Tonight, the New Jersey Devils look to bounce back from their loss Tuesday by beating the New York Rangers tonight. The Devils are four points out of a wild card spot chasing the Detroit Red Wings. They also sit seven points out of third in the Metropolitan division with two games in hand on the Philadelphia Flyers. 

The Devils are 28-23-4, good enough for fourth in the Metro. The Rangers hold a record of 37-16-3, which has them third in the league.

Match Overview

These are two teams who have had opposite seasons. The Devils has been filled with struggle while the Rangers has gone nearly to perfection. The Devils lost their last game in embarrassing fashion to the Washington Capitals 6-2. Meanwhile the Rangers have been on a heater, winning eight in a row and all seven since the All-Star break. 

The two teams played once earlier this season, a game the Rangers won 5-3 after scoring three straight in the third period. Last season, the Devils won three of four against New York, with the one loss coming in overtime. The cherry on top came after a seven-game playoff win against the team’s bitter rivals in the spring.

Lines and Pairings

Devils

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Rangers

Forwards

Kreider-Zibanejad-Vesey

Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere

Cuylle-Brodzinski-Kakko

Edstrom-Goodrow-Rempe

Defense

Lindgren-Fox

Miller-Trouba

Gustafsson-Schneider

Goalies

Shesterkin

Quick

Keys to the Game

Goaltending, For Both Sides?

Surprisingly, for one team and unsurprisingly, for the other, goaltending has been an issue. Igor Shesterkin has been one of the best netminders in the NHL since entering the league, but he’s having a down year for his standards. According to MoneyPuck, Shesterkin has a .904 save percentage (SV%) and only 3.8 goals saved above expected (GSAx). 

While that’s not great for Igor’s standards both metrics would actually rank first on the Devils. Their best goalie in a smaller sample size has been Nico Daws. Daws has a 1.2 GSAx and .903 SC%. It seems he will start tonight although the Devils did recall Issac Poulter from the AHL yesterday. Poulter has a .908 SV% and three shutouts in 24 appearances for the Utica Comets (AHL) this season.

Besting the Rivalry

Aside from last season, the Devils have struggled against the Rangers as of late. The one loss this season at home was an agonizing one, with a late goal by former Devil Jimmy Vesey being the winner. Not getting a game like that to overtime and losing at least a point hurts in the long run with where the Devils are in the standings.

A win tonight could be what this team needs to kick things into high gear and go on a nice run.

Where to Watch

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET on MSGSN and MSG2.