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G73 New Jersey Devils @ San Jose Sharks: Five things to watch

March 20, 2018, 12:56 PM ET [120 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the San Jose Sharks:

1. San Jose's dynamic duo

The Joe Pavelski - Evander Kane duo has been lights out since the Sharks acquired the latter. In ~120 minutes together at 5v5, the Sharks have controlled 58% of the shot attempts, 65% of the scoring chances, and out-scored opponents 10-4. Those are downright dominant numbers.

With the Devils bleeding shots of late, and not able to control the matchups, it could be another good night for Pavelski and Kane.

2. A Schneider sighting

Cory Schneider is expected to get the nod in goal for the first time since March 8th against Winnipeg. The Devils' No. 1 goaltender is in perhaps the worst rut of his career having allowed three or more goals in 10 consecutive games and posted no better than a .900 save percentage in any of them.

If the Devils are going to make the playoffs, or put up a fight once they get there, they need Schneider to get back on track. This is a massive game for him and the team.

3. 5v5 play

These teams are trending in completely different directions right now. San Jose has won the 5v5 chance battle in six of their last seven games and posted a +32 differential (+4.57 per game) during that span.

Meanwhile, the Devils have been out-chanced at 5v5 in eight of their last nine by 31 in aggregate (-3.44 per game).

If both teams continue on the same path, the Devils will need a) strong special teams play and/or; b) great goaltending to come away with two points in this one.

4. Hischier heating up

Nico Hischier has spent some time away from Taylor Hall of late and it doesn't seem to be bothering him. Hischier has five points, 16 shots, and 18 chances over the last five games and has had little trouble generating offense despite facing some really good teams. That's good news for a Devils team that really needs production beyond the top line.

5. Brent Burns


Burns is not having his best season in terms of filling the net – he is still 19 goals shy of last year's total – but that's luck driven as much as anything. He is still generating a ton of opportunities from the back end. In fact, no defender in the league has recorded more shots on goal or shot attempts per 60 minutes than Burns. He shoots *everything* and loves to jump into the play so the Devils will have to make sure they are quick getting back and always account for him.

Here are the projected lineups:

New Jersey

Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri
Michael Grabner - Nico Hischier - Brian Gibbons
Patrick Maroon - Blake Coleman - Stefan Noesen
Jesper Bratt - Brian Boyle - Drew Stafford

Andy Greene - Sami Vatanen
John Moore - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy

Cory Schneider

San Jose (via DailyFaceoff.com)

Evander Kane - Joe Pavelski - Melker Karlsson
Tomas Hertl - Logan Couture - Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier - Chris Tierney - Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow - Eric Fehr - Jannik Hansen

Joakim Ryan - Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon - Dylan DeMelo

Martin Jones

Puck drop is just after 10:30 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG+, NBCSCA, and SN1.

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