- The Matchup: Dallas Stars (17-5-5) @ New Jersey Devils (16-9-1)
- The Time: 7:00pm EST
- The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio
On Monday night, the Devils lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 5-3. I recently wrote about how everything that could have gone right, went right for the Devils in their game against Buffalo on the day after Thanksgiving. At that point, the Devils had won 3 games in a row, and were heading back to New Jersey, to start a 4 game home stand, where they had been virtually unbeatable so far this season. Things change quickly in sports, and the Devils have now lost 2 games in a row at home, letting up a combined 10 goals in 2 games; 5 goals in each game against Philadelphia and now Columbus.
The Devils perhaps had a little bit of extra motivation before the game on Monday. 35 year old Brenden Dillon was celebrating his 1,000th NHL game (a major milestone) against Columbus. In an event so absurd, you couldn’t write it in a script for a movie, Dillon got hurt in a fight and eventually left the game, not to return. In more Monthy Python-esque ridiculousness, Jonas Siegenthaler got ejected from the game for not having his jersey tied down during a fight. Stefan Noesen and Paul Cotter each had a fight and Jake Allen decided to do his best impersonation of Jacob Markstrom.
You might be thinking, “Why do you say that? Because he let up 5 goals on. 24 shots?” You would be fair in assuming that. You might also be thinking “Why…because he had a .792 SV% on the night Matt?” You would also be fair in assuming that. This time, I’m talking about how every time Markstrom plays the puck behind the net, I get nauseous. Jake Allen did not want to be left out of the fun, said “hold my beer” and decided to have a horrible turn over, which led to a goal by who else, former Devil (of course) Miles “I can only skate in a straight line and don’t know how to stop either” Wood. If everything went right in Buffalo, pretty much nothing went right on Monday.
I suppose you could argue, to be fair, that Ondrej “the rocket” Palat scoring his 2nd goal of the season was nice to see. That might be grasping at straws though. It was nice to see that Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Dawson Mercer continue to put up points. So we have that going for us….which is nice.
On Tuesday night, the Stars lost to the New York Rangers, in OT by a score of 3-2. The Rangers struck first on a goal from Carson Soucy in the 1st period. The lead did not hold up for long though as Dallas tied it up less than 3 minutes later to end the period 1-1. No one scored in the 2nd, and the teams exchanged goals again in the 3rd to send the match to OT where the Rangers won on a goal from Vladislav Gavrikov.
The loss put an end to the Stars’ 4 game win streak. However, don’t be fooled by this information. Dallas is a hot team right now. The loss yesterday was only their 3rd loss in their last 13 games. Casey Desmith started the game last night, his 2nd in a row, and his 3rd start in the last 4 games. Anything is possible, but I would expect to see Jake Oettinger start in goal tonight.
I’m stating the obvious here, but the Devils should not take this team lightly. As of this article, the Stars are 2nd overall in the league, behind only Colorado which is already starting to separate from the pack. The Stars also have a goal differential of +22, good again for 2nd in the league.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
Per Amanda Stein, the Devils did not have practice on Tuesday, as they were out doing their annual hospital visits. As of this writing, there have been no new updates regarding injuries or the starting lineup for tonight. I would however expect updates to both of these questions at some point today.
Hopefully Dillion is back tonight, or at least he’s not out long term. Dennis Cholowski played on Monday, taking the place occupied by Colton White against Philadelphia. However, Sheldon Keefe may not need to make that choice tonight. If Dillon is out tonight, I would assume that both Cholowski and White are in the lineup.
Lastly, I would also assume that Keefe will go back to Jacob Markstrom for tonight. Over the last 4 games, both goalies have had 1 really good game (1 win each) and 1 really bad game (1 loss each). At this point, flip a coin as far as which goalie will give the team a better chance to win tonight.
Grimace’s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker
Grimace, like the Devils, has been very hot and cold with his game predictions. I asked him 2 questions for the game tonight. 1) Why are your predictions so hot and cold lately and 2) What will happen tonight? His response was that “It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s ALL right…I work…in mysterious ways. The Stars at night, are big and bright, but not in the heart of Newark…” When I asked him if he could just please tell me what he meant, he said “Los Diablos ganarán esta noche.” The Devils will win tonight.
Grimace’s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 8-6-0.
A few of you have mentioned recently, that it feels like the Devils are heading for their “yearly” dip in play starting every December/January. The PTSD of the “usual routine” of Jack being hurt, coupled with the team falling off in their level of play has some of you concerned. Hopefully they can right the ship tonight, and get back to being difficult to beat in New Jersey again. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!
In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris – thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my brand new podcast on here, if any of you are interested in listening. We have a light hearted, fun discussion about any movies, music or video games mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. Please feel free to listen to us on any of the formats below and any feedback is welcome (positive and negative). Also, please follow us and subscribe, even if you think we stink. 🙂
