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
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.