What a thrilling victory for the New Jersey Devils (24-18-3) the other night. In comeback fashion, the Devils stormed back to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights. It was a great boost of confidence, as the amount of injuries still exist and the team managed to secure a big victory.
A big test awaits as the Devils begin their trip down south and take on the Carolina Hurricanes (26-15-3). The Hurricanes enter this game after playing last night in Boston and emerging victorious thanks to a late third period goal, so the Devils will look to take advantage of a worn-down team. It is a huge divisional matchup with a key two points on the line.
Match Overview
This is the first time the two teams will meet since the Hurricanes knocked the Devils out of the postseason. Those memories still linger but there is a new task at hand. The Devils are getting key members back, as Ondrej Palat and Colin Miller were at practice and full participants. However, the team was dealt a big blow.
It was announced that center Michael McLeod and defenseman Cal Foote are away from the team for the foreseeable future. The next man up mentality is in place and Lindy Ruff has shifted Dawson Mercer to the center position. He is not shy to playing the position and it softens the blow being without McLeod who has emerged as a good third line center while also leading the league in faceoff win percentage.
With Spencer Martin starting the night before, the Devils will see Antti Raanta in goal. Raanta has struggled mightily this season and was pulled after getting lit up against Minnesota last season. In net for the Devils projects to be Nico Daws, who owns a .903 save percentage and -0.36 GSAx. It has been a tough goal as a whole for both teams in net this year, as the Hurricanes ranks 32nd in team save percentage (.880) and the Devils are not far behind, as they have a .882 team save percentage, placing them 31st in the league.
The teams are separated by four points and this is a massive game as everyone in the Eastern Conference is fighting for playoff position.
Projected Lineup
Carolina Hurricanes
Forwards
Teravainen-Aho-Jarvis
Noesen-Drury-Necas
Martinook-Staal-Fast
Lemieux-Kotkaniemi-Bunting
Defense
Slavin-Burns
Skjei-Pesce
Orlov-Chatfield
Goalie
Raanta
Martin
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Meier-Hischier-Bratt
Toffoli-Mercer-Palat
Lazar-Haula-Bastian
Willman-Tierney-Holtz
Defense
Hughes-Marino
Bahl-Nemec
Hatakka-Miller
Goalies
Daws
Vanecek
What to Watch For
Be the Better Goalie
The biggest key to this game is going to come down to goaltending. As cliche as that sounds, there are reasons for it. As mentioned above, the teams rank 31st and 32nd in team save percentage, respectively, so goaltending has been the Achilles heel for both teams. Although, they’ve been good teams despite that but imagine what they both would be with it.
Raanta has not been his normal self with the Hurricanes this season. Typically he’s been a steady presence but this season has not gone his way and he’s already been placed on waivers with a stint in the AHL. Raanta has a subpar goals against average (GAA) of 3.20, a .866 save percentage (sv%), and the third worst goals saved above expected (GSAX) of -12.4. Safe to say, the Devils will want to attack him and generate quality chances against him.
As for Daws, he is 2-4-0 this month and has a 3.39 GAA and a .899 SV%. This will come down to the goalies, who for each team have not been the greatest.
Devils Need a Strong Penalty Kill
The Devils 22nd ranked penalty kill (78% success rate) will be put to the test in this game. The Hurricanes have a much-improved power play this season, as they rank third in the entire league. Furthermore, the Hurricanes power play has been red hot as of late and has shown to do damage.
Since December 27, the Hurricanes have scored the most power play goals (14). They’ve done a magnificent job generating high-danger chances (26) and getting shots on goal (22). Of the 14 goals, the Hurricanes have scored nine from the high-danger area.
In that same span, the Devils have given up eight power play goals. They’ve failed to score a goal shorthanded and the Hurricanes do not give teams many opportunities to do so. One good thing, is the Devils have the seventh-fewest expected goals against (6.86) while shorthanded, so they are doing a good job of limiting the opposition. It’ll be a good battle and a good test for the Devils.
Getting Ondrej Palat back will be big for the penalty kill, as the above chart indicates.
How to Watch
Tonight’s puck drop is at 7:30 pm ET and can be found on MSG.