The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (5-4-0) versus the Anaheim Ducks (4-5-0)
The Time: 7:00 PM EDT
The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN/DAZN Streaming; Radio — Devils Hockey Network
Tired Ducks
While the New Jersey Devils have had an easy travel schedule over the last several days, the Anaheim Ducks have been making their way around the Metropolitan Division this week. They have lost four games in a row, scoring two in each loss, and they left Anaheim after their last home loss to Boston on Friday, October 16 before losing
to the Rangers and Islanders on back-to-back nights on Monday and Tuesday. Now, with their third game in four days, the Ducks look to stop the bleeding against the Devils. They should be a little tired, but I would expect some sort of desperation out of them so that they don’t go 0-3 in the first three games of their four-game trip. After tonight’s game, they have the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon.
The big issue for Anaheim is that they are a very top-heavy team. After making the playoffs last season, they seem to have taken a step back without Mason McTavish, Chris Kreider, and Jacob Trouba, while Troy Terry has yet to play a game after getting hip surgery last season. However, Terry is traveling with the team. For now, though, the Ducks’ main scoring threats come from their top forwards in Leo Carlsson (11 points in 9 games played), Mikael Granlund (8 in 8 GP), Beckett Sennecke (5 goals), and Cutter Gauthier along with top defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who has seven points through this point of the season. Defensively, Anaheim gives up over three goals a game with a team save percentage of .882 between Lukas Dostal and Ville Husso. Per PostHockey, this is largely well-deserved with their 44.4 expected goals percentage in all situations, as they have struggled to alleviate the losses of Trouba and Olen Zellweger in the offseason.
(Side note: what is Pat Verbeek doing? Was avoiding Zellweger’s $3.1M contract really worth Anton Wahlberg and the second-round pick they got for him?)
So far, the Devils have outshot nine out of nine opponents. It should be well within their reach to make it 10 tonight.
The Fourth Line Without Lombardi
Per Natural Stat Trick, Amadeus Lombardi is sixth among all Devils skaters in Corsi for percentage (63.80), though perhaps unsurprisingly near the bottom of the team in xGF% at a still well above-average 57.72. Still, for a fourth-liner, Lombardi has been very good to start the season, driving offense up the wings. With the return of Connor Brown, however, Lombardi was an odd man out in the Devils’ fantastic win over the Colorado Avalanche. It was a great game for the team, but the fourth line was a little off its usual performance. When playing as a full group, the Boqvist-Glass-Brown line only generated one shot and only allowed one shot for a whopping 0.0 expected goals for and 0.03 expected goals against. Compared to previous games for fourth-line center Cody Glass, this was by far the quietest night for that group.
Connor Brown is certainly staying in the lineup, but I think it’s worth asking if someone ought to come out for Lombardi. With Dawson Mercer moving back down to the third line after some good games with Hischier and Meier, the third line did not have their best game with a goal against and a 24.07 xGF%, though it was stated in advance that Anthony Mantha was sick and played through an illness. Playing an all-right-handed third line might not be exactly what Sheldon Keefe wants, but moving Brown up to that line and swapping Mantha out of the lineup so Lombardi can play again with the fourth line may be best for the team right now. Mantha, who is near the bottom of the team’s everyday players in total point production with just one goal and one assist in nine games, does not seem to be at his best — and the decision to play Evangelista through his illness forced him to sit out a few more games than would have been necessary if he just rested in the first place.
Anaheim is a team that should be easy to take advantage of in matchups. By bringing the fourth line that helped set the tone against several teams after Jesper Boqvist was first inserted to the lineup, I think the Devils could be able to eventually take minutes off the top six tonight if they get a lead in the first half of the game. Remember: they have an afternoon game on Saturday, so it would be good for the team to get ahead early and rest their top players down the stretch after their effort against Colorado a couple days ago.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of tonight’s game? Do you think Nico Daws will get his start of the week? Do you think Keefe will change the lineup again? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and thanks for reading.
