The New Jersey Devils (25-15-3) will look to start a new winning streak when they face the rival New York Rangers (18-20-2) at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.
The Devils ended a four-game losing streak on Tuesday with a 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken. Prior to that, New Jersey had suffered losses to weaker opponents in the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks during a West Coast swing. That came after a 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second of a home-and-home set.
Match Overview
Unsurprisingly, the Devils have been one of the worst team in the NHL when it comes to traditional statistics since December 28, the start of the four-game losing streak. Sure, it’s a small five-game sample size but it’s pretty significant given how the team has played this season.
What stands out the most is the offense, which is producing only 1.80 goals-per-game in the past five contests. That’s thanks to the power play regressing big time, only hitting at a 8.3 percent clip. On the season, the Devils still rank second overall in PP% at 28.9, but we’re seeing what happens when some regression hits.
The penalty kill remains strong and it’s worth noting both losses to the Ducks and Sharks were by one goal. Sometimes that’s the case in hockey. But this is a tough stretch upcoming in January and securing a win over the now-bottom-dwelling Rangers is crucial. Despite the shallow skid, the Devils remain in second place in the Metropolitan Division at 53 points, trailing the Washington Capitals by five and ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes by three.
The Devils will be without bottom-six center Erik Haula, who was injured in the teams loss to San Jose. Haula is expected to miss a few weeks due an ankle injury, per the MSG broadcast.
The Rangers continue what has been a nightmare season in the Big Apple. New York has shown some signs of life recently with two wins in the past four games, granted one of those wins is over the Chicago Blackhawks.
The big story in New York is the absence of goaltender Igor Shesterkin. He was placed on injured reserve after a loss to the Florida Panthers on December 30. Shesterkin was back at practice and veteran Louis Domingue was not according to Colin Stephenson of Newsday. Remember, Shesterkin wasn’t in net for the Devils’ 5-0 win over the Rangers in their previous meeting in New Jersey.
While the Rangers’ season outlook appears very bleak, you would think they’d want to show up against the Devils after being embarrassed last time out. Forwards Filip Chytil and Chris Kreider remain sidelined.
Projected Lineup
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Meier – Hischier – Noesen
Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Cotter – Dowling – Mercer
Tatar – Lazar – Bastian
Defense
Dillon – Hamilton
Siegenthaler – Kovacevic
Hughes – Pesce
Goalies
Markstrom
Allen
New York Rangers
Forwards
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Zibanejad – Smith
Berard – Brodzinski – Kaliyev
Edstrom – Carrick – Vesey
Defense
Lindgren – Fox
Schneider – Borgen
Vaakanainen – Schneider
Goalies
Quick
Domingue
What to Watch For
Can Devils Right the Power Play?
You would think there’s a good shot that happens, especially if Quick or Domingue ends up in net. The Devils were essentially perfect on the man-advantage in the previous game vs. the Rangers, going 3-for-4. That final power play came toward the end of the contest when New Jersey was coasting.
Since before that game, the Rangers have a bottom-five penalty kill in the NHL. The Rangers also had Chytil in the 5-0 loss, so they’re down another able body on Thursday. This feels like a very good spot for the Devils to get back on track on the power play.
Captain Needs to Get Going Again
Devils captain Nico Hischier started the season on a torrid goal pace. Through the first two months of the season, Hischier had 15 goals. In 16 games since then, the captain has just four goals (one on the power play). Five of those 15 goals in the first part of the season came with the man-advantage, so Hischier wasn’t just scoring on the power play. He also just has five assists and nine points overall in the past 16 games.
While his defensive play remains an asset, Hischier’s offensive game is extremely important to the club. Hopefully, he can get going again.
Where to Watch
The game will be broadcast on MSG Network at 7 pm ET on Thursday night.