The New Jersey Devils (42-16-6) head north of the border to take on the Montreal Canadiens (26-33-6) tonight. The Devils are coming off a shootout win in Washington on Thursday while the Canadiens lost a shootout of their own against the Rangers on Thursday. This is the third and final meeting of the year between the teams, with the road team winning each of the prior two contests.
Match Overview
There is no new injury news to report for New Jersey with Mackenzie Blackwood remaining on injured reserve. All skaters will be available – including Curtis Lazar. The trade deadline acquisition finally can meet up with the team over a week after the trade was announced. Lazar has been stuck in Canada due to visa issues, but can meet the team in Montreal tonight.
After playing well on Thursday, Akira Schmid seems in line to get the start tonight. He has posted a .925 save percentage and 5.81 goals saved above expected on the season. However, with New Jersey playing a back-to-back this weekend, Vitek Vanecek could get the start tonight if Lindy Ruff would rather play the in-form Schmid against the division-leading Hurricanes on Sunday. Vanecek has struggled lately to the tune of a .821 save percentage and an abysmal -9.44 GSAx in his last five games.
Meanwhile, Montreal continues to be decimated by injuries. Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans, Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caulfield, and Arber Xhekaj are all on injured reserve, with many not close to returning. Kirby Dach is on the active roster, but is out indefinitely. Sean Monahan, Carey Price, and Paul Byron are still on LTIR as well.
As a result, Montreal has iced a lineup with plenty of unfamiliar names, so Nick Suzuki is the only Canadien to tally over 40 points this year, with 49 points in 65 games. With Caufield and Dach injured at the moment, Christian Dvorak has the second-highest point total of Canadiens expected to play tonight with 28.
In goal, Sam Montembeault has taken the starter’s net and run with it. He played brilliantly in a 5-2 win over the Devils in February, and has continued to play well. For the season, he now has a .905 save percentage and has stopped 9.78 goals above expected. His backup, Jake Allen, owns a .898 save percentage and a -0.89 GSAx.
Projected Lines
New Jersey Devils –
Forwards
Tatar – Hischier – Mercer
Meier – Hughes – Boqvist
Palat – Haula – Bratt
Wood – McLeod – Bastian
Defensemen
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Graves – Marino
Smith – Severson
Goaltenders
Schmid
Vanecek
Montreal Canadiens –
Forwards
Harvey-Pinard – Suzuki – Ylonen
Hoffman – Drouin – Anderson
Pitlick – Tierney – Gurianov
Pezzetta – Belzile – Richard
Defensemen
Matheson – Kovacevic
Guhle – Savard
Edmundson – Wideman
Goaltenders
Montembeault
Allen
What To Watch For
Goaltender Battle
Last time the Devils faced the Canadiens, goaltending was the key difference maker. Montreal defeated the Devils 5-2 behind a phenomenal game from Samuel Montembeault who stopped 3.21 goals above expected. Meanwhile, Vitek Vanecek allowed 1.80 goals above expected for New Jersey.
Tonight, Montembeault will likely be in net for Montreal, although there is a good chance Akira Schmid gets the start for New Jersey. Since returning from Utica after Mackenzie Blackwood’s injury, Schmid has posted a .940 save percentage and 2.01 GSAx in four games. In those four games, Schmid had a positive GSAx in three contests. The lone negative was a -0.34 GSAx in a shootout loss to Vegas. That’s still nearly a goal and a half better than Vanecek’s outing against Montreal from last month.
Basically, if the Devils can continue to get the performances they have gotten from Schmid as of late, they will be more than fine in net. Of course, if Montembeault plays at a superhuman level once again, Montreal could steal the two points, but it seems unlikely.
That’s because, for New Jersey, in that 5-2 loss, the Devils generated 5.21 expected goals in all situations, their fourth-highest mark of the season. Their fifth-highest total also came against Montreal, generating 5.08 expected goals in a 5-1 win. In those five games where the Devils generated five or more expected goals, the Devils have been held below three goals just once – in that 5-2 loss to Montreal. The chances have been there against Montreal, and the goals should follow.
The “BMW Line” After a Benching
It was a tough night on Thursday for the “BMW Line.” It was a particularly tough night for Michael McLeod who was benched in the third period and overtime against the Capitals. The trio was fine, although unspectacular, in their nearly five minutes of ice time together with an xGF% of 53.29% at five-on-five.
However, McLeod struggled mightily, posting an individual xGF% of 24.22% at five-on-five. He was the only Devil below a 50% xGF% on Thursday. The Capitals also had five scoring chances to the Devils one with McLeod on the ice, with three of those being high-danger chances. McLeod was also the only Devil below a 40% share of the scoring chances.
McLeod figures to be back in the lineup tonight with healthy scratch Yegor Sharangovich being a winger instead of a center. Although Curtis Lazar is a center, he is yet to practice with his new teammates and likely needs more time to acclimate to the new system. Stay tuned to our social channels for lineup updates before puck drop.
Special Teams Trending Upwards
Outside of two critical mistakes in the loss to Toronto on Tuesday, the Devils are playing well on both sides of the special teams coin. The New Jersey power play is up to 13th in the league at 21.9%, while the penalty kill ranks 10th at 81.7%. Meanwhile, tonight’s opponent, Montreal, ranks 31st on the power play at 15.7% and 29th on the penalty kill at 73.9%.
Over their past 10 games, the Devils lost the special teams battle only once – in that loss to Toronto (the shorthanded goal against and Matthews game-winner on the power play being the two mistakes). In those 10 games, the Devils are 7-for-25 (28%) on the power play and have scored in five straight with the man advantage. Meanwhile, New Jersey is 19-for-21 (90.5%) on the penalty kill and even scored a short of their own over that same 10 game stretch.
Perhaps more important is the Devils’ discipline. New Jersey has not been short-handed more than twice in a game since beating Winnipeg on February 19. That was nine games ago. Earlier this season, a lack of discipline was a constant talking point as an area the Devils need to improve. That trend has been the exact opposite lately.
Where To Watch
Puck drop between the Devils and Canadiens is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. MSGSN will have coverage of the game.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.