The New Jersey Devils concluded the unofficial first half of their season with a 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a game they were dominated from the word go.
Almost every shift was spent chasing play in the defensive zone. As such, it should be no surprise every player who dressed had a negative shot attempt differential with it being extreme in some cases.
The Devils had a...rough night against the Penguins. (data via @NatStatTrick) pic.twitter.com/tzfotWSZr9
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) December 24, 2016
Tonight the Devils will attempt to rebound against the defending Stanley Cup champions, although there's not much reason to be optimistic.
The Penguins lead the league in goals and are one point out of tops in the NHL. Meanwhile, the Devils are 27th in goals for, 27th in goal differential, have just 13 wins in 34 games and already sit 11 points out of a playoff spot.
There aren't enough easy games, per se, on the schedule so if the Devils want to have any hope of making things remotely interesting they're going to have to win a lot of games they probably shouldn't. That needs to start tonight because they can't afford to dig the hole any deeper.
Here are the expected line combinations for New Jersey:
Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - Mike Cammalleri Miles Wood - Adam Henrique - Kyle Palmieri Beau Bennett - Pavel Zacha - P.A. Parenteau Devante Smith-Pelly - Vern Fiddler - Nick Lappin
Andy Greene - Damon Severson John Moore - Ben Lovejoy Jon Merrill - Kyle Quincey
Cory Schneider
And the expected lines for the Penguins (via dailyfaceoff.com):
Conor Sheary - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - Patric Hornqvist Carl Hagelin - Nick Bonino - Phil Kessel Scott Wilson - Matt Cullen - Eric Fehr
Ian Cole - Justin Schultz Derrick Pouliot - Steven Olesky Olli Maatta - Brian Dumoulin
A few notes:
1) The Pens have lost just once in regulation over the last 10 games and are averaging a league-best 35 scoring chances per 60 of 5v5 in that span. The Devils are going to have a tough time slowing them down.
2) Palmieri has scored in consecutive games for the first time this season and has tallied four points in his last four games. Is he finally turning a corner? The Devils desperately need him to.
3) Schneider did not have a good first half by anyone's standard, let alone his own. The defense hasn't helped him at all, but he's allowed plenty of goals he'd normally stop. I think getting a few days off will be really good for him. We'll find out if that's the case.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:00 pm eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and ROOT.