The New Jersey Devils homestand continues. Awaiting them are the Boston Bruins, who have been eliminated from playoff contention. The Devils have the golden opportunity to clinch, needing just one point from Tuesday night’s game.
Matchup Overview
Things have looked bright for the Devils. After losing three straight home games, the Devils have gone 4-1 in their last five games. Jacob Markstrom continues to elevate his play and Jesper Bratt continues to be the driving force behind the Devils’ offense.
Meanwhile, oh how the mighty have fallen. The Bruins have entered unfamiliar territory. For the first time since 2015, the Bruins lost ten games in a row and were eliminated from playoff contention. This team that’s been a playoff contender is now a lottery team headed for a top five pick in the draft.
They are still missing key defenseman in Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm. Offensively, they are a barren wasteland with very little firepower outside of their top line. They sit in the bottom ten in every category offensively, which is an appetizing opportunity for the Devils to cash in.
Projected Lineups
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Noesen-Hischier-Bratt
Haula-Mercer-Meier
Palat-Dowling-Tatar
Cotter-Glass-Sprong
Defense
Hughes-Pesce
Dumoulin-Kovacevic
Dillon-Casey
Goalies
Markstrom
Allen
Boston Bruins
Forwards
Geekie-Lindholm-Pastrnak
Zacha-Mittelstadt-Lysell
Khusnutdinov-Minten-Lettieri
Lauko-Beecher-Koepke
Defense
Zadorov-Jokiharju
Lohrei-Peeke
Wotherspoon-Callahan
Goalies
Swayman
Korpisalo
What to Watch For
The Bruins Top Line
The Bruins have been utterly bad when it comes to scoring goals. In all situations, the Bruins have a -18.65 goals scored above expected, which shows clear signs of porous finishing ability. Not to mention, they are inept to generating any form of offense to begin with. Really, the only line that is able to generate anything is the top trio.
The Bruins do not have much firepower and did sell key pieces off at the trade deadline. Once again, David Pastrnak leads the team in goals and in points by a very wide margin. Also, Morgan Geekie is having a career season and has enjoyed playing alongside Pastrnak. Them to on the top line alone has been quite lethal.
Since the trade deadline, the Bruins have scored 18 goals with David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie on the ice. As for the rest of the team? They’ve scored nine goals combined. The Bruins are getting little production out of the lineup, so if the Devils want to win this game, neutralizing the top line is the golden ticket.
Jacob Markstrom’s Improved Play
Things were look very shaky for the Devils goalie as he returned from his injury. However, Markstrom has been playing very well as of late and will look to keep that momentum going against what’s been a lowly Bruins team.
Markstrom has won his last four starts, which includes his second shutout of the season when facing the New York Rangers. Markstrom has 3.24 goals saved above expected over his last four starts, and hasn’t allowed two goals just once in that span. He’s been better in the high danger areas of the ice and owns a .933 save percentage.
Where to Watch
Tonight’s puck drop is at 7:00 pm ET and can be found on MSG.