Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the Carolina Hurricanes:
1. Taylor Hall vs Jaccob Slavin Hall has piled up the points at a ridiculous rate and been a consistent threat almost every night regardless if he's shown up on the scoresheet or not.
One of the rare exceptions is when Hall has matched up against Slavin, one of the most underrated players in the NHL. In 17 minutes head-to-head at 5v5, the Hurricanes have out-chanced the Devils 17-3.
The sample size is very small, and I have a hard time believing the ice will be that tilted moving forward, but I probably wouldn't expect Hall to go nuclear again tonight.
2. Keith Kinkaid Kinkaid has had a tough season. He owns a .903 save percentage, which is well below league average, and ranks 40th among 41 eligible goaltenders in 5v5 save percentage. The lone goaltender below him (Thomas Greiss) plays for one of the worst defensive teams we've seen in years so that puts into perspective how much Kinkaid has struggled.
He has turned a bit of a corner of late, though, posting a 4-1-0 record and .943 save percentage over his last five starts. That's unsustainable but the hope is he can stay hot tonight against a Hurricanes team that often peppers opposing goaltenders with shots.
3. 5v5 play The Hurricanes rank 1st in penalties taken and 2nd in penalty differential, which means the Devils will likely have to win the 5v5 battle if they're going to get two points.
Though that hasn't been a problem thus far – the Devils have out-scored the 'Canes 6-3 at 5v5 this season – it's not because they've been deserving.
In just under 92 minutes of 5v5 play, the Hurricanes have out-attempted the Devils 101-64 and out-chanced them 46-26. Kinkaid(!) played exceptionally well and that's been the difference.
If the Devils get caved again tonight, I expect a much different result.
4. The Vatman Sami Vatanen has quietly been playing some excellent hockey of late. Well, he's been doing so for a while but now he's finally being properly rewarded on the scoresheet.
Over the last 10 games, Vatanen ranks 3rd on the Devils in both points (9) and shot attempts (42). He's really making an impact at both ends of the rink.
5. A big mismatch There are plenty of reasons it makes sense to put high-end talents like Jeff Skinner lower in the lineup. For one, it balances things out and helps ensure there is a threat on each unit. More importantly – especially when playing at home – it allows coaches to get quality players on the ice vs depth lines and pairings. While New Jersey has beefed up their depth, there's still a pretty decent sized drop off from the top-6 to the bottom-6.
Skinner leads the league in scoring chances per 60 at 5v5 and he's right up there in high-danger chances as well. He's almost certainly going to get favorable zone starts against softer competition, which could be a problem.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Kyle Palmieri Miles Wood - Pavel Zacha - Jesper Bratt Michael Grabner - Travis Zajac - Stefan Noesen Patrick Maroon - Brian Boyle - Blake Coleman
Andy Greene - Sami Vatanen John Moore - Damon Severson Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Keith Kinkaid
Carolina (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Brock McGinn - Jordan Staal - Justin Williams Sebastian Aho - Elias Lindholm - Teuvo Teravainen Jeff Skinner - Lucas Wallmark - Phil Di Giuseppe Viktor Rask - Derek Ryan - Lee Stempniak
Jaccob Slavin - Justin Faulk Noah Hanifin - Brett Pesce Haydn Fleury - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Scott Darling
Puck drop is just after 7:30 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and FS-CR.
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