The New Jersey Devils (24-12-3) continue their season-long six-game road trip against the Anaheim Ducks (14-17-4) on Tuesday night. New Jersey is coming off a split of a home-and-home against the Carolina Hurricanes. However, the Devils remain second in the Metropolitan Division on points percentage, trailing only Washington.
Meanwhile Anaheim defeated Edmonton on Sunday, but still sits seventh in the Pacific. This is the second and final meeting of the year between the two teams after the Devils picked up a 6-2 victory at the Prudential Center back in October.
Match Overview
Curtis Lazar returned to the Devils lineup on Saturday after missing four contests due to swelling in his knee. Jake Allen also appeared in his second contest since suffering an upper-body injury in early December. With those two back in the fold, New Jersey could have a clean bill of health entering Tuesday’s contest.
Allen seems likely to get the start against a weaker Anaheim team in the front-end of a back-to-back, with Jacob Markstrom likely facing the Kings. For the season, Allen has posted a .897 save percentage and a -0.82 goals saved above expected (GSAx).
Meanwhile, the Ducks will be without forwards Trevor Zegras and Brock McGinn, while goaltender John Gibson is day-to-day.
That means New Jersey will likely see Lukas Dostal in net. The Czech netminder has been one of the best in the NHL, registering a .913 save percentage and a 16.18 GSAx at age 24.
Anaheim’s biggest change since the last meeting with New Jersey was the acquisition of Jacob Trouba. In ten games with the Ducks, the former Rangers captain has one point and a 47.05 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five. While below average, that xGF% does lead all Anaheim defensemen.
Elsewhere, Troy Terry leads the Ducks in goals (10), assists (17), and points (27). He is the only Duck to reach the 10 goal or 20-point plateau through 35 games. Jackson Lacombe leads the defensemen with 13 points.
Projected Lines
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Meier – Hischier – Noesen
Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Cotter – Haula – Mercer
Tatar – Lazar – Bastian
Defensemen
Dillon – Hamilton
Siegenthaler – Kovacevic
Hughes – Pesce
Goaltenders
Allen
Markstrom
Anaheim Ducks
Forwards
Vatrano – Strome – Terry
Killorn – Carlsson – Leason
Gauthier – McTavish – Fabbri
Johnston – Lundestrom – Harkins
Defensemen
Lacombe – Gudas
Dumoulin – Trouba
Mintyukov – Helleson
Goaltenders
Dostal
Gibson
What To Watch For
Jack Hughes Line
In the two games against Carolina after the Christmas Break, the line of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Ondrej Palat was right back in form as the top offensive threat for New Jersey. The trio generated a five-on-five goal in each game and generally had the best possession metrics of all the Devils’ forward lines.
Across the two games, all three finished with an xGF% north of 51.00 (the highest among all New Jersey forwards), with Hughes’ 57.35 xGF% pacing the group. On top of that, the Devils had a 9-3 edge in high-danger chances with this line on the ice at five-on-five. This line has been an offensive force all season, and look for that to show again in Anaheim.
Dillon, Hamilton Pairing
Similarly to the Hughes line, the defensive pairing of Dougie Hamilton and Brendan Dillon had excellent possession metrics against Carolina. Both finished above a 60.00 xGF% and the Devils had over 60% of both the scoring chances and high-danger chances with this pairing on the ice at five-on-five.
Hughes, Pesce Pairing
Back in October, the Devils dominated the Ducks, putting up a 73.21 xGF% as a team, but no two players were more dominant than Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce. In just their third game together after beginning the season injured, Hughes registered a 92.34 xGF% while Pesce put up a 90.88 xGF%. Only Curtis Lazar had a higher xGF%, but he was injured after just three minutes of ice time.
Both Hughes and Pesce have continued their strong play all season, leading the New Jersey blue line with a 61.65 and 57.99 xGF% for the season. Look for them to dominate against Anaheim again this time out.
Where To Watch
MSGSN will air the Devils and Ducks. Faceoff is scheduled for 8:00 pm ET from the Honda Center.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.