The New Jersey Devils (12-10-1) continue their road trip tonight against the Seattle Kraken (8-12-6). Last time out, the Devils won an eventful contest in Vancouver 6-5 on Tuesday while Seattle have dropped five straight games. The Devils are 2-0-2 all time against the Kraken, but have not won in Seattle yet.
Match Overview
There was no new injury news after the Devils’ optional practice on Wednesday. Dougie Hamilton and Tomas Nosek both remain out indefinitely. However, Brendan Smith is eligible to return from his two-game suspension tonight. It is unclear whether or not he will be scratched.
After Vitek Vanecek allowed five goals on Tuesday, Akira Schmid is likely to be in net tonight. On the season, Schmid has a .891 save percentage and a -4.43 goals saved above expected (GSAx). For his part, Vanecek has a .877 save percentage and a -10.38 GSAx.
As for Seattle, Andre Burakovsky and Jaden Schwartz are currently on injured reserve. Burakovsky was a full participant at Wednesday’s practice, though, so expect him to play.
Schwartz, who remains out, is second on the Kraken with eight goals this season. Jared McCann leads the way with 12 for Seattle. Defenseman Vince Dunn leads the team with 21 points while Oliver Bjorkstrand is the only other Kraken to reach the 20 point mark this year.
Philipp Grubauer has been the primary starter for Seattle, but has shared the net relatively evenly with Joey Daccord, so it is unclear who will get the nod tonight. Both have struggled this season. Grubauer has posted an .883 save percentage in 15 games and a -7.89 GSAx while Daccord has a .898 save percentage and a -3.20 GSAx in 13 games.
Projected Lines
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Haula – Hughes – Toffoli
Palat – Hischier – Bratt
Meier – Mercer – Holtz
Lazar – McLeod – Bastian
Defensemen
Siegenthaler – Nemec
Bahl – Marino
Hughes – Miller
Goaltenders
Schmid
Vanecek
Seattle Kraken
Forwards
Kartye – Beniers – Eberle
McCann – Wennberg – Burakovsky
Tolvanen – Gourde – Bjorkstrand
Yamamoto – Bellemare – Tanev
Defensemen
Dunn – Larsson
Oleksiak – Borgen
Dumoulin – Schultz
Goaltenders
Grubauer
Daccord
What To Watch For
Jesper Bratt
Somewhat quietly, Jesper Bratt is having a very solid start to the year for New Jersey. Despite injuries forcing the Devils to ice a depleted top-six forward group, Bratt has put up 28 points in 23 games. That pace of 1.22 points-per-game would easily be the highest in a season in Bratt’s career, with his current best being 0.96 points-per-game in 2021-22.
Bratt scored two goals including the game-winner on Tuesday and has five points in his last five games. New Jersey has won four of those five contests. Over that same span, Bratt’s 72.84 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five is the third-highest among Devils’ skaters to play all five contests behind only his linemates Nico Hischier and Ondrej Palat.
Coming off a multi-goal effort, keep an eye on Bratt to have another big night tonight.
Luke Hughes
Another Devil starting to fill up the scoresheet of late is Luke Hughes. The youngest Hughes brother has registered at least one point in four of the last five games, including three goals, all of which have been Devils’ wins.
Similar to Bratt, Hughes has also put up tremendous underlying numbers at five-on-five over that five game stretch. Among New Jersey defensemen to play in all five contests, Hughes’ 63.94 xGF% leads the way.
Being a rookie, this will Hughes’ first ever game against Seattle, and one game after facing off against his brother Quinn, Luke will get to match up with his former college teammate and reigning Calder trophy winner Matty Beniers for the first time tonight.
The Devils’ Power Play
While Jesper Bratt and Luke Hughes have certainly been clicking at even strength, they are also a huge piece of the stellar New Jersey power play. Both Hughes and Bratt are on the Devils’ top unit and are huge reasons why New Jersey leads the league with a 36.4% power play.
Seattle has struggled on the kill this year, successfully killing only 74.7% of penalties. That is just 24th in the league, one place behind New Jersey’s own 75.0% penalty kill.
The Devils’ power play might not be as hot as it was in October, but it has still converted in five straight games. New Jersey certainly has an advantage in the special teams department tonight, so expect the power play to stay hot.
Where To Watch
Tonight’s game is an ESPN exclusive with puck drop at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick