The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (27-23-2) vs. Winnipeg Jets (20-24-7)
The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio Network
The Time: 7:00pm ET
Last Devils Game
New Jersey finished up a four-game, west coast road trip by losing 4-2 to the Seattle Kraken. Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes scored power play goals, but the 5-on-5 offense couldn’t finish (again), and the Kraken took advantage of fortuitous bounces and leaky play from Jacob Markstrom.
Last Jets Game
Winnipeg was last in action on Saturday, falling 5-1 to the Detroit Red Wings. Cole Koepke was the lone goal scorer for the Jets, while Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves on 30 shots.
Last Devils-Jets Game
It happened earlier this month on January 11, and it was a 4-3 regulation loss. It was a frustrating game with questionable defensive effort, and New Jersey could not outscore their defensive problems.
Return Of The Mac
Tonight, the New Jersey Devils will induct John MacLean into the organization’s Ring of Honor. MacLean becomes the fourth member of the Ring of Honor, joining John McMullen, Sergei Brylin, and Jacques Lemaire. It is a well-deserved honor for a franchise legend and Stanley Cup champion.
MacLean was drafted by the Devils sixth overall in the 1983 Entry Draft. He was thrown into NHL action right away, playing 23 games in 1983-84 (all from October to December), registered one point, a goal, in that span. That paltry production didn’t last long, as he soon became one of the greatest forwards in franchise history. He set a career-high in points with 87 during the 1988-89 season, and a career-high in goals with 45 in 1990-91 (a year in which he also finished ninth in the Hart Trophy voting).
In all, he played 14 seasons in New Jersey, registering 347 goals, 354 assists, and 701 points. To this day, he is still second in Devils history in goals and points, looking up only at Patrik Elias, as well as fourth in franchise history in assists. MacLean was a terrific offensive producer from the early days of the organization’s time in New Jersey to the middle of the golden era of Devils hockey.
MacLean’s most iconic moment came on April 3, 1988 against the Chicago Blackhawks. On the final day of the regular season, the Devils needed a win to clinch the franchise’s first playoff berth since moving to the Garden State. They found themselves tied at three as the game headed to overtime. In the days of ties, New Jersey had to beat the clock and find the winner if they wanted to play past the regular season. With about three minutes left in the season, MacLean did a great job of keeping the puck in the Chicago zone and maintaining possession. Joe Cirella activated from the blue line and fired a shot that Darren Pang saved. But the rebound went right to MacLean in the high slot, who banged it home to give the Devils their first taste of postseason hockey.
Here’s the full clip:
New Jersey made it all the way to the Conference Final that year, eventually losing to the Boston Bruins in seven games. MacLean’s goal laid the foundation for the glory years ahead.
Seven years after MacLean’s goal, his Devils took down the mighty Detroit Red Wings in the 1995 Stanley Cup Final to claim the franchise’s first championship. It was a well-deserved reward for the stellar career MacLean had put together up to that point. He, along with Kan Daneyko and Bruce Driver, were the elder statesmen of that Devils team, and he was a key reason why New Jersey shocked the hockey world and brought the Cup to the Meadowlands.
John MacLean is a franchise legend, and this honor is well-deserved. Congratulations to an all-time Devil.
The Modern Day Devils
As for the current Devils, they’re coming off a loss to the Kraken, as stated. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise successful road trip, where they took six of a possible eight points. The same problems New Jersey has faced all season long continued to plague the Devils on the trip, namely a lack of 5-on-5 offense and shoddy goaltending. If not for those struggles, it most likely would’ve been a perfect eight points out of eight.
New Jersey didn’t practice yesterday, so we didn’t get any new updates or tidbits to chew on. I’m going to assume we get the same lineup as we did in the Kraken game, though perhaps with some lines or pairings slightly juggled. The one change that absolutely needs to happen is Jake Allen needs to start tonight. I don’t think that Markstrom played a truly horrific game on Sunday. All three goals were varying levels of “Not his fault”, especially the last two. That being said, Markstrom gets paid to stop some shots that he shouldn’t from time to time, and he just never really does that anymore. He allows every single goal that you expect him to allow, and then he allows some goals that you don’t expect him to allow. Add it all up, and you get a truly horrifying .879 save percentage through 28 games. That is simply unplayable. And this isn’t a case of his defense leaving him hung out to dry to the point where his numbers look worse than he’s actually played. The defense in front of him is usually fine, Markstrom has just been completely terrible this season.
I don’t know how much longer the Devils can afford to keep playing Markstrom. He just refuses to give his team a chance to win anytime he plays. The fact that Tom Fitzgerald rushed into extending him for two more seasons after this one has the potential to set the franchise back a decade unless Markstrom figures out how to play goalie again. Or if Fitzgerald figures out a way to ship Markstrom out of town. Though honestly, I feel it would be more accurate to say if whoever replaces Fitzgerald after this season figures out a way to ship Markstrom out of town.
In any case, I do expect Allen to get the start tonight, so expect the Devils to at least have a chance to win this game.
Flight Cancelled
The Winnipeg Jets won the President’s Trophy as the top team in the NHL last season. They will most decidedly not win the President’s Trophy again this year. At 20-24-7, they enter today tied for the second-worst record in the entire league, ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks. A season after finishing with 116 points, the Jets are on pace to not even crack 80. Needless to say, it’s been a terribly disappointing year for them.
How bad are things in Winnipeg? Here’s head coach Scott Arniel after their 5-1 loss to the Red Wings on Saturday:
So, yeah…not great!
After defeating the Devils on the 11th, Winnipeg had a mini scoring bender, with five then six goals in their next two games (both wins). Since then though, offense has been hard to come by, with eight goals over their last five games. That includes exactly one goal in each of their last two outings. They enter having scored 149 goals, 23rd in the league. Combine that with New Jersey’s pathetic offense, and this game might be first to two goals wins.
On the other end, Connor Hellebuyck has taken a big step back this season, which is probably the biggest reason for their struggles next to their offense. Now granted, Hellebuyck was on such a high perch that even a steep drop still puts him at above average, but being merely above average just hasn’t been good enough for the Jets. The two-time reigning Vezina Trophy winner (and three-time overall winner) and reigning Hart Trophy winner enters this game with a .902 save percentage and 2.69 goals against average. According to Natural Stat Trick, Hellebuyck has saved 4.65 Goals Above Expected this season. Again, solid numbers, but nowhere close to his peak. I’m not sure if he’ll get the start tonight, and if he doesn’t, we’ll see former Devil (for one game) Eric Comrie get the call. Comrie has been pretty awful this season, with a save percentage of .888 in 18 games. This after a 2024-25 season in which he posted a stellar .914 save percentage in 20 contests.
As far as that limp Winnipeg offense goes, there is a huge disparity between the team’s big four and the rest of the depth. The two stars, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, are certainly holding up their end of the bargain. Scheifele leads the team with 25 goals and 61 points in 51 games, while Connor is right behind him with 23 goals and 58 points, also through 51 games. After that there’s a drop to Gabe Vilardi and his 19 goals and 44 points, then Josh Morrissey with 10 goals and 42 points. But after that? In fifth place in scoring on the Jets are Jonathan Toews and Alex Iafallo, both with 19 points each, less than half of fourth-place Morrissey.
See what I mean about a huge disparity? If New Jersey can lock up the four big guns in Winnipeg’s lineup, and particularly Scheifele and Connor, then even the Devils should be able to outscore the Jets tonight.
Projected Lineup
Here is how the Jets lined up in their last game:
Expect something similar tonight.
Your Take
What do you make of tonight’s game? Will the Devils get back in the win column? What is your favorite memory of Johnny Mac? As always, thanks for reading!