After losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Sunday, the New Jersey Devils (29-25-4) will face the San Jose Sharks (15-36-5) in a late-night start on the West Coast.

The Devils are in desperation mode as their season slowly slips away. They’ve lost three of four games in the past week to the Capitals, Rangers, and Lightning. Alarm bells are ringing in the Devils’ locker room as the old issues rob them of wins; poor goaltending, an inability to finish, and head-scratching mistakes. Particularly worrying is their failure to compete after conceding multi-goal leads.

The Sharks, meanwhile, are in the midst of a historically bad season. With just 35 points, they rank second to last in the league, just above the lowly Chicago Blackhawks. Their main goals tonight are solidifying their draft position and rolling out the red carpet in Timo Meier’s return to SAP Center. 

The Devils feature a roster full of struggling stars such as Meier and most recently the Hughes brothers. The Sharks bring a desolate lineup normally led by the injured Tomas Hertl.

The Devils are in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division with 62 points, five behind the Flyers for a divisional playoff berth and seven behind the Lightning for the final wild-card spot. The Sharks sit dead last in the Pacific with 35 points.

Lines and Pairings

Devils-

Stay up to date on our social media pages for the Devils’ lineup

Sharks-

Forwards

Duclair-Granlund-Zetterlund

Kunin-Eklund-Zadina

Barbanov-Strum-Labanc

Bailey-Carpenter-Hoffman

Defense

Thrun-Rutta

Ferraro-Emberson

Okhotyuk-Burroughs

Goalies

Blackwood

Kahkonen

Keys to the Game

Struggling Stars

Over the past week, the Devils’ stars have not come out to play. Jack Hughes in particular didn’t look like himself last game. During this stretch, Hughes only has one goal and one assist. While he played well against Montreal and New York, he played so-so against Washington and horrendously against Tampa. Over the past four games, Hughes has averaged a mediocre Game Score of 0.125, which isn’t awful but also isn’t the world-beating forward we know. Still, he noticed a -2.57 score against the Lightning, causing the TNT broadcast to speculate that he isn’t at full health.

His brother Luke has done even worse, ranking near the bottom of the team in Game Score in every game with an average score of -2.34. He has an expected goal percentage (xG%) of 37.13 in that span.

His defensive counterpart, John Marino, is also struggling, ranking at the bottom of the Game Score charts. Combine that with a lack of finishing ability from Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and TImo Meier and you have a worrying situation on your hands.

Familiar Faces

Tonight marks the second time the Devils and Sharks face off this season and we’ll see even more familiar faces. Timo Meier returns to San Jose for the first time since his blockbuster trade to New Jersey. The other players in the deal, Fabian Zetterlund and Nikita Okhotyuk, already saw the Devils back in December but it’s nice to keep tabs on them.

Former Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood may start his first game against his former team tonight.

Where to Watch

Tonight’s game can be seen on MSGSN at 10:30 pm EST.