One thing the New Jersey Devils have been really good at this season is snapping losing streaks before they get out of hand and cause some real damage in the standings.
They'll attempt to do that again, and end their three-game losing skid, tonight in Dallas. That will be easier said than done, though, as the Stars are a *really* good team.
Everyone knows about the offensive firepower the Stars possess but they've also been excellent defensively under new head coach Ken Hitchcock. They rank 3rd in expected goals against/60 and are only .02 xGA/60 behind Minnesota for tops in the league so you could argue they've been as stingy as anyone this season.
The Stars have also been downright dominant at home winning 14 of the 20 games they've played in their own building. They have a lot of star power and depth, which has given Hitchcock the ability to mix up his lines in order to find favorable matchups depending on the opponent. Clearly, he's done a good job with that.
The Devils have been a resilient group this season and come up with quite a few wins in spots where maybe you'd expect them to fold. Let's see if they can do that again tonight.
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/Damon Severson
Cory Schneider
Dallas (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov Mattias Janmark - Jason Spezza - Devin Shore Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick Jason Dickinson - Martin Hanzal - Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg Dan Hamhuis - Greg Pateryn Marc Methor - Stephen Johns
Ben Bishop
What to watch for:
1) The Devils allowed 30 or more scoring chances 14 times over the first 30 games of the season (46.7%). In nine games since, they've given up 30+ chances seven times (77.8%). They've been really leaky defensively, which means Cory Schneider will likely see his fair share of shots tonight – especially against a team with so much offensive talent. He'll need to be really good for the Devils to break this streak.
2) This game features three of the league's top-21 chance generators in Seguin (3rd), Hall (14th, but higher than several ahead of him on a per-game basis) and Benn (21st). The Stars are a structured team, and the Devils try to be, but there should still be plenty of action with this much game breaking talent on the ice.
3) The sample size is small (64 minutes) but the Wood - Zacha - Noesen line has been controlled the vast majority of the chances and have an expected goals for of 72.9%(!!!) as a result. That number is not sustainable, obviously, but it'll be interesting to see if they can continue to dominate territorially over time. If they can, it'll really help take some of the pressure off the top line.
4) Discipline is always important but especially so against Dallas. They rank 2nd in shot attempts/60, expected goals/60, and have as much firepower as pretty much any team in the league. If the Devils take a few bad penalties, they'll pay for it.
5) Palmieri has just one point in his last four games and four in his last 10. The Devils really need him to get going and jump start that 2nd line.
Puck drop is just after 8:30 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG and FS-W.