The New Jersey Devils (13-10-1) take on the Calgary Flames (11-12-3) this afternoon in Calgary. The Devils are coming off a 2-1 win over Seattle and have won five of six. The Flames came back to beat Carolina on Thursday in their last contest.

Match Overview

The Devils are unchanged from their two prior games on the road trip. Dougie Hamilton and Tomas Nosek are the only regulars on Injured Reserve.

With a back-to-back against Calgary and Edmonton this weekend, expect to see both Akira Schmid and Vitek Vanecek in net for a game. Vanecek seems more likely to play today with a more dynamic offense in Edmonton on deck for tomorrow.

This season, Vanecek has a .877 save percentage and a -10.94 goals saved above expected (GSAx). Schmid has posted a .902 save percentage and a -1.90 GSAx.

For Calgary, starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom broke his finger earlier this week and is listed as week-to-week. Dustin Wolf was called up from the AHL as a result. Wolf has posted a .901 save percentage and a -1.36 GSAx in three games this year. Meanwhile, Dan Vladar has a .877 save percentage and a -6.27 GSAx in eight games of action.

A couple of Calgary players are dealing with the flu. Both A.J. Greer and Walker Duehr did not skate at Friday’s practice, but are seemingly available for the game.

It has not been a great start to the year offensively for Calgary. The Flames sit 22nd in the league with just 2.92 goals-for per game. Elias LIndholm and Nazem Kadri lead the team with 17 points in 26 games while Lindholm and former Devil Blake Coleman lead the team with seven goals each.

Projected Lines

New Jersey Devils

Forwards

Haula – Hughes – Toffoli

Palat – Hischier – Bratt

Meier – Mercer – Holtz

Smith – McLeod – Lazar

Defensemen

Siegenthaler – Nemec

Bahl – Marino

Hughes – Miller

Goaltenders

Vanecek

Schmid

Calgary Flames

Forwards 

Mangiapane – Lindholm – Sharangovich

Zary – Kadri – Pospisil

Huberdeau – Backlund – Coleman

Greer – Ruzicka – Dube

Defensemen

Weegar – Andersson

Hanifin – Tanev

Solovyov – Gilbert

Goaltenders

Vladar

Wolf

What To Watch For

Tyler Toffoli

Tyler Toffoli gets to face the team that traded him to New Jersey for the first time tonight. The Devils are certainly happy with the trade so far, with Toffoli leading the team with 12 goals in 24 games.

For the season, Toffoli has posted a 55.80 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) and a 58.17 Corsi-For percentage (CF%) at five-on-five, both of which are middle of the pack compared to other Devils’ skaters. However, Toffoli had a tough night against Seattle with just a 35.81 xGF%, so it will be interesting to see if he can get back to form against his former club.

Nico Hischier

Nico Hischier has only played in 13 games this season, but the Devils’ captain has been arguably their most important player. Hischier leads the team with a 61.67 CF% and is second to his linemate Ondrej Palat with a 63.40 xGF%.

Hischier is also coming off a stellar night against Seattle where he led the team with a 77.72 xGF% at five-on-five and had a 2-0 edge in high-danger chances. Hischier’s line was the only Devils line to finish with an xGF% above 40.00.

Moreover, since returning to the lineup on November 25 against Buffalo, the Devils are 5-1-0. It is not a coincidence that the team has started to get back to winning ways with the captain back in the lineup.

Luke Hughes-Colin Miller Pair

Thursday against Seattle, Luke Hughes led all Devils defensemen with a 58.08 xGF% at five-on-five. This continues an encouraging trend seen with Hughes since he was paired up with Colin Miller.

In over 93 of five-on-five ice time paired with Miller, Hughes has a 62.69 xGF%, which is easily the highest of all New Jersey defensive pairs with over 75 minutes together. It is also a massive improvement from Hughes’ 143 minutes with Brendan Smith, where that duo had just a 40.67 xGF% together. Playing with Miller has been a noticeable positive for Hughes, which will have benefits both this season and long-term for New Jersey.

Where To Watch

Today’s game between the Devils and Flames is on MSGSN. Puck drop is set for 4:00 p.m. ET.

Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.