Match Overview
Tonight the New Jersey Devils face off against the New York Rangers for round three of eight this season. The Devils took both of these teams’ first two meetings. Both were at Madison Square Garden with New Jersey winning one 4-3 and the other 5-2.
Aaron Dell started the Devils’ last game, a 2-1 loss to the Islanders. Meanwhile Igor Shesterkin played well in a 3-2 Rangers’ win against Buffalo in their last game. This could mean we will see Mackenzie Blackwood and Alexander Georgiev’s second meeting of the season.
Projected Devils’ Lines
The Devils’ forward lines were very different at practice yesterday. And to be blunt, a bit strange. Meanwhile, the defensive pairings stayed exactly the same. The below were the lines, expect them at least to start the game.
Forwards:
Wood – Zacha – Palmieri
Sharangovich – Hughes – Kuokkanen
Johnsson – Zajac – Bastian
Maltsev – McLeod – Bratt/Gusev
Defense:
Smith – Severson
Kulikov – Subban
Butcher – Vatanen
Goalies:
Blackwood
Dell
Projected Rangers’ Lines
Forwards:
Lafreniere – Zibanejad – Buchnevich
Kreider – Strome – Blackwell
Rooney – Chytil – Gauthier
Lemieux – Howden – Di Guseppe
Defense:
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Smith
Johnson – Hajek
Goalies:
Georgiev
Shesterkin
What/Who to Watch
- While it may look like on paper the Rangers’ defense is falling apart. As the only defenseman of note expected to play tonight being Ke’Andre Miller and Adam Fox. The Rangers blueline has surprisingly held their own. It’s gotten some help from the two guys in net, but also from some surprise contributions from guys like Anthony Bitetto and Ryan Lindgren.
- Ty Smith had a fantastic start to the season offensively, but recently has not had that same production. However, he has held his own defensively and in the neutral zone. If he can put it all together, then he could definitely be a Calder trophy candidate by the season’s end.
- To start the year the Devils were getting some stellar goaltending from Mackenzie Blackwood. They even got some pretty good performances from Scott Wedgewood. However, as of late, the Devils goaltending has fallen off a bit. Over his past five games, Blackwood has a 1-4 record along with a .883 save percentage. These numbers are subpar, to say the least.