Thursday night, the New Jersey Devils look to bounce back from two consecutive losses by defeating the Detroit Red Wings. After starting the season 5-2-0, the Devils lost their past two games in overtime and regulation despite scoring five goals in each game.
The Devils are 5-3-1, which currently has them second in the Metropolitan Division. The Red Wings hold a record of 3-3-0, which has them seventh in the Atlantic Division.
Match Overview
Last year, the Devils matched up well against Detroit, with the home team taking each of the three games they played last year. To open the season the Devils won 4-3. In November, the Devils traveled to Detroit and got shutout 4-0. A month later, the Red Wings came back to New Jersey where they took a 2-1 lead into the third period, Timo Meier and Tyler Toffoli would score to give the Devils the lead which they would not concede.
This season the Red Wings have gone 1-3-0 against the Eastern Conference with their lone win coming on Tuesday against the Islanders. In that game, they scored just one goal on 10 shots but were able to take down the Devils’ division rival.
Lines and Pairings
Devils
Forwards
Palat-Hughes-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Cotter-Haula-Noesen
Tatar-Lazar-Bastian
Defense
Dillon-Hamilton
Siegenthaler-Kovacevic
Misyul-Nemec
(Hughes-Pesce)
Goalies
Markstrom
Allen
Red Wings
Forwards
Raymond-Larkin-DeBrincat
Tarasenko-Compher-Kane
Veleno-Kasper-Berggren
Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer
Defense
Edvinsson-Seider
Chiarot-Petry
Maatta-Gustafsson
Goalies
Lyon
Talbot
Keys to the Game
Defensive Help on the Way
While the Devils top two defensive pairs have been great, of all pairs that have spent at least 85 minutes of ice time together, Dillon and Hamilton as well as Siegenthaler and Kovacevic are ranked top 10 in expected goals percentage (xG%). They both have a mark at over 54% which is very good. The Devils bottom pair, however, has not been good whatsoever. It just so happens however that New Jersey has two top NHL defenseman in their back pocket ready to return from injury.
Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce should add an extra layer of depth to the Devils defense and make that that much more lethal. Going from Casey or Misyul and Nemec to Hughes and Pesce is a massive upgrade and one that should improve the Devils play driving at five-on-five.
Don’t Overreact
I know given the Devils struggles over the past 11 seasons, with only two playoff appearances in that span, it’s easy to see many of the problems from last year pop up and lose all hope. However, fans have to remember that this is a different team with a new goaltending tandem and, most importantly, a new coach.
As shown in the tweet above Sheldon Keefe’s teams have historically started slow before finishing well over 100 points. The Devils are currently 5-3-1 just nine games into the season which isn’t even that bad, but many fans after the past two games are claiming the season is a lost cause.
It’s still early, the team has a new coach whose teams start slow, and the players are still learning a new system. I know it’s easy to overreact, but this team has talent, lots of it, things should come together if they can stay healthy.
Where To Watch
The Devils and Red Wings matchup is slated for a 7:00 pm ET puck drop. The game can be seen on MSGSN.