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The New Jersey Devils picked up a three-goal victory over Dallas last time out, which is the most important thing, but they weren't necessarily as good as the scoreboard suggested.
Despite scoring five times, and coming within .2 seconds of doing it a 6th, the Devils finished the game with just 16 scoring chances.
That was their second-lowest total of the season and only the third time they've registered fewer than 20. They were lucky to score as often as they did and certainly can't make a habit of generating so few chances.
The good news is Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri, two of their best players and offensive catalysts, are expected to return to the lineup against Anaheim.
Also helping New Jersey's cause is all the injuries the Ducks are dealing with. They will be without one of the best two-way players in the league in Ryan Kesler, not to mention a couple skilled offensive wingers in Corey Perry and Patrick Eaves.
With so many key injuries, the Ducks have been bleeding a lot of chances – and outplayed as a whole – so the Devils should be able to muster up more good looks this time around.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Kyle Palmieri
Blake Coleman - Travis Zajac - Brian Gibbons
Miles Wood - Brian Boyle - Stefan Noesen
Jesper Bratt - Pavel Zacha - Drew Stafford
Andy Greene - Steven Santini
John Moore - Sami Vatanen
Will Butcher - Damon Severson
Cory Schneider
Anaheim (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Kevin Roy - Ryan Getzlaf - Jakob Silfverberg
Andrew Cogliano - Adam Henrique - Rickard Rakell
Chris Wagner - Antoine Vermette - Ondrej Kase
Dennis Rasmussen - Derek Grant - Logan Shaw
Hampus Lindholm - Josh Manson
Cam Fowler - Kevin Bieksa
Francois Beauchemin - Brandon Montour
John Gibson
What to watch for:
1) Henrique will center Rakell and Cogliano, the Ducks' 2nd and 3rd leading chance generators at 5v5, in his return to New Jersey. He'll no doubt have some extra pep in his step and he's being put in a really good situation to put it to use. I'd be surprised if he doesn't find a way to get on the scoresheet – it almost feels inevitable.
2) Vatanen has averaged a hair under 22 minutes per night in eight games as a Devil. Despite all that ice, he hasn't recorded a point and has just six shots on goal. Now would be a good time for him to break out of his funk and showcase some of the talents that helped him produce 44.5 points per 82 games spanning from 2014-16.
3) The Ducks giving up an abundance of chances on a nightly basis hasn't seemed to impact Gibson's game at all. He owns a rock solid .921 save percentage on the year and has single-handedly won them some games with crazy 50 and 49-save performances. Don't expect him to crumble regardless of what happens in front of him.
4) Hall missed a couple games and still leads the Devils in chances by 37(!!). He is the straw that stirs the drink and I'd expect him to be a force in a favorable matchup against this watered down Ducks team.
5) Zacha has two assists, 10 scoring chances, and 15 shot attempts over the last four games. He's slowly starting to put it together, and he's getting more ice, so I don't think we're far off from a much-needed breakout game.
Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and KCOP-13.
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