Welcome to 2024! The year 2023 is now behind us and the New Jersey Devils (19-14-2) take the ice for the first time in 2024. It is a crucial game, as they take on divisional opponent Washington Capitals (18-11-6). Washington is coming off a 4-3 win last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins and will enter the second leg of a back to back.
The margin for error is small, as the division race is tight. New Jersey will look to kick off the new year on the right foot. They’ll do it without Timo Meier, who will not be playing in tonight’s game due to a “medium-body” injury.
Projected Lineups
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Toffoli-Hughes-Bratt
Palat-Hischier-Haula
Lazar-McLeod-Mercer
Holtz-Tierney-Bastian
Defense
Siegenthaler-Nemec
Hughes-Marino
Bahl-Smith
Goalies
Vanecek
Daws
Washington Capitals
Forwards
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Protas-McMichael-Mantha
Lapierre-Strome-Phillips
Malenstyn-Dowd-Aube-Kubel
Defense
Fehervary-Carlson
Sandin-Bear
Edmundson-Jensen
Goalies
Kuemper
Shephard
What to Watch For
A Potentially Tired Washington Team
The Devils last game saw a Boston Bruins team take advantage of the fact they played the night before. Ultimately, they looked wore out and found their way back into the losing column. However, with having fresh legs the Devils will look to get after the Capitals especially offensively.
For the most part this season, Washington has done a good job keeping the puck out of the net. However, the last four games tell a different story. Washington has been out scored 16-8 in their last four games and has allowed three or more goals in each contest. For the Devils, this is a great opportunity to capitalize against a tired team who had been poor at keeping the puck out of the net.
Interestingly enough, the Capitals are 6-0-1 in second games of a back-to-back this season. However, they’ve been outshot in every game but have relied on superb goaltending and elite finishing. Hopefully that trend stops tonight.
Dawson Mercer Keeping his Hot Streak Going
It was a slow start for Dawson Mercer. After a strong sophomore season where he scored 27 goals and tallied 56 points, optimism set in for him in his third year. Instead, it got off to a slow start. Mercer went pointless in the month of October but he has elevated his play as of late.
November was a kind month to him, as he started to light the lamp and produce on the score sheet. It was sporadic but the contributions were coming. In December, he was a key factor offensively and was playing some of his best hockey of the season.
Mercer has three goals and six points in his last five games. His biggest game came against the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he scored a huge goal to tie the game and give the Devils life. In this same time span, he has one game-winning goal and has been great on a line with Michael McLeod and Timo Meier.
With entering a new year, it’ll be great to see Mercer continue his hot play and give the Devils offense.
How to Watch
Tonight’s matchup is at 7:30 pm and can be found on TNT.