Game #34 Preview: New Jersey Devils at St. Louis Blues

Following a victory against the Chicago Blackhawks, the New Jersey Devils look to continue their winning ways on the road against the St. Louis Blues. Let’s take a look at the matchup in this preview.

The Essentials:

Matchup: New Jersey Devils at St. Louis Blues

Date: December 17th, 2024

Time: 8:00 PM ET

Broadcast: MSG, FDSNMW, ESPN+

Listen: Devils Hockey Network

The Devils Last Game: The Devils beat the Chicago Blackhawks Leafs 4-1 in the final game of their homestand. Check out Chris’ recap of that game.

The Last Blues Game: The Blues defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 on Sunday. Check out NHL.com’s recap of that game.

Recent Momentum: St. Louis has won six of their last ten games and two of their last five for a record of 15-14-3. The Blues have now beaten the Rangers twice this season. New Jersey has won six of their last ten games and only three of their last five for a record of 20-10-3.

The Last Time: The Devils were shut out by Jordan Binnington and the Blues on November 27th, 2024. Check out Jackson’s recap of that ugly game and more on Binnington below.

Lineups

St. Louis Blues

This is the projected lineup for the Blues based on their game against the Rangers (per Matthew DeFranks).

Jordan Binnington is the projected starting goalie for the Blues.

New Jersey Devils

Here are the projected lines and pairings for the Devils based on yesterday’s practice (per Catherine Bogart).

Jacob Markstrom is the likely starter in net for the Devils.

Player to Watch Out For: Jordan Kyrou

In their matchup back in November, Jordan Kyrou was tied with Jake Neighbours for the team lead in goals with seven. Since then, Kyrou has stepped on the gas. The Blues forward now leads the team in goals with 13 and points with 27 (per NHL.com). Kyrou has tallied goals in four of the last five games and has recorded a point in each of the previous five games. The Devils must defend well to limit St. Louis’ top point producer.

Getting Goalie’d

One of the concerns for the Devils this season has been games where they pepper the opposing netminder with shots, but ultimately, that goaltender stands on his head to beat, and too often shut out, New Jersey. It happened against Mackenzie Blackwood. Anthony Stolarz did it to them. It looked like Drew Commesso might do it to them on Saturday during his NHL debut. I saw the posts from The People Who Matter in the gamethread against Chicago, worrying that it would happen again.

Jordan Binnington blanked them in the last matchup, stopping all 32 shots he faced. The Red and Black had a horrendous start, and Devils fans would put that game in the “getting goalie’d” category. When the opposing goalie is seeing the puck well, the Devils must take away his eyes with traffic in front. Timo Meier’s goal in the third period on Saturday was a good example. Meier was a net-front presence in front of Commesso when the goalie was unable to control a rebound on a Dawson Mercer shot. The shot bounced out front, and Meier put it in the back of the net. The Devils need more of these goals from Meier, Mercer, Palat, and Noesen. Look for the Devils to make their net-front presence a focal point in this matchup.

Boost to the Blues Blue Line?

On Saturday, the Anaheim Ducks traded defenseman Cam Fowler and a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Blues in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick and a minor league defenseman. Per NHL.com, 33-year-old Fowler has recorded four assists this season and has struggled defensively, posting a +/- record of -5. Over the course of his career, Fowler holds a +/- record of -127 (per NHL.com). While the veteran is known as a puck-moving defenseman, the trade is not likely to improve the defensive woes of a team that is near the bottom of the league in expected goals against (xGA) and scoring chances against (SCA) at 5-on-5 (per Natural Stat Trick).

The Switch to Jim Montgomery

I mentioned the Blues season-long struggles on defense, but the coaching change may have helped in that regard. Since Jim Montgomery took over on November 24th, the Blues have only allowed 13 goals against at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick. As of the writing of this post on Monday night, that is second-best in the NHL over that period. Since the switch, St. Louis has also been one of the better teams in terms of high-danger chances allowed at 5-on-5, allowing only 74, and they are firmly in the middle of the pack in terms of scoring chances against.

Offensively, the coaching change has not had the same impact. The Blues were one of the worst teams in the league in terms of expected goals for percentage (xGF%) at 5-on-5 before the change, and they are middle-of-the-pack since Montgomery took over (per Natural Stat Trick). In fact, St. Louis had a Corsi for percentage (CF%) of just under 49% before Montgomery took over, and that has only gotten worse, hovering just above 45% since (per Natural Stat Trick). I realize the sample size for the team’s performance under Montgomery is small. I am sure the head coach has not had enough time to implement his desired systems and hockey philosophy to its full extent, but it is interesting to see how the Blues are trending since the last time the Devils faced them.

Check out the statistical splits for the Blues before Montgomery and after the coaching change per Natural Stat Trick.

Your Thoughts

What will you be watching for? Do you buy into the “getting goalie’d” thing? What do you think are the keys to success for the Devils? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!