Following a demoralizing defeat in San Jose, the Devils look to end their losing streak against the Seattle Kraken. Check out the matchup in this game preview.
The Essentials
Matchup: New Jersey Devils at Seattle Kraken
Date: January 6th, 2025
Time: 10:00 PM ET
Broadcast: MSG, KHN, KONG, ESPN+
Listen: Devils Hockey Network
The Last Devils Game: The New Jersey Devils lost to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday in heartbreaking fashion, 3-2. Check out Chris’ recap.
The Last Kraken Game: The Kraken lost to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday 4-2. Check out NHL.com’s recap.
The Last Devils – Kraken Game: The Devils defeated the Kraken on December 6th by a score of 3-2. It was Jesper Bratt’s 500th game, Dougie Hamilton’s 800th game, and Timo Meier scored his 200th goal during that contest. Check out Jackson’s recap and NHL.com’s highlights of that game if you missed it.
Recent Momentum: The Kraken are 17-20-3 on the year and have won three of their last ten games. As The People Who Matter know, the Devils have now lost four in a row.
The Lineups
Seattle Kraken
Based on their matchup against Edmonton, Seattle is projected to deploy the following lines and pairings.
Forwards
Jaden Schwartz – Matty Beniers – Kaapo Kakko
Jared McCann – Chandler Stephenson – Andre Burakovsky
Eeli Tolvanen – Shane Wright – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Tye Kartye – Ben Meyers – Brandon Tanev
Defensemen
Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak – Brandon Montour
Ryker Evans – Josh Mahura
Goaltenders
Philipp Grubauer
Ales Stezka
Grubauer has started the Kraken’s previous four games. I imagine he needs a breather at some point, so fill-in backup Ales Stezka may start against the Devils.
Injuries
Per ESPN, Adam Larsson is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Yanni Gourde has suffered a lower-body injury and did not play on Saturday. Per Scott Malone with the Kraken, backup goaltender Joey Daccord was unavailable for the game against the Oilers due to an upper-body injury.
New Jersey Devils
Based on the lineup against the Sharks, the Devils will use the following lines and pairings.
Forwards
Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Stefan Noesen
Jesper Bratt – Jack Hughes – Ondrej Palat
Dawson Mercer – Erik Haula – Paul Cotter
Tomas Tatar – Curtis Lazar – Nathan Bastian
Defensemen
Brenden Dillon – Dougie Hamilton
Jonas Siegenthaler – Johnathan Kovacevic
Luke Hughes – Brett Pesce
Goaltenders
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
What to Watch For
Vulnerable Defense and Goaltending
It is no secret that Seattle has been struggling on defense. The Kraken are allowing over 3.1 goals per game and are ranked 20th in the NHL in that category as of the writing of this preview on Sunday night (per NHL.com). In particular, Seattle allows high-danger scoring opportunities. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Kraken have allowed 358 high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five, the 10th worst in the league. Over the last ten games, Seattle has allowed 60 high-danger shots at five-on-five, which is the sixth worst in hockey as of the writing of this post. The Kraken are also a top ten team in terms of expected goals against in their previous ten games and on the season (per Natural Stat Trick). In fact, Seattle has the highest expected goals against record of any team in the league over the last ten games. This is a long-winded way of saying that the Devils will have high-danger chances to capitalize on to win.
Seattle’s goaltending has allowed those high-danger opportunities to translate into goals. The Kraken have allowed four or more goals in each of their last six games. Per NHL.com, Philipp Grubauer has a save percentage below .880 and is averaging almost 3.5 goals allowed per game. Ales Stezka has not played an NHL game in his career. Stezka has six wins and nine losses this season with the AHL Coachella Firebirds. Per NHL.com, the backup goalie has a save percentage of .906 and has allowed almost three goals per game. New Jersey needs to jump on these goaltenders.
Player to Watch Out For: Jaden Schwartz
When the Devils last played the Kraken on December 6th, Jared McCann was led their offense and the team with 23 points. McCann still leads the team in points but has only added five points since that date. While it would be wise to keep tabs on McCann, Jaden Schwartz has had the hot hand recently. In the last ten games, Schwartz has tallied six goals. The first-line winger is tied with Oliver Bjorkstrand for second on the team in points with 26.
Enough is Enough
This doesn’t need to be said, but I’m going to say it anyway: The Devils need to stop the bleeding and get back to their style of hockey. You can complain about the recent officiating, but New Jersey cannot do anything about it. The team can adjust how they approach the next game and their play on the ice.
During the MSG broadcast on Saturday, Ken Daneyko mentioned how the game felt tense. It was a 2-2 game at the time, and Daneyko may have solely been referring to the close tilt, but the Devils’ play felt tense, too. As the cliché goes, it felt like the team was playing not to lose. The players want to end this skid as much as anyone, but when this team, especially the offense, is playing at their best, they are nothing close to tense. Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and company can be so creative with the puck in the offensive end that it is almost freeform. Slumps happen. If I were Sheldon Keefe, I would try to loosen up that locker room while reminding the team that defense is a team-wide commitment.
After the game against the Rangers leading into the holiday break, I commented in the gamethread that I wished the team had no break due to how they were playing. The entire roster was committed to backchecking, blocking shots, and playing team defense. New Jersey has not been playing that way lately (or it has not been working as effective). The Devils were able to stifle stumbling teams playing that way and need to stifle the remaining teams on this road trip.
Your Thoughts
Will the Devils get a W tonight? How do the Devils get over this hump? Can they re-establish the team defense they exhibited before the holiday break? Let know what your thoughts are in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!!