The New Jersey Devils have lost nine of their last 10, 16 of their last 20, and things aren't about to get an easier.
Tonight they're in Washington to take on a Capitals team that is firmly entrenched in a playoff spot. The Caps are 11 points ahead of the Devils and have seven more wins despite having played a couple fewer games.
Not only are the Caps a much better team but they're at home, where they sit seven games above .500 on the year. The Devils, on the other hand, have four wins in 21 tries on the road so this a far from ideal matchup for them.
On top of all that, the Devils are without their best player in Taylor Hall.
All signs point towards another rough night for the Devils. We'll find out soon if that's the case.
Here are the expected line combinations for New Jersey:
Note: Luke Gazdic has been recalled and will likely draw in. Mike Cammalleri - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri Beau Bennett - Adam Henrique - P.A. Parenteau Miles Wood - Jacob Josefson - Nick Lappin Luke Gazdic - Sergei Kalinin - Devante Smith-Pelly
Andy Greene - Damon Severson John Moore - Ben Lovejoy Yohann Auvitu - Kyle Quincey
Keith Kinkaid
And the expected lines for the Capitals (via dailyfaceoff.com):
Alex Ovechkin - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Justin Williams Marcus Johansson - Nicklas Backstrom - T.J. Oshie Jakub Vrana - Lars Eller - Andre Burakovsky Daniel Winnik - Jay Beagle - Tom Wilson
Karl Alzner - John Carlson Dmitri Orlov - Matt Niskanen Brooks Orpik - Nate Schmidt
Braden Holtby
A few notes:
1) The Devils aren't exactly world beaters at 5v5, but it's imperative that they stay disciplined and limit the amount of penalties they take. Washington's power play isn't playing to its usual level right now, but you tempt fate every time you give the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and co. extra ice to play with.
2) If New Jersey wants to have a chance in this game they'll need to turn it into a low-event snoozer. If they concede three or more, which they've done 17 times in their last 20, I have a had time believing they'll score enough to overcome that without Hall.
3) Zajac has had a good year by his standards but he leads the Devils with 25 points and has just three in his last 10 games. At some point, someone, like Adam Henrique or Kyle Palmieri, needs to step up and produce on a semi-consistent basis. Hall is the only guy doing so, and he's dealt with some injury problems.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:00 pm eastern and can be seen on NBCSN and CSN-DC.