The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (28-24-2) at the Ottawa Senators (25-21-7)
The Broadcast: TV — MSG; Radio — Devils Hockey Network
Yesterday evening, I wrote about the recent injuries to Jack Hughes and Cody Glass, which have massive implications for the Devils in their final three games before the Olympic break. In there, I cited Amanda Stein and Pierre LeBrun on the injuries. Here’s the short run-down:
Cody Glass avoided a major injury and may play today. He is at least traveling.Jack Hughes was getting imaging done yesterday.They did not determine whether Jack will travel to Ottawa.They are not worried about it affecting his Olympic availability.
Personally, I’m more concerned with his availability in the next three games than him playing in the Olympics. But how could be that he needs imaging to determine whether he has an injury to keep him out for five days, but after those five days he would be magically healthy enough to travel to Italy for a best-on-best international tournament?
If Jack does not travel today, that is not to say that he will be unavailable for all three games before the break, as they play at home on February 3 and 5. But it would still be brutal for the Devils. The Ottawa Senators are just one point back of the Devils with a game in hand, so this game is not really that much less important than the other two before the break. The 65-point mark to be in a Metropolitan divisional spot and the 67-point mark to beat the Canadiens or Bruins for a Wild Card is not too significant a difference.
So, hearing nothing is bad. I would have liked to hear an update on Jack last night. At this point, I am going to assume that he is staying home and missing today’s game since no news was given about the imaging.
Ottawa: Still Scoring a Lot, But Giving Up a Lot Too
The Ottawa Senators deal with much different issues than the Devils do. Having scored and given up 176 goals on both ends of the ice, they are a top-10 offensive and bottom-10 defensive team. New Jersey Devils goaltenders would be an improvement for them, with a team save percentage of .871. Prior to his leaving the team in December for personal reasons, they were led by Linus Ullmark with an .881 save percentage and one shutout in 28 starts, in which time he had gone 14-8-5. Leevi Merilainen is far worse with an 8-10-1 record with an .860 save percentage, but he has not played since January 17 and is now listed in the AHL due to Ullmark’s return from leave on January 25.
Along with Ullmark at the moment, the Senators have James Reimer in goal. He has been their starter since January 18, posting a 2-2-1 record with an .873 save percentage. Whether the Devils get Reimer or face Ullmark in his return tonight, they will have chances to score. The message from Sheldon Keefe today needs to be that the forwards should batter Ottawa’s goaltending with shots: shots from sharp angles, shots through traffic, shots at the goalie’s back from behind the net — anything they can do to get Ottawa’s goalies off their game, they need to do.
The Devils do have to watch out for the Ottawa forwards, though. Not only will Brady Tkachuk and Nick Cousins be up to their usual shenanigans, but they have dangerous more scorers in their lineup than most teams are blessed with. Currently, the Senators have eight forwards (and a defenseman) with 25 or more points, though they are missing David Perron, who is out long-term. The Devils, by comparison, have five forwards (and a defenseman, who is out) with 25 or more points. Defensively, the Devils will have to be on their game to make sure Ottawa does not get out to an early lead. The Senators might not be able to hold onto leads very well, but we all know how dejected the Devils get in their turtle shell of an offensive system.
What Keefe Can Do to Help
I was a fan of the changes to the defensive pairs against Nashville. I have previously called for Brett Pesce to play the left side for Dougie Hamilton (as they played together at times in Carolina), and they played very well aside from a bad clearing attempt by Dougie that helped lead to a goal against. In total, the Devils outshot Nashville 10-5 and was even in the goals department with that pairing on the ice. Brenden Dillon and Simon Nemec had a decent game, but were unrewarded on the board with a goal against and no goals for. They were even in shots for and against. Even Jonas Siegenthaler and Johnny Kovacevic had a positive expected goals percentage with the Devils outshooting Nashville 7-6.
Ottawa is a different team, but I hope Keefe does not think too hard about matchups. If Dougie is on the ice with Pesce, the Devils will come out on top in shots and scoring chances. Siegenthaler and Kovacevic need to play their shutdown game. And Dillon and Nemec just need to play a simple enough game on defense while letting Simon loose in the offensive zone.
I also wish we had seen more of Maxim Tysplakov, who I thought got a bit stapled to the bench as a direct result of the lines being jumbled by Jack Hughes’s injury. Tysplakov seemed very promising with a strong puck protection game, and I would like to see him in the top six again. Otherwise, pump up the minutes for Lenni Hameenaho and Arseny Gritsyuk! Hameenaho has four points in six games, during which time Gritsyuk has five points. These two wingers are perfect stylistic fits for each other, and I would like to see them play with Nico Hischier again.
So, working with the injuries the Devils have, I would mark the following as my preferred lineup if Glass returns and Hughes remains out:
Gritsyuk-Hischier-Hameenaho
Tsyplakov-Glass-Meier
Dadonov-Mercer-Bratt
Cotter-Glendening-Brown
And if Hughes and Glass both play:
Gritsyuk-Hischier-Hameenaho
Tsyplakov-Hughes-Meier
Bratt-Glass-Mercer
Dadonov-Cotter-Brown
I do not expect the Devils to separate Meier and Bratt, but they should. After Jack got hurt, they were outshot 4-0 with a goal against when Mercer tried to center them. In total, Bratt and Meier were on the ice for the Devils being outshot 9-5 in Nashville. For a team that constantly has its coach complaining about how the team rarely has two, let alone three working lines, splitting up his highly paid wingers to create an extra scoring line seems like the smart choice to me. This is especially true with the rookies working so well, and also considering Meier’s history as a high-producing third-line wing in San Jose and Bratt’s success with Glass there late last season.
What do you think of tonight’s game? Will the Devils be able to pull it off? What do you think of the current injury situation? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.