Devils Game Day Debrief

 

                                       Photos by Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
Devils vs. Tampa

The Devils face off against the Lightning tonight with both teams are coming off their biggest wins of the season. The boys in red will be looking to atone for the brutal 8-5 loss the Lightning handed them at the Rock in late October. Since that game, the Devils have gone on to win seven of their last eleven games averaging 3.63 goals for per game and 2.18 goals against per game. In that same period, the Lightning have won four of their last nine with a goal for per game of 3.00 and goals against per game of 2.88. From the start of the season the Devils have been putting up goals each game but the significant improvement in goals against has come from an improvement in goaltending and players like Pesce & Luke coming back from injury.

Lookback

The game in October had everything from the powerplay goals, terrible calls, and Tampa off a crazy bounce, it was on the boys needed to forget. When it came to 5b5 action that night, Tampa completely dominated us. Our 4^th line was the only one who provided a x Goals % of over 35% and not allowing a goal against. While all the other lines got out worked, our third line of Cotter-Haula-Noesen was out there for two goals against and an xGoal % of 20.3%. When it came to the defensive pairings, their fate was no different, Seigs-Kovechkin put up the best numbers with a 53.8% xGoals % in nineteen minutes of ice time while the pairings of Dillon-Dougie & Nemec-Misyul struggles. This forced Keefe to switch up the lines and the Dougie-Misyul line greatly improved their play while Dillon-Nemec continued to struggle. The biggest dagger to this game was Jake Allens play, he allowed 3.32 goals above expected. With our two early goals in the third period, all we asked for was one big save to keep us in the game, but it was something we never got.

 **The refs blew multiple calls in the third that led directly to Tampa 7^th goal that killed any type of comeback**

Keys to Success Tonight

The switch of Noesen to the first line and Mercer to the third has done wonders for the recent puck dominance. The style of play between Noesen, Meier, and Nico complements each other well and have allowed them to score goals from individual skill and from their gritty forecheck. I would like to continue to see this line dominate in the offensive zone and score hard noised goals tonight.

On the back end, it will be the continued excellent play of Hughes & Pesce. They were greatly missed in the first matchup and have been playing amazing hockey as of late. I would like to see Luke increase his offensive involvement, but the strides have made in his defensive game are noticeable.

The way our offense has been playing recently, in goal we just need to not let in any softies. For Markstrom personally, I want to see him catch more of the pucks that have been falling out of his glove and to play in the mid depth of the crease.

Predictions

The Devils will sweep this Florida road trip with a 4-2 win with Markstrom making around 28-30 saves, Jack having another multi point effort and Meier getting the GWG.