- The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (12-4-1) @ Washington Capitals (8-8-1)
- The Time: 7:00pm EST
- The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
On Wednesday night..and I do mean NIGHT, the Devils defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in OT. The game got off to a late start (close to 10pm EST), but it didn’t disappoint. I did not watch the full game (only the 1st period), but I was not exactly pleased to see Jacob “I flop around like a fish for no reason” Markstrom start the game over Allen. Credit where credit is due, he had a massive assist on the game winning goal in OT, but the man is just not playing in a way that inspires a ton of confidence at the moment.
The real story of the game would be Simon “Gamer” Nemec. If you watched the game, you know the story. For those of you unable to stay up until almost 1am to watch the full game, I’ll fill you in. Nemec scored 2 goals in regulation. You might be thinking “That’s pretty impressive, but not amazing.” Nemec heard you and said “hold my beer” and went on to score the game winner on a beautiful feed from Markstrom, getting a hat trick in the process. An exciting end to the game and a great way to start their road trip.
In totally surprising news (that’s sarcasm, in case you’re not sure), the Devils added more players to their daily injury list. Zack MacEwen and Cody Glass both left the game with injuries. All you can do at this point is shake your head. Makrstrom also appeared to possibly hurt something on the 3rd Chicago goal, but he did stay in the net to finish the game, so we’ll see if anything comes from that over the next few days.
Last Capitals Game
On Thursday night, the Capitals lost 6-3 to the Florida Panthers. The game was the final game of a 4 game road trip for Washington. It was not a successful road trip as Washington lost 3 out of 4 games. To make matters worse for the Capitals, they have now lost 7 times in their last 9 games. There is a long way to go still in the season, and things can change, but right now Washington is struggling. This is the team that many people expected to see last season, before Washington surprised almost everyone by finishing with 51 wins last year. The game tonight against the Devils kicks off a run of 7 out of their next 8 games being played at home.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
The one item which no one saw coming was that apparently Jack Hughes doesn’t know how to use basic eating utensils or I don’t know, not to put your full body weight on a glass will not be playing tonight, as he cut himself at a team dinner. No. I’m not joking. I have no words to express how much I wish that I WAS joking here. At this point though, shame on us, as fans for not seeing this coming. We all thought last year was the “how much worse can it get/it HAS to get better, right?” turning point. This year so far has laughed in our faces. It did a full on spit take laugh and said “you have no idea what’s coming!” before laughing and walking away.
To fill in for Jack, the Devils have called up Shane Lachance (while also placing Connor Brown on injured reserve). According to the link, the Devils will have a morning skate today at 12:30, so I would expect to hear about the lineup (including Cody Glass), the starting goalie and which player pulled their back out lacing up their skates today at some point this afternoon.
In one last final bit of “why does it even matter at this point this team is cursed and 5 more players will get hurt today anyway” injury news, Zack MacEwen was injured in the last game against the Blackhawks and per the NJ Devils, he will not be playing tonight against Washington. Taking his place will be Nathan Legare, who was called up from Utica on Wednesday.
Grimace’s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker
Grimace asked me to preface his prediction for tonight. Originally this entire section was written up to say that he thought the Devils would win tonight. However, Grimace, after a night of heavy drinking and self loathing, has changed his prediction to state that he believes the Devils will now lose tonight. Something about “why can’t we have anything nice!?”….before falling face down to the floor.
Grimace’s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 7-2-0.
Your Take
The Devils have played 17 games so far this season. They have won 12 of them. They have 25 points. On one hand, it’s hard to be upset with their record and where they stand in the league at the moment. On the other hand, this year, I sincerely thought “there is no way the injury issue could be worse than last year.” I was wrong. I would really like to see the Devils win without Jack tonight, but my genuine bigger concern is “will anyone make it out of the game in one piece tonight?” at this point. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!
In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris – thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my brand new podcast on here, if any of you are interested in listening. We have a light hearted, fun discussion about any movies, music or video games mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. Please feel free to listen to us on any of the formats below and any feedback is welcome (positive and negative). Also, please follow us and subscribe, even if you think we stink. 🙂