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The New Jersey Devils enter tonight's clash having lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season.
The Devils put forth a good effort in Anaheim but a couple bad shifts ruined an otherwise solid game and they ended up with nothing to show for it. Last time out in Los Angeles the Devils were out played from start to finish and deservedly left the ice empty handed.
Tonight they'll be hoping for a much better effort - they'll definitely need one - in San Jose as they take on last season's Western Conference champs.
The Sharks are off to a very pedestrian 9-8-1 start but they have played better than their record indicates.
At 5 v 5 the Sharks are 5th in the NHL in both Shot Attempt For% and Scoring Chance For%. They've been carrying play but have had suspect goaltending (their tandem ranks 23rd in 5v5 save percentage) and they've left some points on the table.
Despite a somewhat slow start to the season the Sharks figure to be among the league's best once again. The Devils will need to bring their 'A' game if they want to walk away with two points in this one.
Here is a look at the lineup the Devils are expected to go with:
Beau Bennett - Travis Zajac - P.A. Parenteau
Pavel Zacha - Adam Henrique - Kyle Palmieri
Reid Boucher - Blake Pietila - Devante Smith-Pelly
Sergey Kalinin - Vern Fiddler - Nick Lappin
Andy Greene - Damon Severson
Jon Merrill - Ben Lovejoy
John Moore - Kyle Quincey
Keith Kinkaid
And the expected lines for the Sharks:
Joe Pavelski - Joe Thornton - Kevin Labanc
Joonas Donskoi - Logan Couture - Joel Ward
Mikkel Boedker - Patrick Marleau - Tommy Wingels
Michael Haley - Chris Tierney - Matthew Nieto
Paul Martin - Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun
Brendan Dillon - David Schlemko
Martin Jones
A few notes:
1) On the power play San Jose is 3rd in shot attempts per 60 and 2nd in scoring chances per 60. They're lethal on the man advantage so discipline is especially important tonight.
2) Henrique and Palmieri have not performed up to expectations this season and were benched for parts of the Devils' last game. They really need to step up and start contributing. They're supposed to be the next best layer of offense after Taylor Hall.
3) Speaking of Henrique and Palmieri, the Devils need to keep them away from the Thornton line as much as possible. They have been very poor defensively this season and given up shots/scoring chances in bunches.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 10:30 pm eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and CSN-CA.
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