The New Jersey Devils (22-10-2) welcome the Boston Bruins (27-4-2) to the Prudential Center once again. The two teams also squared off last Friday in Newark with Boston winning 4-3 before the Christmas Break. The Devils have not played since that contest while the league-leading Bruins fell 3-2 to Ottawa in a shootout just last night (Tuesday).
Match Overview
With the Devils playing the Bruins in consecutive games despite the four-day break, not much has changed in regard to the teams’ positions in the standings. Boston still holds the early lead for the President’s Trophy while New Jersey is holding down second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Vitek Vanecek figures to get the start tonight for New Jersey. In 22 games this year, the 26-year-old has posted a .909 save percentage and a 0.77 GSAx.
Meanwhile, Tuesday brought some mixed news on the injury front for the Devils. Ryan Graves was officially listed as week-to-week with an lower-body injury that he sustained last week in Florida. His defense partner John Marino, is also out week-to-week, so the Devils will deploy a makeshift third pair for the time being.
However, forward Ondrej Palat practiced yesterday for the first time since October. He has played just six games this season, scoring three goals with no assists. Palat is not expected to play tonight, but is day-to-day and should return shortly.
As for Boston, Linus Ullmark is expected to start tonight after Jeremy Swayman took the net in Ottawa. On the year, Ullmark has been tremendous with a .936 save percentage and a 14.56 GSAx.
Last Friday, Ullmark made 37 of 40 saves, stopping 0.31 GSAx in the 4-3 win over the Devils. Meanwhile, David Pastrnak leads the Bruins with 24 goals and 23 assists for 47 points. He scored twice in last Friday’s contest.
Projected Lines
New Jersey Devils –
Forwards:
Tatar-Hischier-Zetterlund
Haula-Hughes-Bratt
Sharangovich-Boqvist-Mercer
Wood-McLeod-Holtz
Defensemen:
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Smith-Severson
Okhotiuk-Bahl
Goaltenders:
Vanecek
Blackwood
Boston Bruins –
Forwards:
Marchand-Bergeron-Debrusk
Zacha-Krejci-Pastrnak
Hall-Coyle-Frederic
Foligno-Nosek-Smith
Defensemen:
Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Lindholm-Carlo
Forbort-Clifton
Goaltenders:
Ullmark
Swayman
What to Watch For:
Vitek Vanecek
Goaltending was as big of a reason as any that the Devils fell short against the Bruins last week. In two periods of work, Mackenzie Blackwood allowed a staggering 2.18 goals above expected. He was replaced in the third period by Vitek Vanecek who stopped all five shots he faced in a low-danger final frame.
However, Vanecek has had his own struggles of late. During New Jersey’s recent 1-7-0 stretch, Vanecek appeared in five games. In just over 200 minutes of work, the Czech netminder posted a miserable .841 save percentage and has allowed 5.42 goals above expected. That is comparable to the level of goaltending the Devils received during the brutal 2021-2022 campaign.
Clearly, the Devils need their goaltending to improve to get back to winning ways, especially against elite teams like Boston. After four days off, maybe Vanecek can find a groove tonight.
Kevin Bahl
Kevin Bahl also had a disappointing night last Friday. Despite positive possession metrics in extremely sheltered minutes (75.00 Corsi-for percentage and 56.23 expected goals-for percentage), the rookie was benched for the third period after a bad turnover. Bahl played just eight minutes in the loss.
Despite the rough outing, Bahl will draw back into the lineup with Graves and Marino out week-to-week. The 22-year-old is likely to play sheltered, third-pair minutes with fellow rookie Nikita Okhotiuk.
Bahl needs to bounce back not only tonight, but moving forward, as he figures to get significant playing time in the coming month.
Dawson Mercer
Another Devil who struggled last time out was Dawson Mercer. In the loss last Friday, Mercer had a 44.83 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 27.76 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five. Both marks were the lowest on the team.
Overall, Mercer has had a nice year. For the season, both his CF% annd xGF% are north of 50.00, and he is sixth on the team with 18 points.
However, the 2020 first-round pick has not registered a point in six contests. Prior to this cold stretch, Mercer had registered a point in seven of ten contests. The Devils need him producing again to get back to winning ways.
Where to Watch:
The Devils and Bruins will be exclusively on TNT. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at the Prudential Center.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.