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Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the Columbus Blue Jackets:
1. Pace, pace, pace
Last time out the Devils took on another top-5 xG pace team in the Maple Leafs. High-event hockey was expected and certainly delivered. Though the game was one-sided, the two sides combined to score nine 5v5 goals. Nine!
While the Blue Jackets' xG pace isn't quite as high as either side, they are one of six teams with a total above 5.0 per 60.
I'm sure John Hynes and co. would like to tighten things up and slow the game down after what happened against Toronto. I'm skeptical that will happen.
2. Fighting fire with fire
Update: Marcus Johansson will replace Taylor Hall on the top line.
Artemi Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Cam Atkinson have quietly performed at an elite level. They've been on the ice for 23 Blue Jackets goals at 5v5, which is the 3rd highest total in the NHL – behind only the Nathan MacKinnon line and John Tavares line. Suffice to say, they're an elite offensive trio. What's interesting is they usually see quite a bit of the opponent's top line. It just so happens the Devils have an elite unit of their own in Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, and Kyle Palmieri.
Should they see plenty of each other, as expected, two of the league's top top-7 lines in terms of scoring efficiency will be duking it out.
3. An underrated sniper
This game also features one of the game's most under-appreciated scorers in Josh Anderson. He piles up shots at a very high clip and is quite capable of filling the net. Since the beginning of 2017-18, Anderson ranks 27th averaging 1.10 goals per 60 at 5v5. That total bests the likes of Sean Monahan, David Pastrnak, Alex DeBrincat, Vladimir Tarasenko, Phil Kessel, and Jack Eichel, as well as plenty of other marquee scorers. Anderson will make you pay if you give him too much room to shoot.
4. Power (less) plays
If you like watching quality power plays, this is probably not the game for you. The Devils rank 26th in shot attempts/60, 22nd in xGF/60, and have put together some *really* ugly performances.
As horrendous as the Devils have played at times, the Blue Jackets are the worse team while up a man. They rank 28th in shot attempts/60 and 26th in xGF/60. They've scored just once over the last six games and have only two multi-goal performances all year (for perspective, the Devils have four).
I wouldn't count on the power plays factoring in a ton in this one.
5. Mackenzie Blackwood
The wheels have really fallen off for Keith Kinkaid. He has posted a sub .910 save percentage in eight of his last 10 starts and owns a .878SV% during that stretch. The defense has played far from great but Kinkaid hasn't done much to help his cause. As such, the Devils have elected to give Blackwood his 1st career start. He was pretty good, though unlucky, in the 3rd period last time out and the Devils are hoping he can become the goalie of the future. This will be his first real chance to show why.
Here are the projected lineups.
New Jersey Devils
Marcus Johansson - Nico Hischier - Kyle Palmieri
Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - Blake Coleman
Miles Wood - Pavel Zacha - John Quenneville
Brian Boyle - Brett Seney - Jesper Bratt
Sami Vatanen - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Andy Greene - Steven Santini
Mackenzie Blackwood
Columbus (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Oliver Bjorkstrand - Boone Jenner - Josh Anderson
Nick Foligno - Alexander Wennberg - Anthony Duclair
Markus Hannikainen - Brandon Dubinsky - Riley Nash
Ryan Murray - Seth Jones
Zach Werenski - David Savard
Scott Harrington - Markus Nutivaara
Sergei Bobrovsky
Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on MSG and FS-O.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and Corsica.Hockey
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