With a winning record for the first time since opening night, the New Jersey Devils (4-3-0, 4th Metropolitan) will take on the Washington Capitals (4-3-0, 3rd Metropolitan) at Capital One Arena Saturday afternoon.
Overview
The Devils are coming off a 7-1 thrashing of their Hudson River rival Rangers on Thursday. With their confidence at a new high, they prepare to face another division rival in the Capitals.
The Devils have scored 12 goals in their last two games, defying criticism that they lack finishing ability. The offense didn’t just come from the big guns of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier against New York. Luke Hughes was the hero on Thursday, scoring twice, while other forwards like Evan Rodrigues, Stefan Noesen, Arseny Gritsyuk, and Cody Glass all got in on the action. This newfound finishing ability is a welcome change for the Devils, but they’ll need to maintain that ability against a premier goalie in Logan Thompson.
The Capitals also put on an offensive show in their last game, beating the Canadiens 5-4 on Wednesday. This is a new-look Washington squad in the midst of some key changes. Of course, Alex Ovechkin’s upcoming retirement will mark the end of an era in the nation’s capital, but Washington’s offensive system is already moving away from him.
Alex Tuch, brought in from Buffalo in the offseason, scored twice on Wednesday and leads the team with seven goals. The trademark power play (PP) led by Ovechkin is changing too. That unit has struggled to a 15.8 PP% to start the year, but the continued shift in how Washington uses its traditional Ovechkin-led first unit versus its new-look second unit could be a spark plug.
One thing is certain, the Capitals will have to go blow-for-blow against an offensively-hot Devils team led by the Hughes brothers to start a win streak.
Lines and Pairings
Devils-
Forwards
Gritsyuk-Hughes-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Mantha-Rodrigues-Noesen
Lombardi-Glass-Boqvist
Defense
Hughes-Pesce
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Chisholm-Kovacevic
Goalies
Allen
Daws
Capitals
Forwards
Tuch-Strome-Kyrou
Ovechkin-I.Protas-Miroshnichenko
A.Protas-Sourdif-Wilson
Beauvillier-Jenner-Leonard
Defense
Chychrun-Liljergen
Fehevary-DeSharnais
Hutson-Holl
Goalies
Thompson
Lindgren
What to Watch For
Devils Can Score
One of the Devils’ recurring issues throughout Sheldon Keefe’s tenure has been an inability to finish their scoring chances. Last season, they scored on 9.3% percent of their shots (SH%), which ranked 31st in the league and was well below the league average of 11.1%. They’ve gotten out to a similarly rough start this season with a 9.2 SH%, which ranks 27th league-wide.
That lack of finishing has started to change as of late. Over their last two games, they’ve scored 4.35 goals above expected at all strengths, and have scored on 17.6% of their shots. The usual caveat to these stats would be that we should expect regression back to the mean, but the Devils have consistently underperformed their expected goals.
Whether this is a true improvement or just a blip remains to be seen, but the Devils will face a real test to their newfound scoring touch against the Capitals, and they’ll need to avoid getting goalie’d by Logan Thompson.
Luke Hughes Makes His Mark
The Devils got two huge goals from Luke Hughes on Thursday, adding to an already strong start for the youngest Hughes brother. He now has three goals and four points in seven games so far this season, and New Jersey has a 64.03 expected goal percentage (xG%) at five-on-five when Hughes is on the ice.
Hughes was touch-and-go last year. He flashed his strong playmaking ability with his 29 assists in 68 games, but often found himself on the wrong side of a bad turnover or a defensive miscue.
Not having Brett Pesce, his preferred partner, for most of the year certainly hurt him. With Pesce by his side this season, Hughes has cut down on those defensive miscues and his offense has flourished. He’ll look to continue his strong start tonight against Washington.
Where to Watch
Saturday’s game can be seen on MSGSN in market and ESPN+ out of market at 1:00 pm ET.