The New Jersey Devils will take on the Florida Panthers tonight to continue their five-game road trip.
The Devils are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The Panthers are 10-8-1, while the Devils are 13-5-1.
This is the second meeting between the two teams, the first coming on October 16th, the Devils’ home opener.
The Devils won the first game 3-1, and Timo Meier had a goal and an assist. The three goals in that game came from Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Jack Hughes. Hughes won’t be available for tonight’s game after sustaining a hand injury at the start of the road trip.
The full injury list is:
Devils:
J. Hughes (finger)
MacEwen (lower-body)
Glass (upper-body)
Pesce (upper-body)
Kovacevic (knee)
McLaughlin (undisclosed)
For the Panthers, the list looks like:
Panthers:
Barkov (knee, IR)
Tkachuk (groin, IR)
Nosek (knee, IR)
Kulikov (upper-body, IR)
Gadjovich (upper-body, IR)
Loustarinen (burn)
Schwindt (broken arm)
Due to injuries, the Devils have had to shuffle some lines.
The practice lines from this morning’s skate looked like:
Gritsyuk – Hischier – Bratt
Meier – Mercer – Brown
Palat – Lammikko – Dadonov
Cotter – Glendening – Noesen
Siegenthaler – Nemec
Dillon – Hughes
Cholowski – Hamilton(White – Edwards)
Allen
It is important to note that Dadonov moved to the third line and Noesen moved to the fourth.
When asked about the decision, head coach Sheldon Keefe told NJD.TV.
“I moved Noesen down because I think he helps that line; that line needs help. I think Dadonov playing with Palat can help complement him a bit better, where Noesen can do some of the work (on Glendening’s line).”
Players to Watch:
The Devils are set to start Jake Allen in net after Jacob Markstrom got the start against the Lightning. Markstrom reportedly tweaked something in Tuesday’s game, but will still back up Allen tonight.
The Panthers are reported to be starting Bobrovsky in the goal.
For Florida, Brad Marchand is a player to watch. Marchand is on an 11-game point streak and leads the team in both points (23) and goals (13).
Jack Hughes leads the Devils in goals (10). He will not be active tonight; however, Jesper Bratt, who leads the team in assists (13), will be on the ice.
Last game, Nico Hischier earned a new honor, moving to 5th place all-time among Swiss NHL players in points. The forward tallied a career total of 435 NHL points.
The two teams will play once more this season, on March 3.
When asked about the team’s mentality heading into the game, Brenden Dillon shared his thoughts with NJD.tv.
“Recognizing the opponent, respecting our opponent but also elevating our play against, at the time, Stanley Cup champions, and here we are again, another big test against them, in their building,” Brenden Dillon said. “They’re as advertised. We watch the film, watch them on TV, you know what you’re going to get out of them: a highly competitive, simple but hard hockey game.”
The puck will drop at 7 PM ET as the New Jersey Devils take on the Panthers for a second time this season.
