The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (22-17-2) versus the Carolina Hurricanes (24-14-3).
The Time: 7:00 PM
The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Hockey Network
Back-to-Backs
The Devils and Hurricanes are both playing on back-to-back days tonight, though the Hurricanes have a bit of the short end of the stick. They played the Avalanche last night in Raleigh, while the Devils were at home when they played the Mammoth in the late afternoon to evening. So, the Devils will have had a few more hours to rest while not having to travel for tonight’s game. Maybe that could work in their favor, though Carolina has been in a rough stretch, recently.
Last night, the Avalanche came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Hurricanes 5-3. This gave Carolina their second three-game losing streak of the season, with the first only being a few games before, from December 19 to 23. So, over their last eight games, the Hurricanes are 2-5-1. And in these last three games, they have given up five to Pittsburgh, seven to Montreal, and then five again to Colorado. Their defense and goaltending has not been at their best, as Frederik Andersen is down to an .867 save percentage after last night’s performance. Meanwhile Pyotr Kochetkov (.899) has been hurt, and Brandon Bussi (.901) now seems to be Carolina’s main hope in net. Today should be a matchup between Bussi and Jake Allen.
Aside from Kochetkov, Carolina has also been missing Seth Jarvis, who has missed seven games with an upper-body injury, and Jaccob Slavin, who went back on injured reserve shortly after returning in December. While Carolina has managed without Slavin for nearly the entire season, it seems like the Jarvis injury has gotten to them a bit. Having to now rely on depth forwards playing higher in the lineup and losing a lot of skill in the top six (Jarvis still leads them in goals with 19) has led to a bit of a slide in recent times.
Payback
The new year for the New Jersey Devils means a lot of chances to flip the script. It’s a chance to improve from the first half of this season, which was marred by injuries and a really poor December. And while last year’s team largely worsened after the Christmas break, starting with some games against Carolina, this year’s team has a chance to do the opposite. Between the shift last year around the halfway point against Carolina and the playoff loss to them before the season opener in October, the Devils are well past the point of needing to beat a divisional rival.
But the Devils cannot rely on the other team being injured for once to get a win. They showed that against Toronto when Toronto beat them without their best two scorers in Matthews and Nylander. The Hurricanes have won many games without Slavin, and they can win games without Jarvis. On the other hand, if the Devils can play in the neutral zone tonight like they did against Utah yesterday, things will turn in their favor. The one thing the Devils did poorly against Utah, though, was moving the puck too weakly from the defensive zone. Perhaps they are afraid of taking icing calls, but it would be preferable to occasionally ice the puck than it is to watch Devils defensemen practically pass the puck from the boards to the opposing defensemen at the blueline. It just makes the goaltender’s job more difficult while tiring the rest of the skaters on the ice, and it’s the exact thing Carolina will kill teams for.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of tonight’s game? Do you think the Devils can pull closer to the Division lead? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.