The New Jersey Devils (44-16-6) host the Tampa Bay Lightning (39-22-6) tonight. New Jersey swept a back-to-back against Montreal and Carolina over the weekend, tying the Hurricanes for the Metropolitan Division lead with 94 points in the process. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay split a back-to-back, beating Chicago before falling to Winnipeg on Sunday. This is the first of three meetings between the teams in the span of five days.
Match Overview
The Devils have won three in a row entering tonight’s contest and are playing some of their best hockey of the year. Since March 1, New Jersey has played seven games and owns the third-highest expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) in the league at 62.14 and the highest high-danger Corsi-for percentage (HDCF%) at 65.66 at five-on-five.
New Jersey also remains quite healthy. All skaters are healthy and Curtis Lazar is with the team after meeting them in Montreal on Saturday. Mackenzie Blackwood remains on injured reserve, but is getting closer to a return, per Ryan Novozinsky.
Head coach Lindy Ruff could go either way in net tonight. Vitek Vanecek is coming off a 32-save shutout against Carolina. That was his third shutout of the year in a pivotal game to bounce back from a tough five-game stretch. For the season, Vanecek has a .910 save percentage and a 6.79 GSAx.
Meanwhile, Akira Schmid has won consecutive starts at Washington and Montreal and looked solid in the process. That continues a strong season for Schmid who now has a .927 save percentage and a 7.72 GSAx in just 14 games. He continues to make a strong case to be the backup goalie come the postseason.
As for Tampa Bay, the Lightning have struggled as of late. The three-time consecutive cup finalists are just 3-5-2 in their last ten games. Those wins have come against Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago, all of whom sit outside the current playoff picture. However, the Lightning are still a very dangerous team and are third in the Atlantic with 84 points.
Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov are the big names for Tampa and have produced like it this year. Kucherov leads the team with 95 points while Point is second with 79 points and a team-leading 43 goals. Captain Steven Stamkos is third with 66 points.
Andrei Vasilevskiy has had another solid year with a .914 save percentage and a 12.09 GSAx. He figures to start tonight. His backup, Brian Elliott, has a .896 save percentage and a -2.47 GSAx.
Projected Lines
New Jersey Devils –
Forwards
Tatar – Hischier – Mercer
Meier – Hughes – Bratt
Palat – Haula – Boqvist
Wood – McLeod – Bastian
Defensemen
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Graves – Marino
Bahl – Severson
Goaltenders
Vanecek
Schmid
Tampa Bay Lightning –
Forwards
Stamkos – Point – Kucherov
Hagel – Cirelli – Killorn
Colton – Paul – Jeannot
Maroon – Eyssimont – Perry
Defensemen
Hedman – Perbix
Sergachev – Raddysh
Cole – Cernak
Goaltenders
Vasilevskiy
Elliott
What To Watch For
Ondrej Palat
This is the first meeting between the Devils and Lightning this season, so it will be the first time Ondrej Palat gets to face the team that drafted him. Palat signed a six-year deal with NJ in the offseason and has 19 points in 34 games.
However, he has been heating up lately. In seven games in March, Palat has a 64.28 xGF% at five-on-five, the sixth-best mark on the team. His 68.42 HDCF% also ranks sixth on the Devils.
Palat will certainly be fired up to face the NHL team he had ever played for (and that he won two Stanley Cups with). The Devils hope he can continue his strong play and provide a spark for his new team tonight.
Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt
While Tampa Bay has plenty of star talent in its lineup, the Devils have some stars of their own. In particular, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. The duo was reunited on Sunday alongside new acquisition TImo Meier after several games apart, and made all the difference in the win.
The line combined for a 53.58 xGF% at five-on-five. More importantly, though, Hughes and Bratt scored all three of the goals in the shutout win. Hughes scored the first while adding the primary assist on each of Bratt’s tallies. In the process, Bratt snapped a four-game scoreless streak and Hughes snapped a three-game drought. It was also Hughes’ first multi-point night since February 25 and Bratt’s first since January 24.
In the five games since acquiring Timo Meier, the trio Bratt and Hughes alongside the deadline addition have played well. They have generated a 56.95 xGF% and a 61.54 HDCF% at five-on-five together.
Against Carolina, the Devils saw the importance of contributions from their stars, and that will hold true this week. If Hughes and Bratt can stay hot alongside Meier and outperform Tampa’s stars, the Devils will find success over these three head-to-head matchups in less than a week.
The “BMW” Line
After a tough night in Washington that saw Michael McLeod benched for the third period and overtime, the Devils’ fourth line bounced back with a very strong performance over the weekend.
In both wins against Carolina and Montreal, the “BMW Line” actually had the highest xGF% among all New Jersey forward lines at five-on-five. Meanwhile, Nathan Bastian led all Devils skaters with a 68.14 xGF% over the two games.
While the Devils and Lightning likely ending up on opposite sides of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, these three games in five days may not be much of a traditional “playoff preview.” However, Tampa has played in three consecutive Stanley Cup FInals, winning two. This is a team that knows how to win big games and will provide a tough test for NJ’s fourth line.
With the nature of three games in five days against the same opponent, the bottom-six can jolt momentum with timely play as they can in a playoff series. In that aspect, this week can be a good chance for the “BMW Line” to learn about what it takes to play in and win meaningful hockey games in the Spring.
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the Devils and Lightning is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET at the Prudential Center. MSGSN will have coverage.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.