Time: 7:00 PM EST
Place: Little Caesars Arena
TV: BSDET, MSGSN
Radio: WXYT-97.1 FM
Devils Blog: All About The Jersey
Detroit followed up a rough outing against Chicago by running over Anaheim on Sunday night. They look to keep the momentum rolling against New Jersey tonight and extend their season opening streak to six games without a regulation loss.
Detroit’s offseason additions have proven to be instrumental in their early season success. Kubalik, Perron, and Maatta have all been big contributors on the scoresheet already. Chiarot has brought an element of toughness on the back end that has given this team an edge they previously hadn’t had in quite some time.
We’ll see if Copp joins the flurry of productivity from the new guys tonight. While he’s been an effective player in 5 games as a Red Wing, he’s contributed only 2 assists to his stat line so far. But looking at his play behind those numbers he’s done well feeding Lucas Raymond since being put on the same line. It seems like these two are a bounce away from opening the floodgates.
Likewise Moritz Seider is playing well but it’s likely eating at him that he’s only had 1 point so far this season after his Calder campaign. Similar to Raymond, he’s been playing well and the points should follow soon.
The Devils have started the season 3-3-0 which may seem pedestrian, but if not for poor goaltending would likely be among the best clubs early in the season. They are coming off a 6-3 loss to Washington last night giving Detroit an opponent on the second half of back to back games. But New Jersey should not be underestimated as they own an eye-opening high danger scoring chance percentage of 74.7%, leading the league. The Devils have generally dominated play in their games but can’t buy a save from their goalie. The Devils cumulative save percentage is .868, 28th in the league.
The man to watch from New Jersey right now is Jesper Bratt, with 9 points in 6 games this season. Nico Hischier has also had an effective start to his season with 6 points in 5 games. Jack Hughes can always be dangerous as he looks to build on his terrific production from last season. From the back end, Dougie Hamilton remains a constant threat as well as he leads the New Jersey blue line group.
With Husso getting the start against the Ducks on Sunday, it’s expected that Nedeljkovic will get the start tonight as the two continue their alternating schedule for now. For the Devils, expect to see Vanecek get the start as Blackwood started last night before getting pulled when he gave up 5 goals on 18 shots, perfectly demonstrating where the Devils’ problems lie right now.
The story of this game could well end up being that the Devils tilt the ice towards Detroit’s end all night like they have with most teams, but Detroit stays in the game by capitalizing on their chances and getting timely saves from their goaltending.
