The New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks are scheduled to meet for the first of two games this season on Saturday. Saturday afternoon’s games being at the Prudential Center, and the second matchup of the season will occur in San Jose in January. The Sharks (1-5-0) earned their first victory of the season via an overtime decision against the Rangers on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Devils (2-2-0) picked up their second-straight win of the season that same night.
Overviews
The Devils enter the contest as the best five-on-five team in the NHL. They have turned in two dominant performances, after two other games where they still played well possession wise but did not get the result. New Jersey’s scoring has been led by Jesper Bratt (seven assists in four games) and Nico Hischer (five points in three games). It’ll be interesting to see who head coach Lindy Ruff goes with in net, given two solid performances in a row by Mackenzie Blackwood.
The Sharks certainly have not started how they would have liked. After losing five straight to begin the season, they finally registered their first victory on Thursday. San Jose is led in scoring by defenseman Erik Karlsson (five points in six games) and four players at three points. The Sharks power play is two-for-22 to begin the season. Meanwhile, their penalty kill is a perfect 20-for-20. San Jose is on a front-end of a back-to-back tonight, so it is remained to be seen who is in net between James Reimer (2.89 goals saved above expected, .918 save percentage) or Kaapo Kahkonen (3.95 goals saved above expected, .814 save percentage).
Projected Lines
New Jersey Devils –
Check back to our social media pages closer to puck drop for the projected lines and starting goaltender.
San Jose Sharks (per Daily Faceoff of 10/20/22) –
Forwards:
Timo Meier – Tomas Hertl – Alexander Barabanov
Nick Bonino – Logan Couture – Luke Kunin
Josh Gadjovich – Nico Sturm – Evgeny Svechnikov
Matthew Nieto – Steven Lorentz – Oskar Lindblom
Defensemen:
Jaycob Megna – Erik Karlsson
Matt Benning – Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Mario Ferraro – Radim Simek
Goaltenders:
James Reimer / Kaapo Kahkonen
Who/What to Watch for?
- At five-on-five these two teams are on total opposites of the spectrum. The San Jose Sharks have been a below average possession team. They rank 27th in shot-attempt differential, 29th in scoring-chance differential, and 24th in expected goals-for percentage (xGF%). Meanwhile, the Devils rank first in each of those categories. Meaning, another lopsided five-on-five game in favor of the Devils may be in the offering.
- It is likely whoever is in net for San Jose is going to be under constant fire. The Sharks give up the sixth-most scoring chances per 60 minutes (SCF/60) at five-on-five. The Devils generate a league-best 48.52 SCF/60 which is 11 more than the next highest in the NHL. It will most likely take a stellar performance in net from either Reimer or Kahkonen to keep the Devils quiet offensively.
- Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton have been the Devils’ best players so far this season. Bratt’s seven assists rank tied for second in the league. Meanwhile, his possession metrics are one of the top in the league. He ranks first in Corsi-for percentage (CF% – shot attempt differential), sixth in xGF%, and fourth in SCF%. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s metrics are also elite, ranking third, fifth, and first in those same categories, respectively.
- There are a lot of mind-boggling Devils’ possession statistics. One of the most notable are that nine Devils’ players make up the top-15 in CF% at five-on-five among players who have played 20 minutes of ice time. In total, 585 skaters qualify.
This afternoon’s game will be televised on MSG Sportsnet. It is scheduled for a 1:00 P.M. ET puck drop at the Prudential Center.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.