Preview: New Jersey Devils Look to Build off Strong Third Period Against Pittsburgh Penguins

The Devils look to build off six goal third period on Tuesday tonight. (Image via. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

Match Overview

Tonight the New Jersey Devils face off against their Steel City rivals for the seventh of eight games this season. The Devils won two of the first three, including one in Pittsburgh, but have now lost three in a row versus the Penguins since then.

On Tuesday, New Jersey was down 6-0 going into the third, but made an amazing push to only lose 7-6. It seems as if Pavel Zacha and Jesper Bratt will return to the lineup tonight. Ty Smith and Mackenzie Blackwood are close, but still remain out tonight.

Projected Devils’ Lines

Forwards

Kuokkanen – Hughes – Sharangovich

Zacha – Hischier – Bratt

Wood – McLeod – Bastian

Johnsson – Boqvist – Merkley

Defense

Murray – Tennyson

Siegenthaler – Severson

Butcher – Carrick

Goalies

Dell

Wedgewood

Projected Penguins’ Lines

Forwards

Guentzel – Crosby – Rust

McCann – Carter – Zucker

Aston-Reese – Blueger – Kapanen

Sceviour – Jankowski – Rodrigues

Defense

Dumoulin – Letang

Matheson – Ceci

Pettersson – Marino

Goalies

Jarry

DeSmith

What/Who to Watch

  • Penguins’ forward Kasperi Kapanen hasn’t played since a March 24th game against the Sabres. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sulliven said this morning that Kapanen is a game-time decision for tonight. He is currently having the best season, points-per-game wise, of his career with 21 points in 30 games. Kasperi has one point, which is an assist and is a minus-two in three games against New Jersey this season.
  • On the topic of returns, Devils co-point leaders Jesper Bratt and Pavel Zacha are both expected to rejoin the lineup tonight. Bratt and Zacha are both on pace for career highs in points over 82 games. They are expected to play on a line with their close friend and team captain Nico Hischier.

  • The Devils have played Janne Kuokkanen, Jack Hughes and Yegor Sharangovich together for eight consecutive games. This has very clearly helped the production of all three players, but more specifically Yegor and Jack. In their eight games together Sharangovich has collected three goals and nine total points (3-6-9) and Hughes has seven points (3-4-7). Both players scored on Tuesday and look to contribute to what the Devils hope to be their first win in two weeks.

Tonight’s Devils game is on MSG+2 at 7 PM EST.

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.