Overview
The New Jersey Devils (23-35-5) put together one of their best performances of the 2021-22 season, defeating the New York Rangers (40-19-5) 7-4 in Newark last night.
The Devils trailed 2-0 after the first period and were being thoroughly outplayed. However, Tomas Tatar kicked off an avalanche of Devils’ dominance midway through the second frame. New Jersey potted five goals in 11 minutes, taking a 5-2 lead to the third and chasing Hart Trophy candidate Igor Shesterkin from the Rangers’ net at the intermission.
From there, a pair of Jack Hughes goals secured the 7-4 victory for New Jersey. Hughes collected his 100th career NHL point and 20th goal of the season with his first tally. For the Devils, it was their sixth game scoring seven or more goals in a game this year.
There’s no time for the Devils to feel too good about themselves, though. New Jersey heads to Toronto (39-18-5) for the second half of a back-to-back tonight. The teams have met twice already this season with Toronto sweeping a back-to-back before the All-Star Break. The Maple Leafs outscored New Jersey 13-5 over the two contests, including a 7-1 win at The Rock.
Projected Lines (via Daily Faceoff)
New Jersey Devils’
Forwards:
Sharangovich – Hughes – Mercer
Johnsson – Hischier – Bratt
Vesey – Boqvist – Tatar
Geertsen – McLeod – Bastian
Defensemen:
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Graves – Severson
Smith – Subban
Goaltenders:
Gillies
Daws
Toronto Maple Leafs’
Forwards:
Bunting – Matthews – Marner
Kerfoot – Tavares – Nylander
Mikheyev – Kampf – Engvall
Simmonds – Spezza – Blackwell
Defensemen:
Rielly – Lyubushkin
Brodie – Holl
Giordano – Liljegren
Goaltenders:
Mrazek
Kallgren
Who/What to Watch
Mitch Marner
Make no mistake about it, Mitch Marner has absolutely crushed the Devils this season. The winger has tallied three goals and four assists for seven points in the two meetings against New Jersey. In his career, Marner has 14 points in 13 games against the Devils.
Playing alongside Auston Matthews on the Toronto’s top line, Marner is an extremely dangerous player with the puck. He is producing at a career-high rate of 1.28 points-per-game (68 points in 53 games) and enters tonight’s game red-hot. Marner had a three point night in a 6-3 loss at Nashville on Saturday.
Auston Matthews
Last night, the Devils saw one Hart Trophy favorite in Igor Shesterkin. Tonight, they see another in Auston Matthews. Playing with Marner on his wing, Matthews leads the NHL in goals with 46 and leads Toronto with 79 points.
Matthews buried a hat trick against the Devils in Toronto in a 6-4 win earlier this year. He also scored in the 7-1 win in Newark. Recently, Matthews has continued to fill the net. The 2016 first overall pick has scored nine goals in his past six contests, scoring in each game.
New Jersey Penalty Kill
One area the Devils were relatively strong in against the Maple Leafs was on the penalty kill. New Jersey killed off 4-of-5 penalties against Toronto this season. However, the Leafs are still very dangerous with the extra man. They lead the NHL with a 28.8% powerplay.
New Jersey just faced the league’s second-best powerplay with the Rangers converting 26.3% of their opportunities. The Devils did a good job staying out of the box, taking just one penalty, but the Rangers did convert. New Jersey’s penalty kill ranks 13th in the league at 80.6%, but the Devils will have to be disciplined again if they want to take down Toronto.
Where to Watch
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET. The game will be aired on MSG+.