The New Jersey Devils (24-15-3) take on the Seattle Kraken (17-20-3) at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday night. The Devils are currently on a four-game losing streak, their longest of the year, most recently falling 3-2 in San Jose on Saturday.
However, the Devils remain in second in the Metropolitan Division. Seattle lost to Edmonton last time out and sits seventh in the Pacific Division. This is the second and final meeting of the year between the two teams with the Devils picking up a 3-2 home win back in December.
Match Overview
After Sunday’s practice, the Devils announced that Erik Haula was day-to-day with an ankle injury. Per Amanda Stein, Sheldon Keefe said he was getting an MRI and would “miss some time,” although no exact timeline was announced. Justin Dowling took his place on the third line, also per Stein.
In other news, depth defenseman Nick DeSimone was claimed off waivers by Utah on Sunday. DeSimone had not appeared in a game this season for New Jersey.
The Devils have not announced a starting goaltender for Monday’s contest at the time of writing. Jacob Markstrom got the start on Saturday and owns a .911 save percentage and a 9.44 goals saved above expected in 29 games. Jake Allen has appeared in 13 games with an .898 save percentage and a 0.72 goals saved above expected. Check out our social channels closer to puck drop to see who gets the start.
Meanwhile, Seattle will be without forwards Jordan Eberle and Yanni Gourde as well as starting goaltender Joey Daccord. Forward Brandon Tanev and defenseman Adam Larsson are listed as day-to-day. Larsson was injured during Seattle’s game against Edmonton on Saturday.
The Kraken are just 23rd in the league with 2.88 goals scored per game. They are led by Jared McCann and Jaden Schwartz at 13 goals apiece. McCann also leads the Kraken with 28 points while offseason free agent signing Brandon Montour leads the defensemen with 22 points.
Notably, Seattle also acquired the 2019 second overall pick Kaapo Kakko from the Rangers on December 18. Since the trade, Kakko has one goal and three assists in seven games.
With Daccord out, struggling Philipp Grubauer should get the start for Seattle. The 33-year-old has posted an .879 save percentage and a -8.71 goals saved above expected.
Projected Lines
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Meier – Hischier – Noesen
Cotter – Dowling – Mercer
Tatar – Lazar – Bastian
Defensemen
Dillon – Hamilton
Siegenthaler – Kovacevic
Hughes – Pesce
Goaltenders
Markstrom
Allen
Seattle Kraken
Forwards
Schwartz – Beniers – Kakko
McCann – Stephenson – Burakovsky
Tolvanen – Wright – Bjorkstrand
Kartye – Meyers – Tanev
Defensemen
Dunn – Larsson
Oleksiak – Montour
Evans – Mahura
Goaltenders
Grubauer
Stezka
What To Watch For
Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce Pairing in a Rut
Over this four-game losing streak, the Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce pairing have had a tough go of it. The two have the lowest expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) among all skaters with Hughes posting a 37.13 xGF% and Pesce owning a 42.63 xGF%. The pair are also in the between 40 and 50 percent in terms of both scoring chance and high-danger scoring chance share while on the ice.
Of course, this pairing has had a strong season as a whole, so there is no reason to panic just yet. However, for the Devils to get back on track, they could use a bounce back game and strong stretch from the Hughes-Pesce pairing.
Dawson Mercer Heating Up
Despite the team-wide struggles, Dawson Mercer has been a bright spot for New Jersey. The 23-year-old forward leads the team in both Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and xGF% at five-on-five over the last four games with a 70.13 CF% and a 66.00 xGF%. The Devils also have had a 21-12 edge in scoring chances and an 8-3 edge in high-danger chances with Mercer on the ice.
However, despite those strong underlying metrics, Mercer has not recorded a point over the last four contests. He most recently scored in the 4-2 win over Carolina on December 27. For the Devils to snap out of this skid, they need players like Mercer to convert chances into goals, especially from down the lineup.
Finishing
“Finishing” has long been a buzzword for this New Jersey core of players, but that has been the biggest issue over the past week or so. Despite losing four straight, the goaltending has been fine, particularly at bailing out defensive misplays leading to odd-man situations.
However, during this four game losing streak, New Jersey has scored just six goals. In that same period, they have generated 13.54 expected goals. In other words, the Devils have scored 7.54 goals below expected over the previous four contests.
Of course, this is a small sample size, and natural regression to the mean will occur, but that has been the primary factor in this skid.
New Jersey has scored on just six of 120 shots on goal during this losing streak, a percentage of 5.0%. For the season, including this poor stretch, the Devils are shooting 10.6%, perfectly in line with the league average, and over double the shooting percentage during this current losing streak.
Again, positive regression will come, it is just a matter of when, not if.
Where To Watch
The Devils and Kraken will be on MSGSN at 10:00 pm ET.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.