After a brief slump in December, the New Jersey Devils have returned to their winning ways with wins in six of their last seven games. When they try to do seven out of eight Vegas Golden Knights Coming to town for the only time this season. The Devils have 64 points and a 30-12-4 record. In their 46th game, they have already surpassed last season’s point total of 63.
The Golden Knights, meanwhile, continue to lead the Pacific Division with a 29-17-2 record and 60 points, but are just one point behind the Seattle Kraken. The Devils have had success against Pacific this year with a 10-0-1 record.
When the Pittsburgh Penguins came to town on Sunday, the Devils needed two points to separate themselves from their Metropolitan Division rivals. Less than a minute into the game, Jack Hughes He surpassed Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry to become the first 30-goal scorer. Pittsburgh responded with a goal from their own superstar, Sidney Crosby.
The game was scoreless during Vitek Vanacek Standing on his head One more time. He stopped several good Penguins chances, including one that hit Ryan Poehling’s elbow and deflected off the crossbar. Dougie Hamilton scored the game-winning goal in overtime on the power play, giving New Jersey their 30th win of the season. “We did a good job fighting back, and V was unreal and kept us in it the whole game,” Hamilton post-match Dr.
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The Devils have two more games before the All-Star break, when Hughes will represent the Red and Black in Sunrise, Florida. They will face the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars on January 26 and 27, respectively.
Team List:
Satan Projected Line:
Forward:
Ondrej Palat – Nico Hisier – Jesper Bratt
Eric Haula – Jack Hughes – Thomas Tatar
Jesper Boqvist – Michael McLeod – Dawson Mercer
Miles Wood – Yegor Sharangovich – Nathan Bastian
Defender:
Jonas Seigenthaler – Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves – Damon Severson
Kevin Bahl – Brendan Smith
Goalkeeper:
Vitek Vanacek
Mackenzie Blackwood
Golden Knights Projected Line:
*Brett Howden is expected to return to the lineup in some capacity
Forward:
Chandler Stephenson – Jack Eichel – Phil Kessel
Riley Smith – William Carlson – Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Cotter – Nicholas Roy – Keegan Kolesar
Michael Amadio – Byron Froese – Jonas Rondberg
Defender:
Nicholas Hague – Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb – Kaydan Korczak
Alec Martinez – Ben Hutton
Goalkeeper:
Logan Thompson
Adin Hill
What’s Happening in Vegas:
The Golden Knights have been atop the Pacific Division for most of the season since mid-October. However, things haven’t gone that way recently, as the Kraken, their expansion cousins, have lost four of their last five. After an impressive 6–2 win over the Washington Capitals on January 21st, Vegas lost 4–1 to the Arizona Coyotes a day later. Former Covet Phil Kessel was the lone scorer Logan Thompson Had a rare off night, allowing three goals on 22 shots. “The three pucks that went there, just needed to be there,” the head coach said Bruce Cassidy Dr. “Game 49 this year in our system, we should know better. Maybe a little mental exhaustion.”
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Vegas is I was hit hard on the topAnd several key players are out with injuries. They’re already down Shea Theodore, and Mark Stone hasn’t played since Jan. 12 against the Florida Panthers, while William Carrier is still day-to-day and Zach Whitecloud, who was a pleasant surprise for the Golden Knights last season, is out long-term with a lower-body injury. . Some of those names could return tonight, but Cassidy could keep them out until the All-Star break. The good news for Vegas is that forward Brett Howden is expected to return tonight. He was seen without a non-contact jersey at the morning skate and will be his first game since Nov. 23 against the Ottawa Senators.
Like the Devils, the Golden Knights have an excellent record on the road at 15-4-2. They have three straight games against Metropolitan Division teams, including back-to-back games against two New York teams, the Rangers and Islanders, on Jan. 27 and 28, before tonight’s matchup before a much-needed break. They will be represented in the All-Star Game by their rookie goaltender Thompson. He turned heads with a 2.71 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.
Watch out for:
New Jersey Devils: Dougie Hamilton
It wasn’t the best road trip for the West Coast Dougie Hamilton, but when the Devils returned to the Prudential Center, he put the team on his back, scoring the game-winner against the Penguins to end a three-game scoreless streak. “It’s a huge swing for us,” Hamilton Dr Regarding the win, added about his goal: “I tried to shoot as much as possible.”
Hamilton also had the lone assist on Hughes’ goal to open the scoring. He added his 11th goal and 29th assist of the season, solidifying his position as the Devils’ top D-man. He is fourth on the team in scoring and leads the team with 19 power-play points. Hamilton made a strong case for joining Hughes in the All-Star Game, and fans were happy to finally have their franchise defenseman.
Vegas Golden Knights: Jack Eichel
superstar Jack Eichel He is in his first full season with the Golden Knights since coming to one Blockbuster trade with the Buffalo Sabres, and he finally found his footing with the team with 15 goals and 34 points in 35 games. His next goal would be his sixteenth, matching his total last season, Sabers included. He is especially dangerous at even strength with 14 goals.
With the Knights, Eichel has a plus-14 rating and his plus-11 this season is his career high, thanks mostly to his supporting cast. In his career, Eichel played sixteen games against New Jersey, averaging one point per game. However, he has not scored against them since 2019. He’s firmly established himself as Vegas’ top-line center and should be in the lineup even if Stone is out with an injury. Franchise player The Knights expected.
Where to look:
The Devils and Golden Knights will be an ESPN+ and Hulu exclusive, requiring a subscription. Bob Wishusen and Brian Boucher will call the game from the Prudential Center. However, despite the game not being shown on the MSG Network, fans can still tune in Devils Hockey Network For a familiar voice, Jason Shaya and Chico Resch will commentate the action.
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Eric Johnson is one of the NJ Devils writers for The Hockey Writers. He is also the author of the Triple Play newsletter. Eric is a 2022 graduate of Rider University, and co-hosts a podcast called Many Men.
