The New Jersey Devils (18-10-2) enter the mid-way point of a five-game homestand with a matchup versus the Toronto Maple Leafs (16-9-2) on Tuesday night at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
After an impressive road win over the rival New York Rangers last Monday, the Devils split the next two games during the homestand. New Jersey picked up a 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Friday before being shutout by former Devils goalie Scott Wedgewood and the Colorado Avalanche to end the week Sunday.
Shutouts have become a trend for the Devils lately. Since a four-game losing streak which ended on October 27, the Devils have lost a total of six games. Five of those losses have come via shutout. It seems that when the Devils get behind and/or can’t solve a goaltending, the offense tends to tense up and underperform. In some cases it’s bad puck luck and a goalie standing on his head. Either way, something to monitor going into the matchup versus Toronto.
Match Overview
The loss to Colorado was disappointing, so the Devils will need to bounce back. With just three games so far in December, we’re seeing teams gain games on New Jersey in the Metropolitan Division. The Washington Capitals now lead the division by two points entering Monday with three games in hand on New Jersey.
Other than the occasional bad loss, the Devils have been playing great hockey. New Jersey enters Monday top-10 in goals per game (3.40) and goals allowed per game (2.73). You can almost say the same about special teams. The Devils sport the best power play in the NHL and are just outside the top-10 on the kill.
Usually, those are the types of benchmarks you expect to hit when you’re a Stanley Cup contender, which the Devils are at this point.
The Maple Leafs have cooled off a bit since winning 10 of 12 games over the past month or so. Toronto dropped a back-to-back set of games against Washington and Pittsburgh over the weekend.
The Leafs played a condensed lineup on Saturday vs. the Penguins, going with seven defensemen. Leafs head coach Craig Berube decided to primarily use his top-five forwards in Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander and Matthew Knies, all five skating at least 19:00 of ice time.
That was due the absence of centers Max Domi and Bobby McMann. Domi has a chance to return to the lineup Tuesday vs. the Devils. It’ll also be interesting to see if Berube starts New Jersey native Anthony Stolarz in net over Joseph Woll.
Projected Lineup
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Meier – Hischier – Mercer
Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Cotter – Haula – Noesen
Tatar – Dowling – Legare
Defense
Dillon – Hamilton
Hughes – Pesce
Siegenthaler – Kovacevic
Goalies
Markstrom
Allen
Toronto Maple Leafs
Forwards
Pacioretty – Matthews – Marner
Knies – Tavares – W. Nylander
Holmberg – Minten – A. Nylander
Lorentz – Dewar – Reaves
Defense
Ekman-Larsson – Tanev
Rielly – Myers
Benoit – Timmins
Goalies
Woll
Stolarz
What to Watch For
Lines Shaken Up
The Devils are mixing the lines up a bit for Tuesday it seems. Against the Kraken, the Devils got both Tomas Tatar and Erik Haula back. On Sunday versus Avalanche, Haula was skating at left wing on the third line with Mercer centering that group. We saw at practice on Monday, according to Amanda Stein, that Haula is back at center on the third line with Cotter and Noesen, who moves back down after a long stint on Nico Hischier’s line.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters on Monday in regards to the line change that he’s, “looking to get scoring from [sources] other than the Hughes and Hischier lines.”
Early in the season, the third line of Cotter, Haula, and Noesen was easily the Devils’ strongest unit. Keefe is likely hoping to get Cotter going again. Noesen is scoreless over the past two games but finished November with eight goals.
Cotter is in a bit of a drought. After scoring six times in the first month of the season, Cotter has just one goal since October 30 and hasn’t scored in 11 straight games.
Forecheck and Special Teams
If the Maple Leafs are shorthanded again without Domi on Tuesday, they could go with seven defensemen again and play a tighter game. If that’s the case, expect Keefe to preach physicality and the forecheck. The Devils dropped the home opener 4-2 to the Leafs after falling behind 3-1 in the first. New Jersey would win the next two periods but couldn’t capitalize on four power plays.
The Devils will need to be relentless on the forecheck again if Leafs head coach Craig Berube is going to ride his top forwards. New Jersey will also need to take advantage of potentially tired legs later in the contest to force penalties and then score on the ensuing man-advantage. Expect that to be somewhat of a formula for success for Keefe, who will again try and get his first win against his former team.
Where to Watch
Tuesday night’s game at Prudential Center is set for a 7:00 pm ET puck drop and can be watched on MSG.