The New Jersey Devils have been very impressive coming out of the gate.
They picked up a win over the Colorado Avalanche, who have since beaten Boston and the New York Rangers, on opening day and followed that up with a convincing win over the Buffalo Sabres in their own building.
While there are no free wins, tonight will be the Devils' first real test and figures to be a good measuring stick for where the team is at.
The Toronto Maple Leafs own a 3-0-0 record, have out-chanced their opponents 96-51(!!) at 5v5 thus far, and looked downright dominant for long stretches.
One game is one game, but it'd be encouraging to see the Devils hold their own against what looks like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
*questionable
Taylor Hall - Pavel Zacha - Kyle Palmieri Marcus Johansson - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt Miles Wood - Adam Henrique - Jimmy Hayes Brian Gibbons - Blake Coleman - Stefan Noesen
Andy Greene - Damon Severson John Moore - Will Butcher Mirco Mueller - Steve Santini
Cory Schneider
Toronto (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Zach Hyman - Auston Matthews - William Nylander James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Mitch Marner Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - Leo Komarov Matt Martin - Eric Fehr - Connor Brown
Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev Andreas Borgman - Calle Rosen
Frederik Andersen
Five things to watch:
1) In Buffalo, the Sabres were able to get Jack Eichel's line out against the Gibbons - Coleman - Noesen line more than any other. It surprisingly didn't work out too poorly, but the Devils shouldn't be comfortable with their worst players going up against opposing team's stars. If Mike Babcock can get Matthews-Nylander out against the 4th line as often as Buffalo did with Eichel, the Devils will be in trouble.
2) The Maple Leafs are 1st in 5v5 scoring chances per 60 minutes and 2nd in 5v5 goals per 60. Their offense may very well be the best in the league, so Cory Schneider's going to be tested early and often. He'll need to be on his game for the Devils to have a chance.
3) It's early, obviously, but the Devils create short-handed chances at a higher clip than every team in the league. The speed of Bratt, Hischier, and co. really allows the Devils to threaten while down a man, so watch for them to attack Toronto's PP quarterbacks to try and force turnovers.
4) The Mueller - Santini pairing has really struggled thus far and, against Toronto, there is no hiding. They need to be better.
5) The Leafs lead the league in Expected Goals For/60 on the man advantage, meaning they created a *lot* of good scoring opportunities. The Devils' PK looks like it could be good, but discipline is still very important. If you play with fire, you're going to get burned eventually.
Puck drop is just after 7:30 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on Sportsnet and MSG.