Devils Game Preview vs. Bruins: Game Notes, How to Watch, Projected Lines, & More

It’s Devils game night as New Jersey is set to play host to the Boston Bruins.

New Jersey has been off of game action for the last two days which seemingly allowed veteran forward Erik Haula to effectively recover. He was a full participant in Tuesday’s morning skate and is likely to return to the lineup tonight.

Former Devil Pavel Zacha has been ruled out with an upper-body injury. Jesper Boqvist, another former Devil, is on recall with Boston and although he didn’t place in the projected lineup, he has a chance to draw in against his former club.

Let’s dive into tonight’s Devils game against the Bruins.

How to Watch

Time: 07:30 PM      Watch/Stream: TNT/MAX/MSGSN/MSG+      Listen: DEVILS HOCKEY NET

Projected Devils Lineup

Forwards

Tyler Toffoli – Jack Hughes – Timo Meier

Ondrej Palat – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt

Erik Haula– Dawson Mercer – Alexander Holtz

Curtis Lazar – Michael McLeod – Nathan Bastian

Defensemen

Jonas Siegenthaler – Simon Nemec

Kevin Bahl – John Marino

Luke Hughes – Colin Miller

Goaltenders

Akira Schmid

Vitek Vanecek

Projected Bruins Lineup

Forwards

Jake DeBrusk – Morgan Geekie – David Pastrnak

Brad Marchand – Charlie Coyle – Trent Frederic

James van Riemsdyk– Matthew Poitras – Donton Heinen

Jakub Lauko – John Beecher – Oskar Steen

Defensemen

Hampus Lindholm – Ian MItchell

Matt Grzelcyk – Brandon Carlo

Mason Lohrei – Kevin Shattenkirk

Goaltenders

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ullmark

Last Game

The Devils couldn’t quite complete the sweep on the road as the Edmonton Oilers spoiled New Jersey’s chances to do so on Sunday. The Oilers scored one goal in each of the three periods of play on the sticks of Derek Ryan, Evan Bouchard, and Connor McDavid. Jesper Bratt attempted to mount the comeback quickly striking back after Edmonton’s early third-period goal. However, the Oilers locked it down defensively as Calvin Pickard kept the Devils off the board, and Evander Kane buried the empty-net goal, securing the 4-1 victory for Edmonton. Akira Schmid was strong despite the loss. He made 26 saves,

Player to Watch

Heading into tonight on a five-game point streak, Jesper Bratt is tonight’s player to watch having scored four goals and three assists dating back to Dec. 1st. The Swedish forward has four goals and nine points in 20 career games against the Bruins. Bratt is also one of six skaters in the NHL with 16, or more, power-play points in 2023-24. He accrued 22 power-play points in all of last season.

Devils vs. Bruins

According to the Devils’ PR, “The Devils and Boston face-off for the first of three matchups in 2023-24:

Next: at Boston, Dec. 30, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
At Boston, Jan. 15, 1:00 P.M. E. T.

The Devils were 0-3-0 against Boston last season. The Bruins were one of four teams that New Jersey failed to defeat in 2022-23 (MIN, STL, NSH) and the only Eastern Conference opponent that the Devils did not earn a win against last season.

The last time that the Devils earned a victory against Beantown was on May 4, 2021, after a 4-3 overtime win. The contest also
witnessed former Devil, and now current Bruins forward Pavel Zacha, net the game-winner.

ALL-TIME vs BOS

Record: 58-88-19-10
Home: 29-42-11-4
Road: 29-46-8-6

SINCE 1982-83…

The most goals that the Devils earned in a single game vs Boston is eight (twice), which was last logged Mar. 19, 1994, in an 8-6 win at Boston.

The most goals that the team allowed in a game in a game vs Boston is eight (twice), which was last logged on Mar. 31, 2022, in an 8-1 loss at Boston.

The most shots that Jersey earned in a single game vs Boston is 48, which was recorded on Oct. 29, 1996, in a 5-2 win at Boston.

The most shots that the Devils allowed in a single game against Boston is also 48, which was logged on Mar. 31, 2021, after a 5-4
shootout loss.

The last time that the Devils shut out Boston was on Mar. 28, 2021, in a 1-0 win at Boston (M. Blackwood, 40 saves).

The last time that the Bruins shut out New Jersey was on May 3rd, 2021, in a 3-0 loss vs Boston (T. Rask, 20 saves).”

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Sat., Dec. 16, at CBJ, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Sun. Dec. 17, vs ANA, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Tue. Dec. 19, vs PHI, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Thu. Dec. 21, vs EDM, 7:30 P.M. E.T.
Sat. Dec. 23, DET, 7:00 P.M. E.T.

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