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Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the Pittsburgh Penguins:
1. Discipline is key
The Penguins have as much firepower as any team in the league. As such, it's no surprise they've been absolutely lethal with extra time and space to work. They rank 1st in power play goals, 1st in power play goals/60, and 6th in expected goals/60. No team is deadlier on the man advantage so the Pens are not a team you can afford to take dumb penalties against. This won't be much of a contest if the Devils parade to the box.
2. Keith Kinkaid
You almost always need good goaltending to win. Tonight, the Devils may need great goaltending to win.
As mentioned in Thursday's post, the Penguins have been decimating teams at 5v5 of late. Over the last seven games, they've out-chanced their opponents by 54 during that game state (+7.7 per).
The Devils have struggled in that area. Over the last 10, they've been out-chanced by 39 at 5v5 (-3.9 per).
If they continue trending in the same directions, the Penguins should have no problem generating chances. Kinkaid will have to play well.
3. An underrated scorer
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel get a lot of the attention and deserervedly so. They haven't been leading the charge offensively of late, though – at least in terms of goals and chances.
Hornqvist has piled up seven goals and 70 chances(!) over the course of his last 12 games. His goal total leads the Penguins in that span and his 70 chances are good for 1st in the entire NHL.
He lives around the net and gets a lot of great looks as a result. The Devils will have their hands full trying to box him out.
4. High-event hockey
We know the Penguins will get their fair share of chances. If the prior meetings between these two sides are any indication, the Devils will also get theirs.
The Devils have generated 33.3 scoring chances/60 at 5v5 against the Penguins this season. For perspective, the New York Islanders rank 31st in chance suppression and allow 33.66 chances/60 at 5v5.
Don't be surprised if this turns into a fast-paced, high-event game.
5. Balancing the lines
I like the decision to take Kyle Palmieri off the top line for this game. The Penguins have a three lines with high-end talent that can generate consistent offense. When Palmieri is on a stacked top line, the Devils only have one that meets the bill. I think dropping Palmieri to add more balance was the smart play.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt
Michael Grabner - Pavel Zacha - Kyle Palmieri
Brian Gibbons - Travis Zajac - Drew Stafford
Patrick Maroon - Brian Boyle - Blake Coleman
Andy Greene - Sami Vatanen
John Moore - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Keith Kinkaid
Pittsburgh (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin - Evgeni Malkin - Patric Hornqvist
Conor Sheary - Derick Brassard - Phil Kessel
Josh Jooris - Riley Sheahan - Tom Kuhnhackl
Brian Dumolin - Kris Letang
Jamie Oleksiak - Justin Schultz
Olli Maatta - Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG+, ATTSN-PIT and NHL Network (US).
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