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| NEW JERSEY DEVILS |
| 5–3–0 (10 points) |
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2:00 P.M. – SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30 PRUDENTIAL CENTER NEWARK, NJ |
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Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ (Out of Market) |
It's Sunday afternoon hockey for the first time this season, as the Columbus Blue Jackets have a 2:00 p.m. puck-drop against the New Jersey Devils to close the weekend.
Both teams were involved in shutouts in their last game — the Blue Jackets were blanked at home in a 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins, while the Devils lone goal was good enough for two points in a rare 1-0 shutout over the Colorado Avalanche.
The Avalanche stayed in the New York City metro area after the game Friday, as they'll join the Blue Jackets in Tampere, Finland for the NHL's Global Series. The two teams will play Friday and Saturday from the hometown of Patrik Laine. Both games are scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start.
| CBJ | SEASON STATS | NJD |
|---|---|---|
| 2.78 | GOALS FOR | 3.00 |
| 4.11 | GOALS AGAINST | 2.75 |
| 0.0% | POWER PLAY | 17.4% |
| 82.8% | PENALTY KILL | 92.6% |
| 30.7 | SHOTS FOR | 37.6 |
| 32.4 | SHOTS AGAINST | 21.8 |
| 46.6% | CF% (EVEN) | 62.0% |
| 49.7% | FACEOFF % | 56.8% |
| PROJECTIONS | ||
| ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK | 28.2% | |
| ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER THE 538 | 44.0% | |
| CAESAR'S SPORTSBOOK BETTING | NJ -205 | |
| DEVILS: LAST THREE GAMES | ||
| MON, 10/24 | vs WASHINGTON | L, 6-3 |
| TUE, 10/25 | @ DETROIT | W, 6-2 |
| FRI, 10/28 | vs COLORADO | W, 1-0 |
| DEVILS: TEAM LEADERS | ||
| GOALS |
JESPER BRATT, JACK HUGHES, DAWSON MERCER, ONDREJ PALAT, NICO HISCHIER |
3 |
| ASSISTS | JESPER BRATT | 10 |
| POINTS | JESPER BRATT | 13 |
TALKING POINTS: DEVILS
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New Jersey, like so many others in the Metro division (quite literally every team but the Blue Jackets), is off to a strong start. After 5-2 losses in each of their first two games, the Devils have won five out of six and have given up more than two goals only once in that span.
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Only Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl has more assists to start the season than the Devils' Jesper Bratt. He has 10 of them (Draisaitl has 12, but gets to play on a line with some guy named Connor) through New Jersey's first eight games, and all but two of those assists have been the primary helper. When Bratt has the puck, good things happen for the Devils.
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No team has a better shot differential than the Devils, and it's not even close. They're averaging 37.6 shots per game, second most in the league and trailing only the Florida Panthers. They're allowing just 21.8 shots per game, tops in the league by a wide margin (the Seattle Kraken rank second at 26.1). That's a difference of 15.8 shots per game — the next best team in that category (the Florida Panthers) is at 10.9. In five-on-five play, it's even more astounding: Their 252 shots on goal leads the league, and their 120 shots allowed also leads the league.
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The Devils placed forward Ondrej Palat on injured reserve Saturday after missing the last two games with a lower body injury. At just under 19 minutes a game, Palat was seeing top line minutes and was on the first power play unit.
- Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. But Vitek Vanecek, who shut out the Colorado Avalanche in Newark Friday night, has been the better of the Devils goalie rotation so far. He's sitting at a 2.40 goals against average and .889 save percentage, compared to Blackwood's 2.81 and .871 numbers in the same categories.
STORYLINES
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JIRICEK WATCH
The Blue Jackets top pick of the 2022 NHL Draft debuted Friday and will draw into the lineup again Sunday. Jiricek started with Vladislav Gavrikov Friday, but by the third period was on the top pairing with Zach Werenski. That might not have happened had the game not been decided by that point in favor of the Bruins, but Jiricek held his own in game number one and despite being just 18 years old, used his size and strength to his advantage.
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WHO'S IN NET?
Joonas Korpisalo made 38 saves in a 4-2 win for the Cleveland Monsters in his conditioning assignment Saturday night. It's worth noting that the Monsters were down a man on both goals. Korpisalo is expected to rejoin the team Sunday and while he won't start against the Devils, it's time for at least one of Elvis Merzlikins, Daniil Tarasov, or Korpisalo to step up and be the number one guy. As of early Sunday morning, no starting goaltender for Sunday has been announced; if it's Tarasov, it could be his final start in Columbus for the time being pending a phenomenal performance. He's still just 23 years old and could benefit from a little more time to hone his craft with the Monsters.
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RECORD-BREAKERS
They're now 0-for-23 on the power play, and it won't get any easier Sunday. The Devils rank third in the league on the penalty kill, having killed 25 of the opposition's 27 power play chances. One of the two teams better than New Jersey's 96.3% penalty kill? The Blue Jackets opponent Friday night, the Boston Bruins. That power play goal will come, one day. Maybe.PROJECTED LINES*
Updated: 7:05a.m.
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Johnny Gaudreau | 96 | Jack Roslovic | 29 | Patrik Laine |
| 59 | Yegor Chinakhov | 34 | Cole Sillinger | 93 | Jakub Voracek |
| 14 | Gus Nyquist | 38 | Boone Jenner | 91 | Kent Johnson |
| 50 | Eric Robinson | 7 | Sean Kuraly | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 2 | Andrew Peeke |
| 4 | Vladislav Gavrikov | 55 | David Jiricek |
| 22 | Jake Bean | 44 | Erik Gudbranson |
| Starting Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Daniil Tarasov | 70 | Elvis Merzlikins |
*SUBJECT TO CHANGE
