The New Jersey Devils will play their first game in a century tonight when they host the Ottawa Senators.
While teams tend to show signs of rust after being off for an extended period of time, I'm expecting a good effort from a Devils team that has had a week to chew on an underwhelming home loss to the San Jose Sharks.
The Senators enter this game having lost just once in regulation through 11 games, however, the Devils are getting them at the perfect time.
Not only are the Sens playing in a back-to-back, and their third game in four nights overall, but they're *very* banged up.
Kyle Turris, Bobby Ryan, and Colin White are all out while Zack Smith may not be available, either. Simply put, their forward core has been decimated by injury and the team is vulnerable as a result.
If there's a night you want to face Erik Karlsson and the Senators, this is it. The Devils have to find a way to take advantage.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Drew Stafford Marcus Johansson - Adam Henrique - Jesper Bratt Brian Gibbons - Pavel Zacha - Jimmy Hayes Miles Wood - Blake Coleman - Stefan Noesen
Andy Greene - Damon Severson John Moore - Steve Santini Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Keith Kinkaid
Ottawa (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Alex Burrows - Derick Brassard - Mark Stone Mike Hoffman - J.G. Pageau - Tom Pyatt Chris DiDomenico - Nate Thompson - Ryan Dzingel Max McCormick - Filip Chlapik
Johnny Oduya - Erik Karlsson Dion Phaneuf - Cody Ceci Frederik Claesson - Chris Wideman Mark Borowiecki*
Mike Condon
Five things to watch:
1) Ottawa is lacking quality up front and should be fatigued playing their third game in four nights. It'll be difficult for them to create offense at 5v5 so the Devils have to stay disciplined and ensure they don't spoonfeed the Sens easy offensive opportunities by parading the box.
2) Ottawa's 'shutdown' line of Hoffman, Pageau, and Pyatt is controlling just 32.8% of the shot attempts(!!) and has an expected goals for% of 28.1%(!!!) in more than 60 minutes together at 5v5. John Hynes shouldn't be afraid to target them with the Hall line.
3) Karlsson has played just five games and already leads the team in defensive scoring at 5v5 and is 2nd in chances. The Devils can't afford to be slow getting back or Karlsson will beat them up ice and burn them.
4) Condon has made a couple quality starts this season but he's a career .910 goaltender, which is below average. The Devils need to funnel pucks to the net and make him work, especially given he's playing behind a tired team that could be slow to clean up rebounds and get to loose pucks.
5) New Jersey is 2nd in xGF/60 on the PK while the Senators are 24th in xGA/60 while up a man, meaning they do give up some chances on the PP. Don't be surprised to see the Devils go on the attack and create some opportunities while down a man.
Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on MSG+, RDS and TSN5.