Introduction
It may be Super Bowl Sunday, but it’s also New Jersey Devils hockey Sunday! Coming off of two straight wins where they scored seven goals, the Devils will come home from their three game road trip to face the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Rock. In their two meetings this season, the Devils beat the Penguins 4-2, and lost at home 3-2. The Devils are looking to take the series lead this afternoon.
Projected Lines
Devils’
Forwards
Sharangovich – Hischier – Hughes
Tatar – Zacha – Vesey
Johnsson – Mercer – Boqvist
Geertsen – McLeod – Bastian
Defensemen
Siegenthaler – Severson
Smith – Subban
White – Graves
Goalies
Gillies
Daws
Penguins’
Forwards
Guentzel – Crosby – Rust
McGinn – Malkin – Kapanen
Heinen – Carter – Rodgrigues
Aston-Reese – Boyle – Simon
Defensemen
Doumolin – Letang
Pettersson – Marino
Matheson – Ruhwedel
Goalies
Jarry
DeSmith
Pregame Notes
- The Devils may have scored 14 goals in their past two games, but a large part of that has to do with the goaltenders they’re facing and some puck-luck. First of all, the team over the past two games has shot at 22% which is insanely high-clip and will come down. Additionally, the goalies they’ve faced rank 103 and 109 out of 110 qualified goaltenders in goals saved above expected (GSAx). Has the Devils goal scoring been better as of late? Yes, but don’t go into every game expecting seven goals.
- Jack Hughes will return to the Devils’ lineup tomorrow for the first time in three games. Hughes was placed in COVID-19 protocol and didn’t travel with the team on their three game road trip. His return has been met with the absence of Jesper Bratt who got banged up in the third period of Thursday’s game.
- This is the most healthy the Penguins have been against the Devils this season. Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, and Evgeni Malkin were all out in these two team’s previous meeting. They are healthy as of now. The only unavailable bodies for the Penguins are Jason Zucker and Teddy Blueger who are both currently on injured reserve.
This afternoon’s game will begin at 1:30pm on MSG+.