Devils Return Home to Host Defending Champion-Avalanche

Tomas Tatar celebrates a goal in a 5-3 win over Colorado last season. (via @NJDevils / Twitter)

Tonight, the New Jersey Devils (4-3-0) host the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalanche (4-2-1). This is the first of two meetings between the two teams this season.

Match Overview

The Devils enter the contest after splitting a back-to-back with the Capitals and Red Wings. New Jersey lost to Washington 6-3 on Monday before securing a dominant 6-2 win in Detroit on Tuesday. The Devils have won four of their last five games after an 0-2-0 start.

Vitek Vanecek was in net Tuesday night, picking up his first win as a Devil. He is expected to start tonight. Vanecek has made just two starts this season with head coach Lindy Ruff riding the hot hand of Mackenzie Blackwood during New Jersey’s recent three game win streak. In his two starts, Vanecek has posted a .833 save percentage with 2.98 goals saved below expected.

Ondrej Palat missed Tuesday night’s game with a lower body injury and missed practice Thursday. He is continuing to be evaluated, per Amanda Stein. Meanwhile, Mackenzie Blackwood missed practice with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. However, Jonathan Bernier was on the ice yesterday. Bernier is still on long-term injured reserve.

Meanwhile, Colorado is riding a two-game win streak, including a shootout win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Former Ranger Alexandar Georgiev picked up the win, and has earned the starter’s net from Pavel Francouz. Georgiev is 4-0-1 in five starts with a .921 save percentage and 1.24 goals saved above expected. He is expected to start Friday night in the front end of a back-to-back for Colorado.

The Avalanche will be without a pair of forwards for tonight’s game. Captain Gabriel Landeskog underwent knee surgery last week and is expected to be out until early 2023. He has yet to play this season. Further down the lineup, Darren Helm has spent the season on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.

Projected Lines

New Jersey Devils –

Forwards:

Tatar – Hischier – Zetterlund

Haula – Hughes – Bratt

Sharangovich – Mercer – Holtz

Wood – McLeod – Bastian

Defensemen:

Siegenthaler – Hamilton

Graves – Marino

Smith – Severson

Goaltenders:

Vanecek

Blackwood

Colorado Avalanche –

Forwards:

Nichushkin – MacKinnon – Rantanen

Lehkonen – Newhook – Rodrigues

Cogliano – Compher – O’Connor

Hunt – Maltsev – Kaut

Defensemen:

Toews – Makar

Byram – Manson

Girard – Johnson

Goaltenders:

Georgiev

Francouz

Valeri Nichushkin celebrates scoring in a 3-2 shootout win over the Rangers. He is tied for the league-lead in points with 12. (via @Avalanche / Twitter)

What to Watch For

Devils’ Discipline

Yes, it is a relatively small sample size, but Colorado’s power play has been near-unfathomably hot to start the season. Through seven games, the Avalanche are converting on 50% of their power play opportunities. To their credit, the Devils penalty kill ranks sixth in the NHL at 90.5%, but New Jersey cannot afford to give Colorado extra chances with the man-advantage.

A big reason for Colorado’s success is Valeri Nichushkin. Nichushkin was pivotal in last season’s cup run. The Russian forward scored 52 points in 62 regular season games before scoring nine goals and 15 points in 20 playoff contests. This season, Nichushkin is tied for the league-lead in points with 12. The 27-year-old also has scored five of his seven goals on the power play.

Devils’ Goaltending

For as great a job as the Devils have done controlling play at five-on-five, the quality of New Jersey goaltending has still coincided with the on-ice results. Per Natural Stat Trick, in the Devils’ seven games, New Jersey goaltenders have allowed fewer goals than expected in three contests, all wins. In each of the three losses, however, the Devils have allowed more goals than expected.

The only game New Jersey won while allowing more goals than expected was Tuesday night, when Vitek Vanecek allowed just 0.01 goals above expected, a perfectly average performance.

Colorado is very solid play-driving team in its own right. At five-on-five, the Avalanche have the seventh-best CF% at 53.46%, per Natural Stat Trick. With the Devils likely to play a more even game in terms of chances created against the defending champs than what they have enjoyed thus far this season, the importance of getting good goaltending is all the more important.

Jesper Bratt

After a stellar 2021-2022, Jesper Bratt has been even better to start off the 2022-2023 campaign. Among Devils skaters to play at least three games, Bratt leads the team with a 69.70 CF% at five-on-five. The 24-year-old is also tied for the league lead in points with 12, alongside Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin.

Bratt is coming off a three-point game in Detroit where he played just 12:46 in all situations. The Swede has been New Jersey’s best, most consistent point-producer dating back to last season. The Devils will need him to have another strong game to beat the defending champs.

Where to Watch

Tonight’s game will be televised on MSG Sportsnet. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. ET at the Prudential Center.

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