New Jersey Devils

Game Preview: Devils Visit Blue Closing Out Back-to-Back Games

Coming off a 5-3 win in Minnesota, the Devils face the Blues tonight in St. Louis.

Published

7 months ago

November 3, 2023

I mean, this power play is something else, huh? The New Jersey Devils (6-2-1) come into tonight’s contest against the St. Louis Blues (3-4-1) with the No.1 ranked man advantage in the NHL. They’re converting at a ridiculous 44.7%. That’s 17 power-play goals on 38 opportunities. As of Friday morning, the Blues’ penalty kill comes in the middle of the pack, ranked 15th in the NHL at 78.3%. Let’s dive further into the Devils contest in St. Louis tonight.

Time: 8:00 PM Watch/Stream: MSGSN/MSG+ Listen: DEVILS HOCKEY NET

Projected Devils Lineup

Tyler Toffoli-Jack Hughes-Timo Meier

Ondrej Palatr-Michael McLeod-Jesper Bratt

Dawson Mercer-Erik Haula-Curtis Lazar

Alexander Holtz-Chris Tierney-Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler-Dougie Hamilton

Kevin Bahl-John Marino

Brendan Smith-Luke Hughes

Akira Schmid

Vitek Vanecek

Projected Blues Lineup

Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Kasperi Kapanen

Brandon Saad-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Jakub Vrana-Kevin Hayes-Jake Neighbours

Alexi Toropchenko-Oskar Sundqvist-Samy Blais

Marco Scandella-Colton Parayko

Torey Krug-Justin Faulk

Nick Leddy-Tyler Tucker

Jordan Binnington

Joe Hofer

Last Game

The power-play stayed red-hot with goals from Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, and Dougie Hamilton. Alexander Holtz and Michael McLeod added even-strength tallies en route to New Jersey’s 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 of the 25 pucks he faced. It was a four-point effort for Bratt who recorded a goal and three assists, three of four points on the man advantage. McLeod, filling in for the injured Nico Hischier, has stepped into some big shoes seamlessly as one of the Devils’ best forwards over the last two games.

Player to Watch

Michael McLeod has been excellent filling in for the injured Nico Hischier on the second line. According to Natural Stat Trick, McLeod ranks:

CF% – 1st
xGF% – 3rd
HDCF% – 4th
xGF/60 – 2nd
HDCF/60 – 2nd
HDGF/60 – 2nd

He registered a goal in last night’s contest vs. the Wild. He’s seamlessly fit in the middle of Bratt and Palat. Look for him to turn in another strong effort tonight in St. Louis. McLeod won 10 of 12 (83.3%) of faceoffs against Minnesota on Thursday. He currently ranks sixth in the NHL winning 61.8% of draws.

Devils vs. Blues

Per the Devils PR, “The Devils and St. Louis Blues face-off for the first of two matchups this season. New Jersey recorded a 0-2-0 record against the Blues last season.

The Blues were one of four teams (BOS, MIN & NSH) that the Devils did not defeat in 202-23.

The last time that the Devils won a regular-season series against St. Louis was in 2021-22 (2-0-0).

ALL-TIME vs THE BLUES

Record: 40-58-14-4
Home: 25-24-7-2
Road: 15-34-7-2

DID YOU KNOW…

The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs the Blues is nine, which was earned by the Colorado Rockies on Apr. 1, 1979, in a 9-5 win.

The most goals that the Devils earned in team history (since 1982-83) vs the Blues is eight, which was earned on Mar. 24, 1988, in an 8-2 win at St. Louis.

The most goals that the franchise allowed in a single game vs the Blues is nine, which was earned in a 9-4 win on Dec. 13, 1980, vs
CLR.

The most goals that the Devils allowed in team history (since 1982-83) vs the Blues is eight (3 times), which was last logged on Feb. 12, 2019, after an 8-3 loss at St. Louis.

The most shots that Jersey earned in a single game vs S. Louis is 42, which was logged on Feb. 6, 1992, at St. Louis in a 4-1 loss.

The most shots that the Devils allowed vs the Blues is 57, which was recorded on Mar. 10, 1984, in a 6-5 loss at St. Louis.

The last time the Devils shut out the Blues was on Dec. 10, 2002, at the Meadowlands in a 2-0 victory (M. Brodeur, 28 saves).

The last time St. Louis shut out the Devils was on Feb. 18, 2020, in a 3-0 loss at St. Louis (J. Binnington, 17 saves).”