Sunday, the New Jersey Devils look to win their fifth in a row against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Devils are 12-5-0 to start the season after beating the New York Islanders 5-4 in overtime Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Leafs have been a middling team through their first 18 games, holding a record of 8-8-1 following a 4-2 loss against the Montreal Canadiens.

Match Overview

While the Devils are sitting near the top of the NHL in both points and possession numbers, the Leafs are not. In fact, they’re near the bottom. Toronto holds a 47.56 expected goals percentage (xG%), which ranks them 24th in the NHL. They’re dealing with one key injury at the moment, which is new addition Kirill Marchenko.

The Devils haven’t been great against Toronto in recent years, sitting at 5-8-2 in their last 15 versus the Leafs. They won their last game against them, 4-3 in the shootout this past March.

Lines and Pairings

Here are the lines each team will ice for Sunday’s game.

Devils

Forwards

Meier-Hischier-Evangelista

Bratt-Hughes-Gritsyuk

Mantha-Rodrigues-Boqvist

Lombardi-Glass-Brown

Defense

Hughes-Pesce

Siegenthaler-Hamilton

Chisholm-Kovacevic

Goalies

Hellebuyck

Allen

Maple Leafs

Forwards

Cowan-Matthews-Roslovic

Tavares-Paul-Nylander

Joshua-Sissons-McKenna

Duhaime-Blueger-MacEwan

Defense

McCabe-Raddysh

Rielly-Tanev

Ekman Larsson-Stecher

Goalies

Stolarz

Bobrovsky

Keys to the Game

Jack Leading Victories

During the Devils 10-2 stretch over the past near month, Jack Hughes has been electric. In those that span, not only does he have eight goals and 18 points, but he’s also fifth in the NHL in five-on-five Corsi-for percentage (CF%) at 60.55 and 20th in xG% at 61.46 (both among skaters with 150 minutes of ice time since October 13).

When Hughes is on his game, the Devils win. Hopefully he can stay healthy and the team can keep the winning ways going.

Toronto’s Net

Sergei Bobrovsky has been Toronto’s starter this year, but he’s struggled. After a poor final season in Florida last year, the two time Stanley Cup champ hasn’t gotten any better with a change of scenery. Bobrovsky has a 3-7-2 record with an .886 save percentage (SV%), but a nearly even goals saved above expected (GSAx). 

Meanwhile, Anthony Stolarz, who hasn’t gotten the line share of starts, is 5-1 with a .910 SV% and 1.9 GSAx. That’s who the Devils will be getting Sunday night as they try for their fifth straight win and ninth in their last 10.

Where to Watch: 

Puck drop tonight is set for 7:00 pm ET. The game can be found on MSG SportsNet and NHL Network out of market.