The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (13-7-1) versus the Detroit Red Wings (13-8-1)
The Time: 7:00 PM ET
The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN
Back at Home
The New Jersey Devils are 7-0-1 at home this season, and today marks an awaited
return to home ice for the team. Coming off a three-game losing streak to finish the road trip, the Devils need to turn their fortunes around quickly if they want to hold onto a Divisional playoff spot. Just yesterday, the Islanders (who have played two more games) jumped the Devils for the second spot in the Metropolitan. Now, the Devils have to be on their game: Detroit currently leads the Atlantic with 27 standings points.
Detroit is still led by Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, and Lucas Raymond, but they do not have quite the same scoring depth as they did last season. Through 22 games, they rank 22nd in total goals for and 21st in goals against. Surely, they were hoping for better from their veteran goaltending tandem of Cam Talbot and John Gibson, but an .884 team save percentage is holding them back. So far, Gibson has started two more games, but Talbot has had to relieve him in two games, as Gibson has had a particularly rough start to the season. If Gibson can give them anything close to the .911 save percentage he had last season, the team would be in good shape. Talbot is coming off a four-game winning streak, but Gibson has lost his last five decisions.
Return of the Jersey Jersey for One Last Time
Today marks the first game of the 2025-26 season in which the Devils will be wearing their black “Jersey Jersey” alternates. Hopefully Jacob Markstrom, who should be starting tonight, won’t have any issues tracking the puck through the black pants and socks. As this will be the final season in which these jerseys are worn by the team, it would be nice to see the team perform at least close to as well as their record wearing their regular home jerseys.
Changes? Let Them Ride?
There may have been some frustration from fans regarding the line combinations that Sheldon Keefe has run over the last game or two. Having Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt on one line has made that top group more dangerous on offense. Unfortunately, none of the other lines look particularly threatening to score goals. Keefe could certainly split them up a bit to give a boost to other lines, especially now that he has the home advantage of last change.
I still remain more concerned about the bottom six. If both bottom six lines are total non-factors, it’s all too easy for opponents to put their toughest competition against the Hischier and Mercer lines. This is the problem with skill duplication in specialty roles: it would be nice to have one of Luke Glendening or Juho Lammikko in the lineup, but the team is going to have a lot of trouble getting depth scoring with them centering separate lines.
Injury Report
The Red Wings only have two injured players. Elmer Soderblom is currently on Injured Reserve with an undisclosed injury, while Simon Edvinsson has been day-to-day with an illness. Saturday was the first game of the season that Edvinsson, who is second on the team in ice time, missed. In response to the injury, Detroit has called up Erik Gustafsson. Gustafsson had 18 points in 60 games in third-pairing minutes for the Red Wings last season. If he is in for Edvinsson, expect a little more offensive skill from their blueliners at the expense of their in-zone coverage.
The Devils, of course, still have a lengthy list of injuries. Brett Pesce should be nearing his return, as it has been a bit over four weeks since his injury. Cody Glass has also been out for a bit over a week now with a week-to-week upper-body injury. If it turned out that either was ready to return, it would be huge for the Devils, who sorely miss both players. In the meantime, the Devils need to remember that their defense is not as skilled as usual, and it would be best to avoid east-west puck movement until they’re close to the opposing goal.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of today’s game? Will you be watching? Who do you think needs to step up today? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
