Match-up - New Jersey Devils (1-0-0) @ Florida Panthers (0-0-1) Road/Home records - 1-0-0 -------------- 0-0-0 TV - MSG Plus 2, FS-Florida Puck drop - 7:00 p.m. ET Projected starting goalies - Cory Schneider vs Roberto Luongo
Projected lines for the Panthers:
Jonathan Huberdeau - Aleksander Barkov - Jussi Jokinen Scottie Upshall - Nick Bjugstad - Brad Boyes Sean Bergenheim - Dave Bolland - Tomas Fleischmann Tomas Kopecky - Derek MacKenzie - Shawn Thornton
Brian Campbell - Aaron Ekblad Willie Mitchell - Dmitry Kulikov Dylan Olsen - Erik Gudbranson
Projected lines for the Devils:
Mike Cammalleri - Travis Zajac - Jaromir Jagr Martin Havlat - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus Ryane Clowe - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder Tuomo Ruutu - Stephen Gionta - Jordin Tootoo
Andy Greene - Damon Severson Bryce Salvador - Marek Zidlicky Jon Merrill - Eric Gelinas
Expected scratches: Jacob Josefson, Damien Brunner and Adam Larsson.
Game notes:
- Like New Jersey, Florida has a rookie defenseman of their own on the top pairing in Aaron Ekblad. He's a pretty physically mature guy and can get around the ice well, but he does have his weaknesses. After scouting him for several years in Barrie, one thing I noticed is he struggled with cross-ice outlet passes to forwards in motion. If the Devils take away the easy outlets and make him complete more difficult passes it could lead to some turnovers.
- When Pete DeBoer decided to use a three-headed monster of Travis Zajac, Patrik Elias and Adam Henrique down the middle, the plan was to have three balanced scoring lines. There's only been a one game sample, but so far so good. Each of the top three lines accounted for at least one goal in Philadelphia, and if they can do that again they're probably a good bet to win.
- Michael Ryder has always been a streaky offensive player and he's obviously off to a good start having recorded three points in the season opener. It'll be huge for New Jersey if he can continue to produce and help them pick up some wins early on.
- The Devils allowed 39 shots against Philadelphia and had quite a few defensive hiccups throughout the game. They'll need to clean up their act because if they're allowing 35-40 shots a game, they won't win many even with Cory Schneider in net.
- In New Jersey's season opener their 4th line was, well, bad. The Devils have two good forwards sitting in the press box, so if they can't turn it around today I'd expect some changes.
Recent posts