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The New Jersey Devils take on the New York Rangers tonight in what will be the third of a seven-game preseason schedule.
Here are five things to watch:
1. Following up
Michael McLeod needs to have a really good preseason for *any* chance of cracking the roster come October. He certainly started off on the right foot in Montreal. McLeod registered two points (one goal, one assist) while piling up five 5v5 shot contributions, which tied him for 2nd amongst Devils forwards.
He looked sharp, composed, and actually let plays develop rather than doing everything at top speed and playing out of structure.
The key now is building on that. McLeod can’t just have one or two good showings and hope to make the team. He needs to show up positively on film each time out, and it’s only going to get tougher to do so as preseason progresses and opponents dress better rosters.
2. A stiff test
The Devils are dressing four of their projected top-6 defenders and all six are expected to be on the final roster. It’s a good thing. Led by Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and super rookie Kaapo Kakko, the Rangers are icing a really competent lineup. The Devils didn’t face anywhere close to this level of talent against Boston or Montreal so this will be the first real test for the defense. We’ll see how they handle it.
3. Jesper Boqvist
I speculated prior to preseason that Boqvist would force his way onto the team if he was given quality linemates and real chance to showcase himself. Well, he’s getting that in spades. He fared very well in his debut playing alongside Travis Zajac and Jesper Bratt. Tonight, the quality of linemates is going up another couple of notches as he’s expected to skate on the top line with Nico Hischier and former KHL superstar Nikita Gusev. Boqvist couldn’t ask for a better opportunity. Now, he has to take advantage of it.
4. Bounce back efforts
Nathan Bastian was one of two players – Brandon Baddock being the other – not to record a single shot contribution at 5v5 vs Montreal. He wasn’t very good and needs to be much better.
The same can be said of defenseman Mirco Mueller. He was the only defender not to pick up a shot assist and the Devils were out-chanced 6-1 with him on the ice. Offense is hard for Mueller – and that’s fine! – but he can’t be on for more chances against per minute than any other defender as a defense-first guy.
5. Bad blood
Preseason or not, this is a rivalry game featuring a lot of players fighting for jobs. The intensity and tension is bound to be high. When you consider some of the aggressive players slated to dress – Miles Wood, John Hayden, and Baddock come to mind – it’d be surprising if there isn’t a bit of heat to this game.
Here are the projected lineups:
New Jersey
Nikita Gusev - Nico Hischier - Jesper Boqvist
Brett Seney - Mikhail Maltsev - Jesper Bratt
Miles Wood - Michael McLeod - Nathan Bastian
Brandon Baddock - Kevin Rooney - John Hayden
Will Butcher - Sami Vatanen
Ty Smith - Damon Severson
Mirco Mueller - Connor Carrick
Cory Schneider
Evan Cormier
New York
lineup via NYPost, will update with bottom two lines ASAP
Artemi Panarin - Mika Zibanejad - Kappo Kakko
Chris Krieder - Lias Andersson - Vitali Kravtsov
Brady Skjei - Jacob Trouba
Libor Hajek - Adam Fox
Brendan Smith - Brandon Crawley
Alex Georgiev
Igor Shesterkin
Puck drop is just after 7 p.m. and can be seen on MSG and MSG+.
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