Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
Fresh off their first win of the season, the New Jersey Devils are back at it tonight looking to record their first road win of this campaign.
Standing in the way is a Boston Bruins team off to a pretty solid start.
The Bruins own a 2-1-0 record despite the fact Patrice Bergeron hasn't played in a game yet. He'll return to the lineup tonight, in what will be the Bruins' home opener, and will take his spot back on the top line.
It's early but the Bruins are 11th in possession and 15th in scoring chance for% at 5 v 5. Getting a two-way star like Bergeron back in the lineup will only help them in that regard.
The Bruins may not be Stanley Cup contenders but they are certainly a team that could, and probably will, at least compete for a playoff spot so they'll be a good test for the Devils.
Here is a look at the lineup the Devils are expected to go with:
Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - P.A. Parenteau
Mike Cammalleri - Adam Henrique - Kyle Palmieri
Beau Bennett - Pavel Zacha - Devante Smith-Pelly
Reid Boucher - Vern Fiddler - Jacob Josefson
Andy Greene - Damon Severson
John Moore - Ben Lovejoy
Yohann Auvitu - Kyle Quincey
Cory Schneider
And who they'll go up against:
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Danton Heinen - David Krejci - David Backes
Matt Beleskey - Riley Nash - Jimmy Hayes
Ryan Spooner - Dominic Moore - Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara - Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug - Joe Morrow
John-Michael Liles - Colin Miller
Tuukka Rask
A few notes:
1) Marchand and Pastrnak combined for 13 points in the Bruins' first three games and tonight they'll have the best player on the team skating alongside them. They will be an absolute handful for the Devils all night and should get no shortage of good looks, especially if John Hynes can't get the Greene - Severson pairing and Zajac's line out against them.
2) The Bruins have been bleeding scoring chances with the Beleskey - Nash - Hayes line on the ice. That could be a unit the Devils are able to take advantage of.
3) The Devils have been taking too many penalties. While the Bruins are last in PP scoring chances per minute that is unlikely to last; especially with Bergeron back in the lineup. The Devils will have a tough enough time handling the Bruins at 5 v 5 so they can't afford to make things easy on the Bruins with dumb penalties.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 7 pm eastern and can be seen on NESN & MSG+.
Recent Posts
Devils were smart to claim P.A. Parenteau off waivers
Predicting the Metro Division standings
Are the Devils and Ducks talking trade?
Devils sign Speers, White to entry-level deals
Metro Division bold predictions
Metro Division breakout players
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»