Monday afternoon, the New Jersey Devils look to win two in a row against the Boston Bruins. The Devils are coming off a win against the Florida Panthers while the Bruins are coming off a win in St. Louis.
The Devils are 22-15-3, good enough for fifth in the Metropolitan division. The Bruins hold a record of 25-8-9, which has them at first in the Atlantic division. After a win and Panthers loss last night head coach Jim Montgomary will head to the All-Star game.
Lines and Pairings
Devils
Forwards
Haula-Hischier-Mercer
Toffoli-McLeod-Bratt
Tierney-Lazar-Holtz
Willlman-Bowers-Bastian
Defense
Smith-Nemec
Hughes-Marino
Bahl-Miller
Goalies
Daws
Vanecek
Bruins
Forwards
Marchand-Coyle-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Frederic-Heinen
Van Riemsdyk-Geekie-Boqvist
Lauko-Beecher-Steen
Defense
Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Lindholm-Wotherspoon
Lohrei-Shattenkirk
Goalies
Swayman
Bussi
Keys to the Game
Is Daws the Answer?
If Nico Daws can play as well as he did Saturday for the Devils, the team is set. Daws was lights out stopping everything at five-on-five. To make the playoffs you need games where you get bailed out by your goaltender every once in a while. The Devils haven’t really gotten that this year, or even solid goaltending in general.
If even for a little bit to stall until closer to the trade deadline, Daws playing at a high level would be ginormous.
Staying Relevant
It feels like it’s been a few years in a row now that hockey fans as a collective go, “this has to be the year the Bruins will fall off,” and they never do. This year, after losing David Krecji and Patrice Bergeron for good, along with tons of depth, many said that it “had to be the year,” the Bruins at least fell to not one of the best teams in the league.
They are currently first in the Atlantic Division, third in the entire NHL, and dominating opponents night in and night out. How do they continue to do it? Well, the answer is probably some combination of elite coaching, defense, goaltending, and David Pastrnak. Maybe eventually they’ll be bad, but for now, they’re still the cream of the crop.
Where to Watch
The Devils and Bruins puck drop at TD Garden is scheduled for 1:00 pm ET and can be seen on MSG SportsNet.