Overview
The New Jersey Devils (41-16-6) will play the Washington Capitals (31-28-6) in a Metropolitan Division matchup in Washington tonight. The Devils lost their last game to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3.
Although New Jersey has put up wins recently, they’ve had a worrying past couple of games. They beat the Arizona Coyotes 5-4 on Sunday, but never quite slammed the door on the basement-dwelling team. They went back and forth with the Leafs, but fell apart late and blew a one-goal lead. The Devils are stuck in the mud, but a strong win against a Capitals squad hanging on by a thread in the playoff race would go a long way toward building momentum.
The Devils are in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 88 points, four behind the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals sit in sixth place, five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, who currently hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Lines and Pairings
Devils –
Forwards:
Tatar-Hischier-Mercer
Meier-Hughes-Bratt
Palat-Haula-Boqvist
Wood-McLeod-Bastian
Defense:
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Graves-Marino
Bahl-Severson
Goalies:
Vanecek
Schmid
Capitals –
Forwards:
Ovechkin-Kuznetzov-Mantha
Milano-Backstrom-Wilson
Sheary-Strome-Oshie
Protas-Dowd- Aube Kubel
Defense:
Sandin-Van Riemsdyk
Alexeyev-Fehervary
Irwin-Carlsson
Goalies:
Kuemper
Lindgren
Keys to the Game
Goaltending Needs to Step Up
One reason the Devils have been spinning their wheels as of late has been poor goaltending. For most of the year, New Jersey has relied on a steady starter in Vitek Vanecek in front of a fluctuating backup situation. That hasn’t been the case recently.
Since February 21, Vanecek has fallen off hard, posting an abysmal .822 save percentage (SV%) and has -8.54 goals saved above expected (GSAx) over that span. This is a far cry from his stats prior to February 21, a .917 SV% and 13.64 GSAx. Now, Vanecek has been an tad unreliable in net and the Devils have had to compensate with a flurry of goals. Vanecek currently owns a .906 SV% and 5.1 GSAx on the year.
In Vanecek’s absence, Akira Schmid has played phenomenal hockey. Since February 19th, Schmid has played three games (including a period after Vanecek was pulled against Colorado), posting a .952 SV% and 2.37 GSAx over that span. Schmid has a .925 SV% and 6.33 GSAx in 12 games this year. Lindy Ruff would be wise to roll with Schmid as the starter for a game or two until Vanecek works through whatever issues he has.
Let Meier Settle In
More important for the Devils in the long term than a win against the Capitals is for Timo Meier to settle into his role in New Jersey. Meier already has a goal as a Devil, but head coach Lindy Ruff needs to let Meier settle into a consistent role.
When the Devils needed a boost against the Leafs. Ruff shuffled around the top three lines, Meier included. For Meier to settle in quickly, he needs consistent playing time with his linemates for the foreseeable future: Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
Tonight’s game can be seen on MSGSN2 at 7:00 PM.