Seemingly every game for the New Jersey Devils is the biggest of the season. However, Sunday afternoon’s contest seems truly the most important, as far as the standings goes, since the Devils’ matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers at MetLife Stadium.
New Jersey (29-24-4) welcome the Tampa Bay Lighting to the Prudential Center today. The Lighting currently occupy the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, five points up on the Devils. However, New Jersey does have two games in hand on the Lighting. So, a regulation win today would put the Devils on top of Tampa, and in that final wild card spot, based off points percentage.
Elsewhere, the Devils are still trying to chase down the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins today and are also five points clear of New Jersey in the standings. The Devils have one game in hand on the Flyers.
Game Overview
New Jersey is coming off a much-needed victory just yesterday at the Prudential Center against the Montreal Canadiens. That win snapped a short two-game losing streak and a stretch of three losses in the team’s last four games. New Jersey’s struggles in back-to-back segments are well documented, however, in their last of such the team posted two wins; against the Seattle Kraken and Nashville Predators. This will need to be repeated today if the team wishes to keep pace in the playoff race.
In net, the Devils are likely to go with Akira Schmid. After being signed to a two-way deal and called up for a few games, Isaac Poulter was sent back down to Utica (AHL) after Saturday’s game without making his NHL debut. Schmid was called up, and with Nico Daws starting Saturday’s game, it appears very likely Schmid will get the nod today. Schmid has a .893 save percentage and a -3.05 goals saved above expected (GSAx) through 15 games played in the NHL this season.
Similarly for the Lightning, they played on Saturday as well, rebounding to a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders. Prior to that, the Lighting were losers of three in a row, getting outscored by a 18-7 margin. Andrei Vasilevskiy was the starter for each of those games, and was again for last night’s victory. So, it appears that Jonas Johansson is in line to start for Tampa Bay against the Devils. Johansson has an .886 save percentage and -9.46 GSAx across 22 starts for Tampa this year.
Tampa Bay is once again led by forward Nikita Kucherov who has 98 points (27 goals, 61 assists) in only 58 games, the highest in the NHL. Brayden Point and Victor Hedman are also point-per-game players this season. As for injuries, forward Tanner Jeannot and defenseman Mikhail Sergachev are on injured reserve. Defenseman Haydn Fleury is being listed as day-to-day.
Worth pointing out, the Lighting has the NHL’s best power play. The unit is clicking a nearly a 30% clip. A staggering 41 of Kucherov’s 98 points have come on the man advantage. It is imperative that the Devils stay disciplined and keep the game at five-on-five.
What To Watch
The Goalies
Whenever the Devils play the goaltending position is always worth keeping eyes on. New Jersey enters Sunday’s contest with the 31st-ranked team save percentage. Interestingly enough, their opponents checks in at No. 30. Vasilevskiy, by his standards, is having an extremely down season, and today’s projected starter, Johansson, has been one of the worst goalies in the NHL this season. His GSAx ranks 84th of 87 goalies that qualify this season.
The Devils are likely going to Schmid, who has not started a game since December 17. He has struggled in Utica (AHL) since being sent down, posting an overall .886 save percentage and 3-6-4 record. If New Jersey does decide to roll Daws for back-to-back games again, his play has also been trending down.
Lighting Top Line
Tampa Bay’s top line of Brandon Hagel, Point, and Kucherov have been one of the best in the league this season. The line has produced the 13th-most goals of any forward line in the NHL and are sporting a starling 59.1 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%). Not to mention, Kucherov has been arguably the top offensive force in the league this year, as his league-leading point output has him on pace for 51 goals, 85 assists, and 136 points.
Whoever the Devils’ top defensive pair projects to be in this contest will have their work cut out for them defending that trio. Likely one of John Marino or Jonas Siegenthaler, maybe even both.
Finding The Right Forward Lines
At the beginning of Saturday’s game against Montreal, the Devils line combinations ere interesting to say the least. By game’s end, the team was running only three lines which saw Chris Tierney, who started the game on the team’s “third line” besides Timo Meier and Tyler Toffoli, sit along with Brendan Smith and Alexander Holtz. With this, New Jersey found the below three groupings work very well for them an effort to capture a late game-winner against Montreal:
- Meier – Hischier – Bratt
- Hughes – Mercer – Toffoli
- Palat – Haula – Lazar
Hopefully, head coach Lindy Ruff and staff realized the above groupings worked. It would be wise to run those back in today’s game against the Lighting.
Where To Watch
Today’s game at the Prudential Center in Newark can be seen nationally on TNT and locally on MSG SportsNet beginning at 1:00 pm ET.