The New Jersey Devils are back in action tonight when they hit the road to take on the New York Islanders (7ET, MSG/MSG+).
The Devils will be looking for their first win of the preseason after dropping their first two by an aggregate score of 8-3.
It won't be a gimme, though, as the Islanders are dressing some key players including the likes of John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Ryan Strome, Brock Nelson and Travis Harmonic, among others.
The projected lineup for New Jersey:
Zacha - Henrique - Palmieri Kennedy - Josefson - Boucher Matteau - Kalinin - Stempniak Leblond - O'Brien - Pietila
Merrill - Severson Gelinas - Mozik Helgeson - Gragnani
Schneider Blackwood
What to watch:
- Pavel Zacha was not bad but did nothing spectacular in his first preseason game. Now, in an effort to give him better linemates, he'll play the wing on the top line alongside Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri. I thought John Quenneville had a good game playing with those two so it'll be interesting to see if Zacha follows suit. He needs to make some noise if he wants to stick around this year.
- Reid Boucher will be making his preseason debut after missing the two prior games with a concussion. There are some forward spots up for grabs but there is also a lot of competition for those spots. Boucher will have to show well in the next week or two or he'll end up back in Albany.
- With the signing of David Schlemko New Jersey's top-7 on defense is essentially set. That means hopefuls like Vojtech Mozik and Marc-Andre Gragnani will have to be at their best to have any chance of taking someone's spot.
- Discipline is key tonight. The Devils have a lot of young players in their lineup and some of them will not get a fair shake to show their worth if this turns into a special teams battle. Not to mention John Tavares and co. will probably torch the Devils if they're spoon fed power plays and that won't be good for anyone.
- A reminder that this game will go to 3-on-3 overtime regardless of score.
If I'm John Hynes my top two units would be as follows:
Henrique - Palmieri - Severson Zacha - Stempniak/Boucher - Gelinas
It will be fun to see what Hynes goes with.