The New Jersey Devils were stomped by the Washington Capitals in their last game of 2017.
They'll be looking to rebound, and start the new year off on a positive note, tonight when they take on the Blues in St. Louis.
Like New Jersey, the Blues have already collected an impressive 50 points and are within one win of top spot in their division. Don't let that fool you, though – the Blues are not playing very well right now.
They've won just three of their last 10 games and have controlled a putrid 43.6% of the scoring chances at 5v5 during that span, which slots them in only ahead of Vancouver.
They've constantly juggled their lines since Jaden Schwartz went down with an injury and clearly still haven't settled on the right combinations.
This team has talent, and they will be tough at home, but this isn't the team that looked like Stanley Cup contenders a month ago. The Devils are getting the Blues at the right time – let's see if they can take advantage.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt Marcus Johansson - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri Miles Wood - Pavel Zacha - Stefan Noesen Blake Coleman - Brian Boyle - Brian Gibbons
Andy Greene - Steven Santini John Moore - Sami Vatanen Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Keith Kinkaid
St. Louis (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Scottie Upshall - Brayden Schenn - Vladimir Tarasenko Vladimir Sobotka - Paul Stastny - Tage Thompson Patrik Berglund - Kyle Brodziak - Alex Steen Dmitrij Jaskin - Ivan Barbashev - Magnus Paajarvi
Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo Joel Edmundson - Colton Parayko Carl Gunnarsson - Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen
What to watch for:
1) Tarasenko is one of the league's best wingers but he hasn't been nearly as effective with a rotation of depth guys on the left side rather than Jaden Schwartz. When Tarasenko was with the latter at 5v5, the Blues controlled better than 61% of the chances. When Tarasenko is without Schwartz, the Blues have controlled 44.3% of the chances at 5v5. His line can be exposed, especially defensively, as currently constructed.
2) After seeing very limited ice vs Detroit, Zacha responded nicely generating nine chances and posting a +14 on-ice chance differential at 5v5 over the next two games. He's getting good looks, especially around the net, so I don't think it'll be much longer before he is rewarded.
3) The Blues are tied with Columbus for 5th in the league in penalty differential while the Devils rank 24th. With the way the Blues are playing at 5v5 right now, the Devils have the advantage so they can't afford to be undisciplined and give the Blues extra opportunities to create easy offense.
4) The sample size is small (10 games) but Thompson has been a good chance generator for the Blues thus far. He ranks 3rd in 5v5 chances/60 and has been shooting a lot so he's a guy to watch out for.
5) With the Tarasenko line giving up a lot offensively, expect the Blues to attach their newly assembled 3rd line to Hall's unit whenever they can.
Puck drop is just after 8:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG+2 and FS-MW.