Friday night, the New Jersey Devils look to bounce back from their second-straight loss on Long Island against the Islanders. The Islanders won their first two games of the season against the Sabres and Coyotes and stand at 2-0-0. After winning their season opener, the Devils have lost their past two and are 1-1-1.
Lines and Pairings
Devils
Forwards
Toffoli-Hughes-Meier
Palat-Hischier-Bratt
Mercer-McLeod-Holtz
Tierney-Lazar-Bastian
Defense
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Bahl-Marino
Smith-Hughes
Goalies
Vanecek
Schmid
Islanders
Forwards
Barzal-Horvat-Holmstrom
Engvall-Nelson-Palmieri
Lee-Pageau-Fasching
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck
Defense
Pelech-Dobson
Romanov-Pulock
Bolduc-Aho
Goalies
Sorokin
Varlamov
Keys to the Game
Depth Injuries
While the Devils have been lucky in the fact they have yet to experience an injury to a major piece, they have lost some depth. Erik Haula and Tomas Nosek have both missed the past few practices, with neither expected to play tonight. Meanwhile, on the backend, Colin Miller went down with an injury during practice yesterday.
While Miller hasn’t played yet this season, the injuries to Haula and Nosek hurt. Michael McLeod who will be playing higher in the lineup will have to step up his game. Along with McLeod, Tierney and Lazar. who wouldn’t normally be playing, will need to be at least solid fourth line contributors against a tough Isles squad.
Undefeated
If you were to tell an average NHL fan before opening night that well over a week into the season the Islanders would be one of the only undefeated teams, they would have a hard time believing you. So, what has gone into New York’s hot start?
Well, first, Ilya Sorokin has only let in two goals through two games. Secondly, New York hasn’t had the toughest schedule to open, taking down the Sabres and Coyotes. The Islanders have also only played a couple games, starting their season last Saturday. The only team to start their season later was the Anaheim Ducks who opened later that night.
Where To Watch
The Devils and Islanders matchup is slated for a 7:30 pm ET puck drop. The game can be seen on NHL Network as well as MSG.