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Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the Columbus Blue Jackets:
1. Deja vu
Over the last couple games, the Devils have been drastically out-shot and out-chanced. They've won due to surprisingly fantastic goaltending and timely scoring. They'll likely need more of the same tonight if their winning streak is going to reach five games.
The Blue Jackets have out-shot their opponents in nine consecutive games by an aggregate of 135, which equates to a +15 differential per game. Only once have they produced less than 36 shots during that span and they've hit 49 or more four times.
They've struggled to find the back of the net – and lost a lot of games as a result – but it hasn't been due to a lack of chances.
Expect a desperate Blue Jackets team to pepper Keith Kinkaid.
2. Taylor Hall's point streak
Hall has 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists), 73 shots, 123 attempts, and a +12 goal differential at 5v5 during his league-leading 18-game point streak and has really launched himself into the Hart Trophy race as a result.
With last change in John Hynes' back pocket, and the ability to limit Hall's time vs the Zach Werenski - Seth Jones pairing, I think he's a pretty good bet to find the score sheet once again.
3. Artemi Panarin
Panarin is a handful every night but he seems to save his best performances for the Devils. Through three meetings this year, Panarin has tallied seven points (one goal, six assists) and posted a 56 Corsi For% during 5v5 play.
His worst game vs New Jersey came in the one with Sami Vatanen actually involved – Panarin had a negative CF% vs Andy Greene and Vatanen – so perhaps there is reason to be optimistic the Devils can slow him down a little bit tonight. Hynes will undoubtedly be hard matching that pairing against him.
4. Offense from the defense
Expect shots from Columbus' defense, and a lot of them at that.
Seth Jones, David Savard, and Zach Werenski, all rank inside the top-35 in shot attempts per hour at 5v5 and never hesitate to jump into the play and pull the trigger.
The Devils will have to make sure they don't get beat up ice and account for the trailers. If they don't, they'll run into some trouble.
5. A goaltending mismatch
Though Kinkaid has been better over the last few games, Columbus enters this contest with a massive advantage between the pipes.
Bobrovsky leads the league in Goals Saved Above Average and has far outproduced his Expected Save Percentage while Kinkaid, well, hasn't. Among 41 eligible goaltenders (900+ minutes), Kinkaid ranks last in 5v5 save percentage.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Kyle Palmieri
Jesper Bratt - Pavel Zacha - Drew Stafford
Blake Coleman - Travis Zajac - Stefan Noesen
Blake Pietila - Brian Boyle - Jimmy Hayes
Andy Greene - Sami Vatanen
John Moore - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Keith Kinkaid
Columbus (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner - Alexander Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson
Lukas Sedlak - Zac Dalpe - Jussi Jokinen
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Ryan Murray - Jack Johnson
Scott Harrington - David Savard
Sergei Bobrovsky
Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and FS-O.
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