With two losses, this West Coast road trip hasn’t gone the way the New Jersey Devils have hoped. An overtime loss against the Los Angeles Kings Friday was marred with penalties, but some stellar goaltending kept the contest close enough for New Jersey to force overtime. That highlight-reel goal by Devils forward Jesper Bratt helped as well. Some guy named Connor McDavid scored a pretty nice goal in a different game last night, so that clip made more rounds than Bratt’s beaut.
The Devils head to San Jose Saturday night to take on the San Jose Sharks for the first time since the abrupt end of the 2019-2020 season. The rebuilding Sharks have been better than expected with a record of 6-4-0 in ten games. Their prized prospect was just sent down prior to Saturday’s matchup. A win would at least give New Jersey one win on this three-game road trip.
Keys to the Game
William Eklund sent down: The seventh overall pick was sent back to the Swedish Hockey League prior to Saturday night’s game. In a season where there wasn’t much expected for the Sharks, Eklund’s North American debut was something for fans to look forward to. The Sharks have been better than expected, but now they go forward without Eklund. Eklund says “goodbye for now” to San Jose with four assists. He was also a player some thought the Devils would take fourth overall in their mock drafts. Seeing him and Holtz in the same game would have been fun.
Back to back on the road: Back to back games is never ideal. It’s even worse when both are on the road. The west coast road trip has been kryptonite for the Devils the past few years (remember there wasn’t one last year because of only interdivisional play). The San Jose game is the Devils’ last before returning to the friendly confines of Prudential Center, but it comes just a day after another game on the opposite end of the state.
Defensive Shakeup: The longest-tenured Devil Damon Severson had an absolutely awful showing Friday night against the Los Angeles Kings taking three minor penalties in the third. That third high sticking penalty leads to the Kings go ahead second goal in the third. The $9 million man PK Subban wasn’t much better. With that and the fact that Dougie Hamilton remains “day to day”, could we see a shakeup in defensive pairings?
Players To Watch
Alexander Holtz: The Devils’ top prospect was held without a point in his first career NHL game. Big things are expected from this kid, so eyes will still be on him in his second NHL game. With a shot like his no one would be surprised seeing him get his first NHL goal. Remember, he had five goals in four AHL games.
Timo Meier: The Sharks leading scorer has six goals and five assists 11 points in eight games. Even more interesting remember there was that rumor over the summer he might be traded to New Jersey? There was never really anything behind it, but because we all had that on our mind, plus with his offensive upside, it should be fun to watch him on Saturday night.
Dougie Hamilton: Head coach Lindy Ruff was optimistic enough about Hamilton’s injury that he waited until the last second Friday for an update on the star defenseman. There’s still no guarantee Hamilton plays Saturday. After Friday’s loss, the team sure can use his defensive presence and help on the power play.
Projected Lineups
New Jersey Devils
Check back on our social media channels for any updates to the New Jersey Devils lineups.
San Jose Sharks (Not updated since Eklund sent down)
William Eklund-Logan Couture-Jonathan Dahlen
Rudolf Balcers-Tomas Hertl-Alexander Barbanov
Andrew Cogliano-Nick Bonino-Nick Merkley
Jonah Gadjovich-Jasper Weatherby-Lane Pederson
Mario Ferraro-Brent Burns
Artemi Kniazev-Nicolas Meloche
Jaycob Megna-Ryan Merkley
Adin Hill, James Reimer
Prediction:
New Jersey was outplayed but was able to get a point against the Kings. The Sharks have more offensive fire power. Let’s say 4-2 Devils and hope they get one win in California.