent tonight. While Boston doesn’t have any can’t-miss talents like Jack Eichel or Sam Reinhart, they still possess a skillful core of young players that the Devils shouldn’t take lightly.
Boston had the 13th, 14th, and 15th overall picks at the 2015 NHL Draft -AP
Opponent Overview
Offense…The Bruins left their mark on the offseason for their flurry of activity going into the draft. They attained three consecutive first round picks (13th, 14th, 15th), all of which will be participating in this weekend’s festivities. Considering how the acquisition of these draft picks came at the expense of parting ways with core players like Dougie Hamilton and Milan Lucic, there are especially high expectations bestowed on the players Boston used those picks on to succeed. Watch forwards Jake DeBrusk and Zach Senyshyn. Just as the Devils handled Pavel Zacha last night, both forwards will probably get long looks by the Bruins coaching staff tonight.
Defense…Out of the three players the Bruins drafted in the first round in June, defenseman Jakub Zboril is the most highly regarded. Continuing the Bruins tradition of developing quality defensemen (a tradition that dates back to the days of Bobby Orr), the organization is very high on Zboril. With the departure of Hamilton and Chara not getting any younger, the organization is searching for their next defensive staple. The Bruins only have two defensemen on their roster with AHL experience last season (Linus Arnesson, Frankie Simonelli), and three that they selected this past draft (Zboril, Carlo, Lauzon). Their blue line will have a balanced mix fresh faces and more tenured prospects and will undoubtedly be a challenge for the Devils offense.
Goaltending…Like the Sabres, the Bruins have brought three goalies up this weekend compared to the Devil’s two. Selected in the third round at this year’s draft is Daniel Vladar, one of Boston’s most highly regarded prospects who will be getting his first sniff of NHL gameplay this weekend. Zane McIntyre and Matthew Ginn have played at the college level and ECHL, but lack the experience that the Sabres goaltending tandem had last night. Experience-wise, the Boston goaltending is lacking but should not be underestimated.
Who to watch
Can John Quenneville follow up with another strong performance tonight? -AP
John Quenneville…He’s certainly flown under the radar in the days leading up to this weekend. Everybody was high on seeing Zacha, Boucher, and Blandisi light the lamp, only for all three to be held off the score sheet. He was able to solve the formidable Sabres defense and goaltending. Going into tonight, the Devil’s 2014 first round pick has a chance to build up on his performance from last night and could steal the show with another strong game.
Jakub Zboril…I touched up on him when I talked about the Bruins defense and he’s worth mentioning again. Boston has always had great defensemen in their organization. The circumstances with Hamilton and Chara put an especial emphasis on Zboril to come firing out of the gate.
What to watch
Staying out of the box…It was a reoccurring trend the Devils prospects had last night that resulted in a few of the Sabres goals. While the Devils held their own for the most part on the penalty kill, a good number of the penalties they took were lazy and careless in nature. We won’t see much of what this prospect group can do if they’re spending the majority of each period shorthanded or playing 4 on 4. I truly wonder if the coaching staff is going to brush up on this with the boys going into tonight.
Where to watch
TBD
When to watch
7:00pm EST