The Detroit Red Wings battle the 15-8-and-2 New Jersey Devils this afternoon (3 PM EDT start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/MSGN/97.1 FM).
The 10-10-and-1 Red Wings are in for quite the challenge in battling New Jersey, whose 3-0 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday snapped a 3-game winning streak. The Devils have won 5 of 7 and 8 of their past 11 games.
Several game previews popped up on Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening, including this from Field Level Media…
New Jersey, one of the top offensive teams in the league, continued its odd habit of getting shut out in its losses. The Devils were blanked at home 3-0 on Wednesday by the St. Louis Blues.
New Jersey has scored an average of 4.6 goals per game in its 10 victories since late Oct. 27. In their four losses during that stretch, the Devils have been shutout each time.
The Devils surrendered all three Blues goals Wednesday in the first period.
“It’s tough against any team when you spot them a lead like that,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “They’re parking the bus, clogging it up, making it hard to get to their net. They’re not taking any chances on offense. You have to find your way through that. Clearly, it was a struggle for us.”
New Jersey squeezed off 31 shots on goal against St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington and wound up frustrated.
“Lots of looks, lots of chances, posts, one of those nights it didn’t go in for us,” Devils forward Stefan Noesen said.
The AP posted a just-the-facts preview…
BOTTOM LINE: The New Jersey Devils visit the Detroit Red Wings after the Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 in overtime.
Detroit is 10-10-2 overall and 5-5-1 at home. The Red Wings have allowed 66 goals while scoring 55 for a -11 scoring differential.
New Jersey has a 15-8-2 record overall and a 9-4-0 record in road games. The Devils rank ninth in league play with 94 total penalties (averaging 3.8 per game).
Friday’s game is the second time these teams match up this season. The Red Wings won 5-3 in the last meeting.
TOP PERFORMERS: Lucas Raymond has scored six goals with 16 assists for the Red Wings. Vladimir Tarasenko has five assists over the past 10 games.
Jesper Bratt has 10 goals and 18 assists for the Devils. Stefan Noesen has scored four goals with two assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 4-5-1, averaging 2.2 goals, 3.7 assists, 2.7 penalties and 5.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.
Devils: 7-3-0, averaging 3.1 goals, 4.8 assists, 3.7 penalties and 9.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.2 goals per game.
And NewJerseyDevils.com’s Amanda Stein also posted a game preview:
THE SCOOP: The New Jersey Devils are coming off their fourth shutout loss of the season after dropping their matchup against the St. Louis Blues. It’s been an interesting trend for the team, whose last four losses have all been shutouts. Timo Meier served his one-game suspension against the Blues and will return to the lineup against Detroit.
Coming up for New Jersey, based on Thursday’s practice session, there will lineup changes coming as Meier returns to his regular spot with Nico Hischier and Stefan Noesen. Paul Cotter will rejoin Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer, while Kurtis MacDermid will re-enter the lineup on the fourth line with Justin Dowling and Tomas Tatar.
On Thursday morning, the Devils returned forward Nolan Foote to the Utica Comets.
The duo of Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen have been paving the way this season in net, with Markstrom starting the last three of the teams four games. Allen’s most recent start was last Saturday in Washington when he played his 200th career game.
The Detroit Red Wings are closing out a three-game homestand against the Devils, most recently coming off a 2-1 overtime win against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. The Red Wings are looking to go 3-0 during their homestand with just New Jersey standing in their way. The Red Wings have played some low-scoring hockey of late and the margin for error is very slim, with four of their last five games all decided by a single goal.
WHO’S HOT
Devils: Nico Hischier scored the first hat trick of his career on Monday night against the Nashville Predators. he leads the team with 13 goals and is third in points with 24 behind Jack Hughes (25) and Jesper Bratt (28).
Red Wings: Lucas Raymond is starting to heat up for the Wings after a slower start to the year. On top of scoring the overtime winner against Calgary, he has points in five straight games and goals in four straight. While in the previous 10 games he has 10 points (5g-5a)
Update: Here are the Game Notes from media.nhl.com:
