- The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (18-14-1) @ Las Vegas Knights (16-6-9)
- The Time: 10:00pm EST
- The Broadcast: TNT, Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
On a snowy Sunday New Jersey afternoon, the Devils lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1. The game was the 2nd of 2 back to back weekend afternoon home games in New Jersey for the Devils. The overall weekend results were not horrible. The team split the back to back games with a win on Saturday and a loss on Sunday. In the larger picture though, the Devils now have 2 wins in their last 9 games and only 5 wins in their last 15. To be blunt, the plane has crashed into the mountain for the Devils recently.
The Devils continued to struggle with their penalty kill on Sunday. The PK let up 2 power play goals, less than 6 minutes apart in the 1st period. Both goals came before the halfway point of the 1st period. Luke Hughes scored his 3rd goal of the season, early in the 2nd period to make the game interesting (at least on paper) to make it 2-1. However, the 2 power goals were all Vancouver would need as they went on to win 2-1.
Jacob “I’m Not an NHL Goalie Anymore” Markstrom did something rare (for him) on Sunday and let up less than 3 goals. However, he did let up 2 goals on 15 shots, to post a SV% of .867. Somehow, even letting up 2 goals, the man found a way to perform lower than his already horrendous season SV% of .874. I don’t want to place all the blame on Mr. Time to Retire. As bad as he is, he gave the team a chance to win on Sunday. When your PK can’t stop a 5 year old trying to score with a beach ball, and you can only manage 1 goal, it’s hard to blame it all on the goalie. Considering this team is currently made up of a mixture of only a few real NHL players, a bunch of players that are washed up and some spare parts, I don’t think the recent results are really that surprising.
Last Knights Game
On Saturday, The Knights defeated Columbus 3-2 in Ohio. The win was their second in a row, and the last game of a 5 game road trip. Charlie Coyle struck first less than 10 minutes into the 1st period for Columbus who ended the period up 1-0. Vegas scored less than a minute into the 2nd period and the teams started the 3rd period tied 1-1. Columbus regained the lead less than 5 minutes into the 3rd period. However, Vegas answered back a little less than a minute later and then again about 8 minutes later to take the lead 3-2 before winning in regulation.
Vegas, unlike the Devils, are on a little bit of a hot streak. The team captured 9 out of a possible 10 points on their 5 game road trip, with their only loss coming in OT to the Islanders on 12/9. Also, while it is only December 17th, Vegas has not yet lost in regulation this month.
Carter Hart won his 3rd game of the season and currently sits at 3-0-1 along with a 2.61 GAA and a .900 SV%. Must be nice. Hart has been alternating (for the most part) the starts with Akira Schmid since he joined the team. As of this writing, the official starter has not yet been named, but considering Schmid shut out the Devils in their last game back on 12/5, perhaps the Knights run him back tonight to see if he can make it 2 in a row against his former team.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
The Devils did have practice on Tuesday, however there was no mention of the starting goalie for tonight. Jacob Markstrom did start the last game, so perhaps Keefe goes back to Allen tonight. Perhaps not. I would expect an update on this at some point today.
There were other updates on the lineup, injury timelines, etc., from Amanda Stein on Tuesday during and after practice. Per Stein, Pesce practiced on Tuesday and will travel with the team to Vegas. When Keefe was asked if he would play tonight, Keefe responded with the quote below. It’s not really a direct answer, but I will take this to mean Pesce will be playing tonight.
In other injury news, all per Amanda Stein on Tuesday:
- Johnathan Kovacevic – “Do not expect him until some time in the New Year, which continues to align with the initial timeline.”
- Jack Hughes – “HC Sheldon Keefe says that Jack is far enough away from a return that he doesn’t really get daily updates, as he’s that far out from rejoining. No surprise with this news as it continues to align with the original timeline.”
- Simon Nemec – “Sounds like Simon Nemec will be out until at least the holiday break. HC Keefe says they’ll have a better idea of his recovery in about two weeks and what the next step is for him.”
- Arseny Gritsyuk – “…will not travel with the NJDevils to Vegas and Utah…that would account for the (Nathan) Legare call-up.”
Grimace’s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In this case, Grimace is trying his best to be just like the New Jersey Devils. He came out with a hot start and now sadly sits at a pathetic .500 with his predictions. I told him if he keeps this up, I’m going to sell him at a yard sale. He swears they will win tonight, so we shall see. I hope so, for his sake.
Grimace’s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 9-9-0.
Your Take
I’ve said for many years, I can accept a loss. I can accept many losses. When a team is playing well, doing their best, and they lose, so be it. It happens. Even the best teams lose. All I ask is the Devils give their best effort tonight (and every night). There is still a lot of hockey left and the season is definitely not even close to being over, officially. However the team has to right the ship and soon, or I fear we will be looking at another lost season. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!
In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris – thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my brand new podcast on here, if any of you are interested in listening. We have a light hearted, fun discussion about any movies, music or video games mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. Please feel free to listen to us on any of the formats below and any feedback is welcome (positive and negative). Also, please follow us and subscribe, even if you think we stink. 🙂
