The road trip concludes tonight, as the New Jersey Devils (7-6-1) visit their Metropolitan Division foe in the Pittsburgh Penguins (8-6). Pittsburgh is one point ahead of the Devils in the standings, as the division is tightly contested.
Jack Hughes is unlikely to suit up in this contest, as he is reportedly gearing up for a pivotal showdown Saturday night. New Jersey is coming off a big defeat against the Winnipeg Jets and will look to get back into the win column.
Projected Lineup
New Jersey Devils –
Forwards
Meier-McLeod-Bratt
Toffoli-Mercer-Holtz
Palat-Haula-Lazar
Nosek-Tierney-Bastian
Defense
Hughes-Hamilton
Siegenthaler-Marino
Bahl-Smith
Goalies
Vanecek
Schmid
Pittsburgh Penguins –
Forwards
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Smith-Malkin-Rakell
O’Connor-Eller-Zohorna
Nieto-Acciari-Hinostroza
Defense
Graves-Letang
Pettersson-Karlsson
Shea-Ruhwedel
Goalies
Jarry
Hellberg
What to Watch For
Slowing Down the Penguins
It was not long ago when the Penguins were buried in the basement amid a slow start to the season. However, a page has been turned and the team is back to its winning ways. The same cannot be said for New Jersey, as it feels the effects of being without their two best players. Although, offensively they’ve done enough to win hockey games in their absence. When it comes to team defense and goaltending, it’s become a burden that they haven’t been able to overcome. They’ll need to be better defensively against a strong Penguins offense.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the best teams at five on five. They have scored the most goals (40) and have generated the most expected goals for (36.97). Pittsburgh is doing a good job of possessing the puck and has the eighth-best Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and third best expected goals percentage (xG%).
The big guns for the Penguins are getting it done and the top two lines are scoring. Sidney Crosby leads the way (19 points) but newcomers Reilly Smith and Erik Karlsson fit right at home. New Jersey will need to tighten up defensively if they want to leave Pittsburgh with a victory.
Keep the Puck Out of the Net
Going hand in hand with being better defensively, the Devils need to do a better job keeping the puck out of the net. In the last three games (all losses), they’ve allowed four or more goals in each. As an offense, they’ve managed to score three goals twice and two goals once. Getting a big save will be a must against this Penguins attack.
Between Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid, they’ve combined for a -6.00 goals saved above expected. No matter how you cut it that’s not good enough and they need to be better. Furthermore, the Devils are trotting out a tandem that ranks 29th in save percentage.
It was a question mark entering the season and has now become the team’s biggest issue and weakness. Team defense and goaltending is what to watch for tonight in order to secure the two points.
How to Watch
Tonight’s puck drop is at 7:00 PM and can be found on MSG.