Match Overview
This afternoon’s game will feature your New Jersey Devils, who currently own a 27-36-9 record, which puts them last in the Metropolitan Division, and the Colorado Avalanche, who
The Devils have won their past two games and are looking to end their western road trip with another win. Surprisingly, the recent success has been made possible by their offensive play as they’ve scored a total of nine goals in their last two games. Expect for goaltender Cory Schneider to be back in between the pipes.
After a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks Friday night, the Colorado Avalanche are hanging in the Western Conference playoff race by a thread. They are 2-5-0 in their last seven games and have been giving up a lot of goals. Over this stretch, they are being outscored 21-14, which shows their defensive struggles. Their offense is one of the better ones in the league, however, as they own the 10th best goals-per-game average and the eighth ranked power play. The Devils must be stout defensively if they wish to extend their winning streak to three games.
This afternoon’s game will be at the Pepsi Center and is scheduled to start at 3:00 PM.
Projected Devils Lines
Coleman/Zajac/Noesen
Agostino/Rooney/Palmieri
Stafford/Pietila/Anderson
Tangradi/McLeod/Gabriel
Greene/Severson
Butcher/Carrick
White/Santini
Schneider
Projected Avalanche Lines
Brassard/MacKinnon/Compher
Wilson/Soderberg/Rantanen
Kerfoot/Jost/Calvert
Andrighetto/Agozzino/Bourque
Girard/Johnson
Cole/Barrie
Zadorov/Nemeth
Varlamov
What/Who to Watch
- It was announced a week ago that Colorado forward Gabriel Landeskog will miss 4 to 6 weeks with an upper-body injury. Since that injury, the Avalanche are 1-2-0, and this means the Devils will not have to defend what was the best line in hockey of Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen. Instead, the two remaining healthy parts of that line are split up, making the Devils job a little easier defensively.
- Forward Kenny Agostino has been a tremendous waiver pickup for the Devils. Over his past five games, he has tallied five points (2G, 3A) and has arguably been the Devils’ most consistent scorer. This recent stretch has brought his point total with the Devils up to nine in 17 games. It’ll be interesting to see if he can build on this recent success against a team who has been struggling defensively.
- Defenseman Tyson Barrie is one of the most underrated in the league. He’s tallied 48 points (7G, 41A) in 67 games this season while playing almost 22 minutes per game. He has also been hot as of late, with four points in his last five games. Look for Barrie to play a large role whenever the Avalanche
are on the power play tonight.
Today’s game can be seen on MSG+ at 3:00 PM.