Just past ten months to the day when the Devils packed their lockers, gave exit interviews and headed across the globe to their Summer abodes they have fulfilled the mantra of that day, namely to play meaningful games in March and beyond.. Tonight, the Devils will arrive at The Rock, dress in front of those same lockers and take the ice with a chance to enter first place in the Metropolitan Division should they garner a regulation win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
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To a man, the players all declared that they were done with the rebuild and ready to compete.
“The rebuild per se is hopefully over now, and it’s time.” - Damon Severson (5/4/22)
Unlike many teams that came before, this iteration of the Devils was willing to walk the walk and have themselves in a position to make a run at the Stanley Cup for years to come. They have received contributions up and down the lineup as shown in last night’s gritty road win over the Montreal Canadiens. The team raced out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Nathan Bastian and Nico Hischier then held on with stellar goaltending from Akira Schmid, finishing the game with a wicked backhand empty-net goal from Tomas Tatar. Per Moneypuck.com the two best skaters for the Devils were Nate Bastian and Damon Severson who lead the team in expected goal percentage while they were on the ice.
BASTIAN puts the devs up!!
devs lead 1-0 pic.twitter.com/slyce85hNs
— Devils on MSG (@DevilsMSGN) March 12, 2023
FIRST LINE DOMINANCE
Lindy Ruff has been known throughout the season to tinker with his lines and his recent combination of Tomas Tatar, Nico Hischier, and Dawson Mercer has been nothing short of a masterpiece. Last night that line began the game and pinned the Canadiens in their own zone for almost a full 90 seconds. This was a harbinger of what was to come as the line was relentless all night and tilted the ice throughout resulting in two of the three goals scored by the Devils. They outshot their opponents 14-3 while on the ice together and had Corsi and Fenwick percentages in the upper 70s.
The line’s stellar play has been the catalyst for the run the Devils have gone on since the All Star Break. Dawson Mercer set a franchise record with his 12th straight game with a point by a player under 22. Nico Hischier has now set a career high with 61 points and is two shy of 30 goals on the season and Tomas Tatar’s stellar play has resulted in him earning a +38 goal differential on the season, good enough for second in the entire NHL.
If Jack Hughes and Timo Meier continue to struggle to put up goals there will be thought by Ruff to again tinker and maybe move Mercer down to the second line and promote Bratt or another player. There is a justification for such a move in that the building blocks of Tatar and Hischier have demonstrated that they can generate offense with multiple third linemates. Two Tatar Hischier lines currently sit in the top 5 of expected goals for the season.
SCHMID IS LOCKED IN
The Devils organization and fanbase still have PTSD from last year’s goalie nightmare. Even the mention of a goalie injury or downward trend starts a spiral so much so that many were clamoring for the Devils to go out and get a goaltender at the trade deadline as insurance for Mackenzie Blackwood’s injury history and Vitek Vanecek’s second-half swoon. Instead, Tom Fitzgerald held pat and the team has relied on the stellar, if unexpected play of Akira Schmid.
Schmid, a rookie, has now won back to back games for the first time in his career and has been stellar filling in for the Devils. Ruff’s comfort with deploying Schmid has allowed him to let Vanecek rest for almost a week. Coming into the season, Vanecek had not started more than 39 games in a season. When he leads the team on the ice tonight, he will be starting his 39th game. The ability to lean on Schmid over the next few weeks and allow Vanecek to rest and Blackwood to slowly reacclimate will be vital to the Devils having the best goaltending they can heading into the playoffs.
#NJDevils Akira Schmid this season:
8-4-1
1.91 GAA
.927 SV%
1 Shutout
5.93 goals saves above anticipated
7.97 GSAx (All situations)
.861 HDSV% (All situations. Perspective, Ilya Sorokin and Jake Oettinger each have an .844 HDSV%)— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNHL) March 12, 2023
CONTRAST OF STYLES
The success of the Hurricanes and Devils this season shows that there isn’t only one style of play that can be successful. The Devils speed and skill off the rush and counter are almost diametrically opposite to the heavy, forechecking, dump and chase, grinding style of the Hurricanes. Despite that these teams are about as close to each other as any teams in the league. They are ranked 1 and 2 in Moneypuck’s power rankings, their goal differential is within one of each other, , the Canes are 7-3 in their last 10, the Devils 7-2-1, even Vegas has set the game as essentially a pick 'em. In their three prior matchups, each team has won once in regulation and the Canes won the third matchup in a shootout. With both teams coming off of difficult back to back games the team that is able to generate a lead, play mistake free, and get better goaltending should prevail. One stat to note, the Devils are 6-2 in the back half of back to back games
Puck drop is 7 p.m. at The Rock.
NOTES
- Curtis Lazar will wear 42, and joined the team in Montreal. There’s a chance he could be deployed to give one of the BMW line players a rest, however, they played well in Montreal and Ruff could give Lazar some additional time to acclimate to his new team. With five games in eight days, there will certainly be opportunities for him to make his debut.
- Severson (197) tied former Captain Andy Greene for 5th place in career assists and trails leader Brian Rafalski by 70 for the franchise record
- The Devils win over the Canadiens was the first time since 2010 that the Devils had a full game without a penalty on either team.
- With 43 wins, the 2022-23 Devils have the most wins in franchise history through 65 games.
- Devils Stars Shine in 8-4 Victory Over Canes - May 9, 2023
- NHL Eastern Conference Semifinals Preview: Devils vs Hurricanes - May 3, 2023
- Devils Speed and Schmid Too Much For Rangers in Game Seven - May 2, 2023
