The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (16-11-1) at the Boston Bruins (16-13-0),
The Time: 7:00 PM
The Broadcast: TV — MSG, Radio — Devils Hockey Network
Need for Improvement
The New Jersey Devils have been shutout in consecutive games, and they are now entirely out of a playoff spot. Just on Thanksgiving, they were at the top of the Eastern Conference. Does this speak to how close the teams are to each other in the standings? Sure. But it also means that the Devils cannot wait around for Jack Hughes to return. They need goals from their current lineup, now. If they can’t get that done, then Tom Fitzgerald needs to get aggressive with making moves.
Today it’s just the players underperforming. But what happens when the ire starts to turn towards the people who assembled them and coach them?
Right now, I lean towards this team having a roster construction issue, so the bulk of the work to be done should come from General Manager Tom Fitzgerald. Let’s talk about the number of players who have had appropriate, justifiable production since Jack Hughes got hurt:
- Nico Hischier: 7 goals, 6 assists in 11 games
- Jesper Bratt: 0 goals, 10 assists in 11 games
- Timo Meier: 5 goals, 3 assists in 11 games
- Arseny Gritsyuk: 3 goals, 2 assists in 11 games
- Paul Cotter: 1 goal, 3 assists in 11 games
- Brenden Dillon: 1 goal, 2 assists in 11 games
In addition to these five, both Dawson Mercer and Luke Hughes have a goal and four assists, but this is frankly not enough for where the team needs to be at. But I won’t get too mad at them when there are at least ten other players who could be doing a lot more. Since Jack got hurt, there have been six Devils who have played at least four games and not registered a single point. Juho Lammikko, who was pointless in nine games, was finally removed from the lineup for Angus Crookshank last night. That may be a step in the right direction, but more players need to step it up. Namely, Cody Glass can’t be a third-line center that just scores a goal once every five to ten games. Dougie Hamilton, who probably rushed back a bit too quickly from his knee injury, has not been able to generate scoring chances like usual, leading to 10 poor-to-average performances since he returned.
Ondrej Palat finally started getting on the scoreboard more in this stretch with three points in 11 games, but that should be his slump-level performance, not an improvement. Simon Nemec has cooled off, with just three points in this timeframe. And Stefan Noesen floundered on the fourth line with Lammikko and Glendening, perhaps setting up too many chances for his rather unskilled linemates than the other way around.
The team’s goaltending has also gotten worse. Jake Allen has a .907 save percentage and 2.82 goals against average in his last five, while Jacob Markstrom has an .882 save percentage and 3.32 goals against average in six games. I expect Jake Allen to get the net tonight after Markstrom let up three again. Markstrom has thankfully improved his performance against longer-range shots of late, but he is still having trouble stopping all of the high-danger chances he is reputed to be a great goalie against.
The defense has looked bad, too. Jonas Siegenthaler looks like his 2023-24 self, not the shutdown defenseman he was last season. Dennis Cholowski has been bad in his games, limited to hovering around the net to fish pucks from the crease but not being that good at it. Luke Hughes has struggled, defensively, more than he did at the start of the season. And Simon Nemec has not produced, so his present value is again slipping. Would it be great if Colton White, who has been the only Devils defenseman to have a positive on-ice goal ratio (and the highest xGF%), got more ice time? Possibly — it’d at least be something different.
The Bruins
The Devils have caught Boston at a similarly rough time. The Bruins started the year with a decent record, but they have been playing without David Pastrnak for a few games now. Predictably, they are not looking too hot without him. Pastrnak has resumed skating, but it does not seem like he is an option to play tonight. Charlie McAvoy has also been out since mid-November. Still, the Bruins have offensive threats that the Devils need to watch out for. Morgan Geekie already has 21 goals and 31 points, while Pavel Zacha has 20 points. Elias Lindholm also has 16 points in 19 games played, while Casey Mittelstadt has 11 points in 19 games. Overall, the Bruins also seem to be in better shape down the lineup, as they have not had any skaters play more than 10 games without a point, and they only have one player with over 10 games played with fewer than four points (Jonathan Aspirot, third-pairing defenseman with 1 point in 16 GP). The Devils have five such players (Glendening — 3 in 28, Noesen — 3 in 22, Siegenthaler — 2 in 28, Cholowski — 1 in 12, Lammikko — 0 in 15).
Jeremy Swayman should play tonight after getting December 4 off. So the Devils will really have to beat the Bruins on all fronts if they want a good shot to win tonight.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of tonight’s game? Do you think the Devils can win? Or is this going to spiral into panic trade and firings territory? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.