Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the Nashville Predators:
1. Ken Appleby's first start With Cory Schneider, Keith Kinkaid, and even Eddie Lack, sidelined due to injury, Appleby has been forced into the NHL and will get the nod in goal tonight against Nashville.
Appleby showed well in relief vs Philadelphia, and stopped four of four against Boston after subbing in for an injured Schneider, but he owns a sub par .888 save percentage in the AHL this season. It's only a matter of time before the bubble bursts.
One of the Devils' goaltenders – likely Kinkaid – could be healthy enough to play after the all-star break so they probably only need one decent start from Appleby. Let's see if he can give it to them.
2. A bigger role for Miles Wood? The Devils will be without two of their best wingers in Taylor Hall and Marcus Johansson, which means they'll need some guys to step up and contribute while taking on larger roles.
One player I'll be watching closely is Miles Wood. He ranks 2nd on the team in goals, 2nd in shots, 3rd in points, and 3rd in chances at 5v5 despite primarily playing alongside lesser talents in the bottom-6.
I think he's capable of producing more if given the opportunity and it should be there tonight.
3. Predators penalty trouble The Devils will undoubtedly struggle to create offense at 5v5 but, luckily, they may not have to. The Predators rank 2nd in the league in penalties taken and no team averages more minors per game. The Devils should get their fair share of opportunities up a man – they'll just have to capitalize.
4. Pekka Rinne Scoring a few goals against the guy from the corner store would be difficult without Hall and Johansson. Doing so against Rinne is even more of a challenge. He enters tonight's game sitting 3rd in save percentage at 5v5 behind only Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is probably the Vezina favorite, and Mike Smith, who hasn't allowed more than three goals in 17 consecutive games. They'll have a tough time beating him in that game state, especially given they likely won't generate many chances.
5. Pavel Zacha Two games ago he was all over the ice and generated a game-high seven scoring chances. Last time out, he picked up an assist and finished with a game-high +15 on-ice shot attempt differential. He's really starting to play well and the Devils need that to continue with so many key players missing tonight.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
**will dress as 7th defenseman if Devils don't recall a forward
Jesper Bratt - Nico Hischier - Kyle Palmieri Miles Wood - Travis Zajac - Drew Stafford Blake Coleman - Pavel Zacha - Stefan Noesen ___ - Brian Boyle - Jimmy Hayes
Andy Greene - Sami Vatanen John Moore - Damon Severson Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy **Mirco Mueller
Ken Appleby
Nashville (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Pontus Aberg - Ryan Johansen - Viktor Arvidsson Scott Hartnell - Kyle Turris - Craig Smith Kevin Fiala - Nick Bonino - Calle Jarnkrok Miikka Salomaki - Colton Sissons - Austin Watson
Roman Josi - Ryan Ellis Alexei Emelin - P.K. Subban Mattias Ekholm - Matt Irwin
Pekka Rinne
Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and FS-TN.