Game Preview: Devils Return Home to Host Capitals

The New Jersey Devils returned home from their four-game road trip collecting four of eight possible points.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that when they returned, they didn’t look the same as when they left. New Jersey lost their No.1 center, Jack Hughes, in a tilt against the Blues in St. Louis. That happened after they already were down Nico Hischier. Considering the circumstances, collecting half of the possible points on the table is pretty good.

Now we’ll see how they do on home ice without their leaders. The Washington Capitals roll into town having lost two of their last three contests. In their last tilt against the Florida Panthers, head coach Spender Carbury was pretty pointed in placing the blame on Evgeny Kuznetsov for not securing an extra point in overtime. We’ll see what kind of ripple effect that might have, if any.

Let’s dive into tonight’s Devils tilt with the Capitals.

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

Projected Devils Lineup

Ondrej Palat-Dawson Mercer-Timo Meier

Tyler Toffoli-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 Capitals Lineup

Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson

Sonny Milano-Evgeny Kuznetsov-T.J. Oshie

Aliaksei Protas-Connor McMichael-Anthony Mantha

Beck Malenstyn-Hanedrix Lapierre-Matthew Phillips

Martin Fehervary-John Carlson

Rasmus Sandin-Nick Jensen

Hardy Haman Aktell-Alexander Alexeyev

Darcy Kuemper

Charlie Lindgren

Last Game

Miles Wood and the Colorado Avalanche took advantage of a Devils team that lacked discipline and structure on Tuesday night. New Jersey’s league-leading power play scored twice on goals by Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton. However, the Devils couldn’t stave off a desperate Avalanche squad that seemingly had an answer to every goal by New Jersey. Mikko Rantanen scored twice and Wood potted a short-handed goal that highlighted Colorado’s 6-3 victory. Three goals in the third period allowed the Avalanche to pull away from the Devils late in the game. Vitek Vanecek made 26 saves on 31 shots.

Player to Watch

The Devils have needed to lean on Ondrej Palat in the absence of both Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. The 32-year-old veteran is still in search of his first goal, although the chances have certainly been there for No.18. However, he’s got four helpers on the season, including one in Tuesday night’s contest. As a result, Palat sits at 299 career assists and could hit 300 with a single helper tonight.

Devils vs. Capitals

Per the Devils PR, “The Devils and Washington face-off for the second time this season, after the Devils were defeated in the first meeting by a score of 6-4 on Oct. 25, at the Rock.

Remaining matchups:
Jan. 3, at WSH, 7:30 P.M.
Feb. 20, at WSH, 7:00 P.M.

New Jersey logged a 3-1-0 record vs Washington in 2022-23, which marked the first time since 2013-14 that the team won a season series vs the Caps.

ALL-TIME vs WSH

Record: 96-119-13-6
Home: 55-50-7-4
Road: 41-69-6-2

DID YOU KNOW…

The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs Washington is eight, which was logged by the Colorado Rockies on Oct. 28, 1977, in an 8-1 win vs Washington.

The most goals in Devils team history earned in a single game vs Washington is seven, twice, and last logged on Dec. 28, 2005, in a 7-2 win at Jersey.

The most goals that the franchise allowed in a single game vs Washington was nine, four times, and last recorded on Jan. 1, 1993, in a 9-2 loss at Washington.

The most shots that the franchise earned in a single game vs Washington was 47 on Jan. 20, 1989, in a 6-5 win at Washington.

The most shots that the franchise allowed in a single game vs Washington was 51 on Nov. 18, 1980, in a 7-1 loss at Washington.

The shots that the Devils (team history) allowed in a single game vs Washington was 47 on Apr. 10, 1993, in a 5-3 win at the Caps.

The last time that the Devils shut out Washington was on Oct. 11, 2018, in a 6-0 win (K. Kinkaid, 21 saves).

The last time that Washington shut out the Devils was on Mar. 26, 2021, in a 4-0 loss at Washington (I. Samsonov, 24 saves).

The Devils and Washington met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice, and last met in the postseason during the 1989-90 Division Semi-Finals – WSH eliminated NJD in six games.”

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
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.
Wed. Nov. 22, at DET, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Fri. Nov., 24, vs CBJ, 3:00 P.M. E.T.

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