Devils Seek Important Win Against Red-Hot Lightning

Devils vs. Lighting. (Image via. AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Tonight, the New Jersey Devils look for a huge win on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Devils are four points out of a wild card spot with two games in hand on the Detroit Red Wings. The Lightning are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, coming off a win at home against the Coyotes.

The Devils are 24-19-3, good enough for fourth in the Metropolitan division. The Lightning hold a record of 26-18-5, which has them third in the Atlantic division.

Match Overview

This is a tale of a team wrecked by injuries and ice cold against a red hot team that’s also injured to an extent. These two teams met just two weeks ago when the Devils comeback attempt fell just short in overtime. 

Two people were missing from yesterday’s practice. First was head coach Lindy Ruff who was struck with a puck in the second period of their game Thursday. Second was Erik Haula who was said to be absent for personal reasons.

This game is extra important for the Devils in the standings. The Lightning are one of the teams who could potentially be in play for one of the two wild card spots. A win here could not only get the Devils within a win of a playoff spot, but also help themselves in the long run with their beating out their competition. 

Lines and Pairings

Devils

Forwards

Toffoli-Hischier-Bratt

Meier-Mercer-Palat

Haula-Lazar-Bastian

Dowling-Tierney-Holtz

Defense

Bahl-Nemec

Hughes-Marino

Hatakka-Miller

Goalies

Vanecek

Daws

Lightning

Forwards

Stamkos-Point-Kucherov

Hagel-Cirelli-Paul

Eyssimont-Motte-Sheary

Chaffee-Glendening-Merela

Defense

Hedman-Raddysh

De Haan-Perbix

Martinsen Lilleberg-Crozier

Goalies

Vasilevskiy

Johansson

Jonas Siegenthaler. (image via. Bruce Bennett/GettyImages)

Keys to the Game

The Injury Bug Bites

The Devils are continuing to fight the injury bug. Ondrej Palat made his return to the lineup Thursday, but there are still quite a few players the team is waiting on. Tomas Nosek is skating on his own and Jack Hughes might play at the All-Star game next weekend, so they sound like they could be next in line to return. 

After that would be Brendan Smith with a sprained knee and no definitive timeline. However, he seems closer than Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler who have a torn pec and broken foot, respectively. 

The Lighting are also dealing with a bug, especially on the blueline. The team is missing Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, and Haydn Fleury on defense. At forward Tanner Jeannot and Austin Watson are both out. 

Overall, it’s been a rough go around for both teams, but one is 4-5-1 in their last 10 and the other is 8-2. That’s what the difference that goaltending and scheduling makes.

Strength of Schedule 

Speaking of scheduling, the Devils have a tough one. For the remainder of the season the Devils have the ninth-hardest schedule in the NHL. Seventh toughest in the east and third toughest in the metropolitan division. For the team to have a fair shot at the playoffs they need to get healthy given how tough their schedule is. Being competitive and taking some of the tougher games are going to be important in the Devils’ chances of hockey late into April.

Where To Watch

Puck drop for tonight’s game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on MSGSN2.

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