The Devils look to finish their home stand unbeaten in regulation when they take on the Lightning tonight (Photo by Ed Mulholland: USA TODAY Sports)
Match Overview
After suffering a tough 3-2 overtime loss to Chicago, the Devils return to the ice to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning to conclude a 4-game home stand. Despite losing last night, the Devils played a strong game again, specifically in the second period where they dominated Chicago. The Devils outshot Chicago 32-29 for the game, but sat back a bit in the third period and they paid the price for it. They’ll need a consistent 60 minutes if they want to beat the Lightning tonight.
Tampa may be without Nikita Kucherov, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury. They recalled Cory Conacher from the AHL just in case Kucherov is unable to go. The only two Devils to skate this morning were Reid Boucher and Jacob Josefson, which means they’ll likely be healthy scratches once again.
Projected Lines
New Jersey
Hall/Zajac/Palmieri
Cammalleri/Henrique/DSP
Bennett/Zacha/Parenteau
Kalinin/Fiddler/Lappin
Greene/Severson
Auvitu/Lovejoy
Moore/Quincey
Schneider
Tampa
Namestnikov/Stamkos/Kucherov*
Palat/Johnson/Drouin
Killorn/Filppula/Point
Paquette/Boyle/Brown
Hedman/Stralman
Garrison/Sustr
Nesterov/Coburn
Bishop
What to Watch
- Secondary scoring for the Devils has been hard to come by early on this season. They can’t rely on Taylor Hall to do everything. They need players like Beau Bennett and Devante Smith-Pelly to start chipping in or they’ll run into the same problems they did last year.
- Mike Cammalleri has been struggling to start this year. Through 7 games last season, he had a 54.7% Corsi. This year through 7 games, he’s at just 44.8%, a very significant drop off. The Devils need him to get going sooner rather than later.
- Yohann Auvitu had one of his strongest games as a Devil yet last night. He had 17 shots attempts for as opposed to 5 against when he was on the ice at even-strength. He’s continued to build off a strong preseason and with all the firepower Tampa has up front, they’ll need him to be on his game again tonight.
- Despite scoring, John Moore was absolutely caved in at even-strength last night, with a -14 shot attempt differential. The Devils don’t have the deepest group at defense. They need him to be stronger going forward, especially against teams like Chicago and Tampa.
Tonight’s game can be seen at 7 PM on MSG+