The New Jersey Devils (5-0-0) host the New York Rangers (2-3-0) in the penultimate preseason game Wednesday night. The Devils are coming off a 6-5 victory over the New York Islanders on Monday. The Hudson River rivals met last Thursday with New Jersey picking up a 3-2 win at Madison Square Garden.
Match Overview
At Tuesday’s practice, the Devils’ veterans all skated together for the first time this preseason with the regular season right around the corner. It appears as though New Jersey will be rolling out close to its opening night lineup in the final two preseason games.
Before Tuesday’s practice, the Devils did make some roster cuts. Forwards Graeme Clarke, Kyle Criscuolo, Chase Stillman, and defenseman Daniil Misyul were all assigned to Utica. Goaltender Erik Källgren was also placed on waivers in order to be assigned to Utica if he clears.
Per Amanda Stein, Lindy Ruff said more cuts could be coming as soon as today. New Jersey still has 36 players at camp and needs to get down to 23 for the regular season.
Meanwhile, the Rangers also skated with close to their opening night roster. Both teams should be icing teams at full strength for this contest. Per Vince Mercogliano, Jonathan Quick was the first Rangers goalie off the ice at Wednesday’s morning skate, indicating he should be the starter tonight after Igor Shesterkin played two periods against the Devils last week.
Projected Lines
New York Rangers
Forwards
Panarin – Zibanejad – Kakko
Kreider – Trocheck – Wheeler
Cuylle – Goodrow – Pitlick
Vesey – Bonino – Othmann
Defensemen
Miller – Trouba
Gustafsson – Fox
Lindgren – Schneider
Goaltenders
Quick
Shesterkin
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Toffoli – Hughes – Bratt
Meier – Hischier – Holtz
Palat – Haula – Mercer
Nosek – McLeod – Lazar
Defensemen
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Bahl – Marino
Hughes – Smith
Goaltenders
Vanecek
Schmid
What to Watch For
The Top Line
The trio of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Tyler Toffoli have looked excellent so far this preseason, and they are expected to serve as the top line tonight. So far this preseason, the line has played just over 20 minutes together at five-on-five and have a 63.21 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) in that time to go with a 3-0 edge in high-danger chances.
Monday night against the Islanders, the Hughes line combined for four goals and eight points with Jesper Bratt netting a hat trick. The trio had a 70.73 xGF% in the win.
The Third Line
While the Hughes line has been thriving, the advanced metrics have been less kind to New Jersey’s projected third line. Dawson Mercer, Erik Haula, and Ondrej Palat have combined for a 20.00 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 27.69 xGF% in an admittedly small 11 minutes of ice time.
That trio is set to skate together again tonight and see if they can put together a better performance before the regular season begins.
Final Tune Up For Vanecek?
Vitek Vanecek appears to be the starting netminder tonight with Akira Schmid backing him up. The pair have alternated game action this preseason, so it appears that Schmid will handle the starter’s net in the final preseason game on Friday. Both backups will likely see a period or so of game action, but that means tonight is Vanecek’s final bulk outing before the regular season begins.
So far this preseason, Vanecek has posted a .946 save percentage and a 1.29 goals saved above expected in two games. It’s just the preseason, but those are encouraging numbers after Vanecek’s 2022-2023 season ended with postseason struggles.
Where to Watch
Puck drop from the Prudential Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. MSG and MSGSN will have coverage of the game.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick