Game Preview: Wounded Devils Visit Blackhawks

The New Jersey Devils are limping into Chicago to face the Blackhawks.

Jack Hughes took a nasty spill on Friday and hit the boards below the goal line following a scoring chance on Jordan Binnington. His status is unknown at the moment, however, the Devils have recalled center Max Willman to meet New Jersey in Chicago. That may or may not be indicative of Hughes’ health.

This is all while New Jersey is already missing captain Nico Hischier. The Devils appear to be without their first and second-line centers at least for Sunday.

Let’s dive into tonight’s contest against the Blackhawks.

Time: 7:00 PM      Watch/Stream: MSGSN/MSG+      Listen: DEVILS HOCKEY NET

Projected Devils Lineup

Tyler Toffoli-Dawson Mercer-Timo Meier

Ondrej Palat-Michael McLeod-Jesper Bratt

Max Willman-Erik Haula-Curtis Lazar

Alexander Holtz-Chris Tierney-Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler-Dougie Hamilton

Kevin Bahl-John Marino

Brendan Smith-Luke Hughes

Vitek Vanecek

Akira Schmid

Projected Blackhawks Lineup

Nick Foligno-Connor Bedard-Philipp Kurashev

Lukas Reichel-Andreas Athanasiou-Taylor Raddysh

Taylor Hall-Jason Dickinson-Tyler Johnson

Ryan Donato-Mackenzie Entwistle-Corey Perry

Kevin Korchinski-Seth Jones

Jarred Tinordi-Connor Murphy

Wyatt Kaiser-Nikita Zaitsev

Arvid Soderblom

Petr Mrazek

Last Game

After the Devils lost Hughes to injury early in the first period, New Jersey turned in an uninspired effort. The Devils only received one power play and didn’t convert on their biggest strength. A pair of goals in the second period by Jake Neighbors and Kevin Hayes gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead. Curtis Lazar struck back in the same period, however, Binnington and the Blues locked it down in the third adding two empty-net goals. Akira Schmid made 31 saves on 33 shots for New Jersey while Binnington collected 33 saves on 34 shots.

Player to Watch

With one brother down, another just might have to step up. Luke Hughes is at the top of the rookie scoring race, tied for second with seven points. Bobby Brink and Logan Cooley are tied for first with eight. The Devils rookie defenseman’s four-game point streak was snapped on Friday. However, leading the Devils power play as the first defenseman deployed on the man advantage, look for Hughes to help New Jersey get back on track against Chicago.

Devils vs. Blackhawks

Per the Devils’ PR, “The Devils and Chicago face-off for the first of two matchups this season.

New Jersey recorded a 2-0-0 record vs Chicago last season, which marked the first time since 2017-18 that the team swept Chicago in a regular-season series.

The Devils are 9-5-4 against Chicago since 2013-14, and 4-4-1 on the road against the Blackhawks since that time.

ALL-TIME vs THE WINDY CITY

Record: 46-46-21-6
Home: 28-17-11-4
Road: 18-29-10-2

DID YOU KNOW…

The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs Chicago is eight, three times, and last logged on Jan. 14, 2019, vs Chicago at the Rock.

The most goals that the franchise allowed in a single game vs Chicago is 10, which was logged in a 10-0 loss at Chicago on Nov. 15, 1981.

The most goals that the Devils allowed in team history (since 1982-83) vs Chicago is eight, which was logged on Feb. 25, 2022, at Chicago in an 8-5 loss.

The most shots that the franchise earned in a single game vs Chicago is 45 in a 4-4 tie at Chicago on Apr. 5, 1978. The most shots that the Devils earned in a single game since 1982-83 is 44, after a 7-1 win on Dec. 23, 2019, at Chicago.

The most shots that the franchise allowed vs the Blackhawks is 56, which was recorded on Jan. 17, 1979 at Chicago in a 2-1 loss (CLR).

The most shots that the Devils allowed in a single game vs Chicago since 1982-83 is 50, after a 5-3 loss at Chicago on Nov. 23, 1986.

The last time the Devils shut out Chicago was on Dec. 6, 2022, after a 3-0 win at the Rock (V. Vanecek, 24 saves).

The last time Chicago shut out the Devils was on Dec. 31, 1995, after a 5-0 loss at Chicago in a 5-0 loss.”

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Tue. Nov. 7, at COL, 10:00 P.M. E.T.
Fri. Nov. 10, vs WSH, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Tue. Nov. 14, at WPG, 8:00 P.M. E.T.
Thu. Nov, 16, at PIT, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Sat. Nov. 18, vs NYR, 7:00 P.M. E.T.

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