After another tough 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday, the New Jersey Devils (28-28-4) will face the Montreal Canadiens (22-27-8) today in a matinee matchup at the Prudential Center.
Overview
The Devils are in a tailspin, losing their last two games in blowout fashion. Making things worse, both those losses came against division rivals in the Capitals and Rangers. With less than 30 games to play, the Devils’ playoff hopes are fading fast. As the trade deadline approaches, general manager Tom Fitzgerald must decide whether to buy into this team or sell off the assets he can for valuable futures. If the Devils hope to avoid that fate, every win counts, including today.
The Devils are in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division with 60 points, five out of the final wild-card spot. The Canadiens are in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with 52 points.
Lines and Pairings
Devils-
Forwards
Palat-Hischier-Bratt
Hughes-Haula-Toffoli
Meier-Lazar-Mercer
Tierney-Nosek-Holtz
Defense
Hughes-Marino
Bahl-Nemec
Siegenthaler-Smith
Goalies
Daws
Poulter
Canadiens-
Forwards
Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
Roy-Newhook-Anderson
Armia-Evans-Gallagher
Pearson-White-Ylonen
Defense
Guhle-Matheson
Struble-Harris
Xhekaj-Savard
Goalies
Allen
Primeau
Keys to the Game
Hughes-Marino Pair Needs to be Better
John Marino returned from his illness on Thursday but his play with his partner Luke Hughes didn’t inspire much hope. They lacked chemistry and looked lost on the top pair, making some head-scratching decisions at times.
Though their Corsi-for percentages (CF%) were in the 60s, so were the rest of the team’s, a reflection of the high quantity, low-quality nature of their chances against New York. Their expected goal percentage (xG%) tells a different story, 34.46 for Hughes and 41.80 for Marino, the two worst numbers on the team.
Their Game Scores tell a similar story, Hughes had a score of -1.80 and Marino had a -1.34. Hughes also struggled against the Washington Capitals even without Marino, earning a -3.96 on Tuesday. Hughes and Marino will need to pick up the pace if the Devils want to win today.
Finishing Chances
Over the past two games, the Devils have faced an issue they’ve battled on and off all season: finishing their chances. In that span, the Devils have scored three goals on 79 shots, good for a paltry 3.8 shooting percentage. (SH%).
This is bound to regress positively to New Jersey’s season SH% of 10.4 and the league average of 10.1. To do this, the Devils will need to work harder in front of the net to make shots more difficult to pick up and a get little more puck luck. While the last two games have been miserable, the Devils are bound to regress to the mean.
Where to Watch
Today’s game can be seen on MSG at 2:00 pm EST.