Match Overview
After a refreshing 6-3 win over the lowly Buffalo Sabres, the New Jersey Devils will face Pittsburgh in the second of their back-to-back stretch. The Devils have been struggling recently, going 1-2-2 in their last five outings.
After trading Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, New Jersey proceeded to win in a dynamic offensive showing against Buffalo. Of course, this is Buffalo we’re talking about, so take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt: it is possible that, like the Taylor Hall trade in 2019, two pillars of the offense being traded away may have lit a fire under this Devils team. We can only hope that this is the case.
The Devils own a record of 14-18-6, good for seventh in the East Division. On the other hand, the Penguins are 25-13-2 and sit at a solid third place.
Projected Lines/Pairings
Devils’ Lines
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Penguins’ Lines
Forwards
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Zucker-Mccann-Rodrigues
Reese-Gaudreau-Lafferty
Zohorna-Jankowski-Sceviour
Defense
Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Marino
Ceci-Matheson
Goalies
Jarry
Desmith
What/Who to Watch
Pavel Zacha
Zacha is coming off a fantastic game in which he scored two of the Devils’ six goals. Zacha has come alive this season, scoring 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points in 37 games. Though he has slowed as of late, he got right back on the horse yesterday. It is worth noting that, after playing on a line with the aforementioned Travis Zajac, Zacha showed notable improvement. It will be interesting to see how playing without Zajac will affect him.
Jack Hughes
The ever-dangerous Jack Hughes also had a night to remember yesterday, scoring a goal and adding two assists. Though he had a blistering start to the year, his production has slowed considerably.
By no means does that lessen his value, he has a fantastic 57.73 Corsi-for % (CF%) and an insane 56.91 expected goals-for % (xGF%). Similarly, his high-danger Corsi-for % (HDCF%) is 55.35, meaning he’s creating a ton of chances. This implies that it is not a matter of poor on-ice performance, but not finishing chances, something the entire team can relate to. Hughes is the future of the offense, he just needs some luck on his side.
My Prediction
I think the Devils will fight, but it will not be enough to overcome Pittsburgh. I predict that the Devils fall 5-4 in overtime.
Tonight’s game can be seen on MSG+ at 7:00 pm.