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Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the Carolina Hurricanes:
1. Schedule win
The Devils really need a win tonight – especially given the Panthers took care of business yet again on Monday.
The good news is they're seemingly in a great position to get it. The Hurricanes are playing their second game in as many nights, third in four, and fourth in six. They're also without several key players in Justin Faulk, Viktor Rask and Brett Pesce. And, of course, they're on the road taking on a rested Devils team.
This is pretty much as optimal of a situation as the Devils could hope to find themselves in. They need to take advantage of it.
2. A goaltending mismatch
If the last month and change is any indication, the Devils should have the advantage in goal tonight.
Keith Kinkaid has posted a ridiculous .935 save percentage in 14 appearances since February 14th. That's good for 6th among 41 eligible goaltenders (400+ minutes played).
Scott Darling owns a lowly .848 save percentage over that same span, which ranks him 41st.
3. Hischier heating up
It's no coincidence the 19-year-old rookie has found the back of the net five times over the last eight games. He has piled up 27 scoring chances in that span. That's good for top-30 in terms of volume. He also cracks the top-30 on a per 60 minute basis. He is playing some of his best hockey at a time where the Devils really need it.
4. Matchups
It'll be interesting to see which line, if any, John Hynes elects to attach the Sami Vatanen pairing to. Personally, I'd hard match against Sebastian Aho's unit.
Small sample size, etc, etc. but in a little more than 30 minutes together at 5v5, the Hurricanes have out-attempted opponents 38-18 and out-scored them 4-0.
5. Reunited!
After a lengthy period apart, the Devils have reunited the Miles Wood - Pavel Zacha - Kyle Palmieri line.
They have been absolutely terrific when together. They are generating more than 70 shot attempts/60 and are expected to score 3.22 goals/60 at 5v5. For perspective of how good that is, the Blue Jackets lead the league in expected goals/60 and they sit at 2.70.
I think these guys could have a good night against a Hurricanes team a) missing two top-4 defenders; b) playing for nothing and; c) in a tough spot schedule-wise.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt
Miles Wood - Pavel Zacha - Kyle Palmieri
Blake Coleman - Travis Zajac - Stefan Noesen
Michael Grabner - Brian Boyle - Brian Gibbons
Andy Greene - Sami Vatanen
John Moore - Damon Severson
Mirco Mueller - Will Butcher
Keith Kinkaid
Carolina (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Brock McGinn -Jordan Staal - Justin Williams
Jeff Skinner - Elias Lindholm - Phil Di Giuseppe
Valentin Zykov - Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen
Warren Foegele - Derek Ryan - Joakim Nordstrom
Jaccob Slavin - Klas Dahlbeck
Noah Hanifin - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Haydn Fleury - Roland McKeown
Scott Darling
Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG and FS-CR.
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