Monday night, the New Jersey Devils look to get back on track by defeating the Vancouver Canucks. The Devils have lost their last two games; losing to the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators at home.
The Devils are currently 37-28-6, which currently has them third in the Metropolitan division. The Canucks hold a record of 33-26-12, which has them fifth in the Pacific Division.
Match Overview
While the Devils have lost their last two games, both in fairly brutal fashion, the Canucks have not been any better. The team has lost three of their last four and six of their last eight games. Most recently, they lost a tight back and forth affair against the Rangers, 5-3. Overall it’s been a disappointing year for the Canucks who had aspirations of a deep playoff run following a second round defeat to the Edmonton Oilers last spring.
The Devils have of course been decimated by injuries, currently being without three of their best players. The Canucks aren’t without struggles of their own however. FIlip Chytil, Nils Hoglander, and Elias Pettersson, all valuable members of the Canucks forward group, are currently listed as day-to-day and are expected to miss tonight’s matchup against the Devils.
The Devils shutout the Canucks 6-0 back in late October in what was an ugly performance by Vancouver. Hopefully, for the Devils, things go a similar way tonight.
Lines and Pairings
Devils
Forwards
Noesen-Glass-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Foote-Haula-Sprong
Cotter-Lazar-Bastian
Defense
Dumoulin-Kovacevic
Hughes-Pesce
Dillon-Cholowski
Goalies
Allen
Markstrom
Canucks
Forwards
*Hoglander-*Pettersson-Boeser
DeBrusk-Suter-Sherwood
O’Connor-Blueger-Garland
Joshua-Aman-Lekkerimaki
Defense
Hughes-Hronek
Pettersson-Myers
Forbort-Mancini
Goalies
Lankinen
Silovs
*Note: As previously mentioned Hoglander and Pettersson may miss tonight’s game and are currently listed as day-to-day.
Keys to the Game
Need to be Better
Over the Devils last five games they are 2-3-0. That’s not good, but not horrible on the surface. Where the problems lie are when you look deeper.
Since March 13, the Devils have an abysmal Corsi-for percentage (CF%) of 43.29 and even worse expected goals percentage (xG%) of 38.1. Both marks are bottom three in the league over that span with the only team being worse in both categories being the San Jose Sharks. Not good company to be with.
Granted, injuries have severely impacted the team, but their schedule down the stretch is not gauntlet. Even still, if this team wants to get into the playoffs, they need to play better.
The Sky is Falling in Canuckland?
Saying this season has been a disaster for the Canucks would maybe be an understatement. After their best season in almost a decade, Vancouver has been a bit of a mess this season. Injuries have been a factor, with Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko both missing some time. However, a large majority of the issues have come internally.
Obviously, J. T. Miller was traded after the rumored drama between him and Elias Pettersson, but aside from that there is just a negative energy around the organization. Pettersson still doesn’t seem happy and has been continuously shopped by the Canucks even after Miller was traded. Quinn Hughes publicly stated he wasn’t staying through a rebuild, and Brock Boeser seems all but gone in free agency after the team didn’t trade him at the deadline.
Things seem to be unraveling quickly in Vancouver, only time will tell if management can stop the bleeding.
Where to Watch
Monday night’s game at the Prudential Center is set for a 7:30 pm ET puck drop. It can be seen on ESPN+ and Hulu.