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Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the New York Rangers:
1. A stiff test
The Miles Wood, Travis Zajac, Blake Coleman trio has been fantastic since John Hynes put it together. They've controlled 54% of the attempts and 53% of the chances at 5v5 despite often times taking on tough competition, particularly on home ice.
Assuming that's the case again tonight, they'll have their hands full against New York's top line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Mats Zuccarello.
In 100 minutes together, they've out-scored opponents 12-5 (12 goals in that amount of time is insane) while dominating in terms of shot attempts and chances. They're really, really good.
It's going to be fun watching these two trios duke it out.
2. Something to build on
Keith Kinkaid is coming off one of his best performances in months. Though he handed the Penguins a goal with a misplay while handling the puck, he still conceded only three times despite facing 40 shots and 15 high-danger chances against a team featuring plenty of high-end talent. That's an effort you happily take 10 times out of 10.
The key for Kinkaid now is following it up with another good showing, which he'll need to provide in order for the Devils to win tonight. They've bled shots of late and Sami Vatanen's absence surely won't help matters. I think he'll be tested early and often.
3. Exposing Mirco Mueller
Mueller started the season fairly well, especially given expectations. He's been in and out of the lineup for months now, though, and rightfully so. Since the middle of November (the 17th, to be exact), eight defenders have logged at least 150 5v5 minutes for the Devils. Mueller has a 33.33 Goals For% and 42.70 Scoring Chance For% during that span, both of which rank him last by a wide margin. With Vatanen out of the lineup, he is expected to play a top-4 role. There's not much reason to be optimistic it'll end well.
4. Kyle Palmieri's struggles
His 5v5 performance has really fallen off a cliff of late. Over the last nine games, Palmieri has recorded just one point in that game state. That's fewer than guys like Pavel Zacha, Brett Seney, and Drew Stafford. Making matters worse is the Devils have been out-scored 6-3 with him on the ice during that stretch (before anyone jumps on Nico Hischier, he has four points and a minus-1 goal differential at 5v5 over the last nine games). That's simply not good enough. Perhaps a date against the Rangers, who have struggled defensively at 5v5 all year long, is just what Palmieri needs to get going.
5. New York's PP vs New Jersey's PK
If there is one area of the game the Rangers are above average in, it's the power play. They rank a very respectable 12th in Goals/60 and sit 6th in Expected Goals/60 – ahead of teams like Calgary, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay – so they're clearly quite capable of creating chances. It'll be interesting to see what they're able to muster up against a stingy New Jersey penalty kill that ranks 3rd in Expected Goals Against/60.
Here are the projected lineups.
New Jersey Devils
Miles Wood - Travis Zajac - Blake Coleman
Marcus Johansson - Nico Hischier - Kyle Palmieri
Brett Seney - Pavel Zacha - Jesper Bratt
Brian Boyle - Kevin Rooney - Drew Stafford
Andy Greene - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Mirco Mueller
Egor Yakovlev - Steve Santini
Keith Kinkaid
New York (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey - Kevin Hayes - Jesper Fast
Filip Chytil - Ryan Strome - Vladislav Namestnikov
Cody McLeod - Bo Nieves - Pavel Buchnevich
Marc Staal - Neal Pionk
Brendan Smith - Kevin Shattenkirk
Brady Skjei - Adam McQuaid
Henrik Lundqvist
Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on MSG and MSG+.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and Corsica.Hockey
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