New Jersey Devils (10-7-5) at Chicago Blackhawks (15-6-3) 8:30PM Eastern/7:30 Central CSN-Chicago/MSG+2
STARTING GOALIES:
New Jersey: Cory Schneider Chicago: Corey Crawford
STATS:
GOALS PER GAME: New Jersey 2.41 Chicago 2.75
GOALS AGAINST: New Jersey 2.59 Chicago 2.46
POWER PLAY New Jersey 13.7% Chicago 17.3%
PENALTY KILL New Jersey 84.3% Chicago 70.7%
SHOTS FOR/AGAINST New Jersey 29.8/31.4 Chicago 28.8/31.1
NOTES: It's hard to make many judgements about tonight's game based on stats for the season thus far—especially assuming the Hawks come into the game tonight without Jonathan Toews (back) and/or Artem Anisimov (foot/ankle). Clearly, the absence of one, and especially both, weakens Chicago down the middle and exacerbates a lingering scoring problem.
The Devils are in many ways still who we thought they were: stronger defensively than offensively.
Over 60 minutes on a sheet of ice, a lot of things can happen, but a low scoring contest—especially with two of the league's better goalies in net—is a strong likelihood.
I will recap tomorrow,
JJ
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