The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (18-13-1) versus the Vancouver Canucks (11-17-3).
The Time: 12:30 PM ET
The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Hockey Network
The Weak Canucks Weaken More
The Vancouver Canucks are already the worst team in the league by points percentage. And on Friday night, the Quinn Hughes trade likely solidified their run for the first overall pick in next year’s NHL Draft. Do not get me wrong: I think Vancouver did very well for themselves in a time like this, but that team is going to have even more serious problems without Hughes driving the offense. Zeev Buium and Marco Rossi are promising offensive players, and Rossi could have his second 60-point season this year, but they will not make up for the loss of Hughes in the immediate future.
It is unclear if Rossi will play today, as he has been out since November 11 with a lower-body injury, though he has been skating for nearly two weeks. He and Elias Pettersson both skated yesterday, but Pettersson is expected to miss today’s game. They should have Zeev Buium, who can take over some of Hughes’s role in offensive situations and on the power play, but they are going to have to sit through his growing pains over the next couple seasons, starting this afternoon.
No Second Place Today
With the Canucks just having made a major trade, now is the perfect time for the Devils to start a winning streak. Quinn Hughes tilts the ice every time he steps onto it, so it will be interesting, on some level, to see how Vancouver responds to his absence. Once Elias Pettersson returns, their center depth may look better with Rossi on the second line and David Kampf on the third, but the depth of their lineup is far too weak, especially on defense. None of Tyler Myers, Marcus Pettersson, or (their other) Elias Pettersson seem to be having particularly good seasons, and they will only have to play more after Friday’s trade.
The Devils have to control the special teams battle. It has been awhile since they were able to use the power play much to their advantage, and Vancouver is another poor penalty killing team. Tyler Myers and Marcus Pettersson, their top penalty killing defensemen, have been scored against at a rate of around once every three full power plays. In total, Vancouver is listed as having killed 71.57 percent of their penalties. With Quinn Hughes, their power play was just below league average at 19.23 percent, and Hughes had 12 power play points out of their 20 such goals, assisting on half of them. If the Devils do not take advantage here, that would be a real disappointment after yesterday’s game.
Keep Clearing the Net
The Anaheim Ducks had their share of chances around the net yesterday, but the Devils did a much better job of engaging around the net last night. They are going to have to keep it up again, with the Canucks featuring players like Evander Kane and Kiefer Sherwood. For a couple games in a row now, the Siegenthaler-Hamilton pairing has had good expected numbers, but they finally had the results to go with it yesterday, and it all comes down to their play around the net (though Siegenthaler still needs to watch his puck management).
Assuming they have Jacob Markstrom in net today after Jake Allen’s great performance yesterday, they have to be even more careful not to interfere with Markstrom while engaging. Markstrom has also been victim to some poor-angle goals against this season, so letting him have clear sight lines and limiting passes through the slot will help them win today. If Markstrom has another subpar performance, though, it has been getting difficult to watch him, and I am not sure how much more the team can really take that level of inconsistency in net. He needs to get a win today.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of today’s game? Will you be watching? What do you think of the game now that it’s no longer the “Hughes Bowl”? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.