Following a shootout loss to the Canucks, the Devils hit the road to face the Chicago Blackhawks. Check out the matchup in this game preview.
The Essentials
Matchup: New Jersey Devils at Chicago Blackhawks
Date: March 26th, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM ET
Broadcast: TNT, TruTV, MAX, TVAS2, CHSN, ESPN+
Listen: Devils Hockey Network
The Last Devils Game: The Devils fell in a shootout to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday 4-3. The Devils labored to get the three goals, but a series of mistakes led to their downfall. The Devils failed to cover Pius Suter in the slot in the first period, and he ripped a shot over Jacob Markstrom to open the scoring. Timo Meier picked the Devils up, scoring a power-play goal in the second and then the go-ahead goal midway through the third. 45 seconds after scoring the go-ahead goal, New Jersey could not withstand Vancouver’s answering surge and left Jonathan Lekkerimaki open, cutting through the slot, and he fired another puck past Markstrom. To the Devils’ credit, the Devils responded a couple minutes later with an impressive backhand goal from Erik Haula to take the lead. In the final minute, with the Canucks’ goal empty, Brett Pesce had difficulty clearing the puck, resulting in a turnover and an eventual tip-in goal by Conor Garland to tie the game. Nobody scored in overtime, so the game went to a shootout. Jake DeBrusk and Jesper Bratt scored, but Lekkerimaki eventually sank the Devils in the shootout for a 4-3 loss. Check out Jackson’s in-depth game recap if you want to read more about the game.
The Last Blackhawks Game: The Blackhawks last played on Sunday when they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 7-4. The Blackhawks had lost seven in a row before Sunday’s game. The first period was hectic, and each team scored three goals. Jamie Drysdale, Travis Sanheim, and Bobby Brink scored for Philly. Patrick Maroon, Joe Veleno, and Connor Bedards scored for Chicago. According to Natural Stat Trick, Chicago allowed eight high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five in the first period, but everything was knotted at three when the first 20 minutes expired.
The Blackhawks continued to score at the same pace in the second period, scoring three more goals, including two power-play goals by Ryan Donato. Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers, and it was 6-4 at the end of two. Chicago tallied nine scoring chances at five-on-five in the first and second periods. Lukas Reichel scored the lone goal in the third period, and the Blackhawks cruised to a 7-4 win. If you’d like to watch all those goals, check out NHL.com’s Gamecenter.
The Last Devils – Blackhawks Game: The Devils last played the Blackhawks on December 14th, 2024. The only blemish on Jacob Markstrom’s night was a goal scored by Jason Dickinson that deflected off Luke Hughes’ face in the second period. New Jersey entered the third period of that game with a zero in the goals column but turned up the pressure late in the game. The Devils scored four unanswered goals in the final frame and walked away with the W. Dawson Mercer, Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier scored the goals, while Jesper Bratt recorded two assists. New Jersey recorded 11 scoring chances, including five high-danger scoring chances, in the third period of that 4-1 victory. Check out Chris’ game recap if you’d like to read more about that win.
Recent Momentum: The Devils (38-27-7) are on a three-game skid and desperately need a win. New Jersey has lost four of the last five games. The Blackhawks (21-41-9) have lost 7 of their last eight games and have already been eliminated from playoff contention. Chicago will be looking to play the spoiler against a stumbling Devils squad.
Lineups
Chicago Blackhawks
Based on their lineup against Philly, here are Chicago’s projected lines and pairings.
Forwards
Ryan Donato – Frank Nazar – Connor Bedard
Teuvo Teravainen – Nick Foligno – Ilya Mikheyev
Philipp Kurashev – Joe Veleno – Tyler Bertuzzi
Landon Slaggert – Lukas Reichel – Pat Maroon
Defensemen
Alex Vlasic – Louis Crevier
Ethan Del Mastro – Connor Murphy
Wyatt Kaiser – Artyom Levshunov
Goaltenders
Spencer Knight
Arvid Soderblom
With a few days off, I expect Spencer Knight to be the starter against New Jersey.
New Jersey Devils
New Jersey had a limited practice on Tuesday. Based on Monday’s game, here are the Devils’ projected lines and pairings. Head coach Sheldon Keefe has been tinkering with the lines lately, and I’d expect that to continue, so this is a rough projection.
Forwards
Erik Haula – Nico Hischier – Timo Meier
Stefan Noesen – Cody Glass – Jesper Bratt
Ondrej Palat – Dawson Mercer – Tomas Tatar
Nolan Foote – Justin Dowling – Paul Cotter
Defensemen
Luke Hughes – Brett Pesce
Brian Dumoulin – Johnathan Kovacevic
Brenden Dillon – Dennis Cholowski
Goaltenders
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
What to Watch For
Meier’s March
In the absence of Jack Hughes, New Jersey needed forwards to step up, and Timo Meier is certainly doing that this month. Since March 1st, Timo has potted seven goals in 12 games. It’s no surprise to the People Who Matter because we saw Meier produce at a similar rate in March last season. The Devils winger scored 13 goals and 20 points in March during the 2023-2024 season. It can’t hurt that Timo’s linemate, Captain Nico Hischier, is just as hot. Hischier has scored three goals and tallied six points in the last five games. Meier has been aggressively driving to the net, creating and capitalizing on his scoring opportunities, and the Devils need it to continue to get to the postseason.
Hot Hawks
The Blackhawks have some hot forwards of their own. Ilya Mikheyev has scored five goals and eight points this month. Tyler Bertuzzi has picked up his production over the last four games, scoring two goals and adding four helpers. In his first year as a Blackhawk, Bertuzzi is trying to surpass the score of the 21-goal mark. He has scored 21 goals in three previous seasons while tallying a career-high 30 goals in the 2021-2022 campaign. And then there is Connor Bedard. Bedard has scored 20 goals this season and is trying to improve upon his 22-goal season total from a year ago. The second-year forward is making a late-season push and has scored three goals in the previous five games.
Current Standings and Must-Win Games
Chicago has the second-worst record in hockey, having won two more games than the league-worst San Jose Sharks. The same Sharks team that has beaten the Devils twice this season, but that is another story. Chicago will not be in the playoffs this season and has nothing to win for, but the Devils definitely do. With ten games remaining, New Jersey sits only seven points ahead of the Islanders and Rangers. The Devils will play both of those teams once down the stretch. New Jersey’s schedule after Wednesday’s game is challenging (for a few games). The Devils will face the Jets again next and then the Wild twice. If New Jersey wants to get across that finish line in a playoff position, they must win the games against teams they should beat…like Chicago. That said, New Jersey has to pick up their play because anyone can beat anyone on any night.
Goals Allowed
New Jersey will either be facing Arvid Soderblom or Spencer Knight on Wednesday. According to Natural Stat Trick, Soderblom has recorded a save percentage of 0.899 while saving 4.28 goals above average (GSAA). Knight holds a save percentage of .903 while stopping 1.70 goals above average. Both goalies allow an average of over three goals per game. As a team, Chicago has allowed 252 goals this season and 3.55 goals per game, both of which are third worst in the NHL. The Devils’ scoring situation hasn’t been pretty, but they have scored at least three goals in six of their last eight games. Let’s hope they can capitalize against a Chicago team that has allowed a lot of goals this season.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of Timo’s play in March? Will Connor Bedard develop into the star everyone expects him to be? Will the Devils score three or more? Can the Devils win the games against the lower-standing teams like Chicago? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.