Game Preview #4: New Jersey Devils @ Washington Capitals

Coming off a disappointing loss in their home opener to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New Jersey Devils hit the road for a division clash with the Washington Capitals

The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (2-1-0) @ Washington Capitals (0-0-0)

The Time: 7:00pm ET

The Broadcast: MSGSN, MNMT

Last Devils Game

A sloppy, discouraging 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the home opener at The Rock. Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier were the goal scorers, while Jacob Markstrom allowed four goals on 22 shots.

Coming Back Down To Earth

The vibes were good after the Devils banked four out of four points over in Prague against the Buffalo Sabres. Perhaps more encouraging was the process, as the Devils controlled play pretty thoroughly through the first two games of the season. Even with Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes out, it looked as though the Devils had a new look, new attitude, and new commitment to playing a team game that will carry over into the rest of the season.

And then the Devils landed with a thud in a 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs on Thursday.

The game was not as close as the final score would indicate either. The Leafs put up three quick goals in the first period to race out to a 3-0 lead. 1-0 Them times three, to quote a “popular” meme around these parts.

The defensive breakdowns were alarming, as it seemed like New Jersey was losing every single battle for a loose puck in their own zone. Jacob Markstrom, who played so well in the season opener, put up a paltry .818 save percentage. The offense was grinded to a halt by the Leafs smothering defense in their own zone. Credit to Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier for finding the back of the net, but those were close to the only threats the offense generated on Thursday.

It’s only one game against an excellent team led by a legitimate Hart trophy candidate in Auston Matthews. Not at all time to hit the panic button. But it was very dispiriting seeing the Devils backslide so hard against Toronto.

Any Good News?

Yes, there’s definitely still good news. To start, the team is still 2-1-0. That’s a strong start to the season. Aside from that, the depth scoring has been showing up through the first three contests. In fact, leading New Jersey with three points apiece are…Paul Cotter and Johnathan Kovacevic. Who would’ve thought! Elsewhere, Nate Bastian and Stefan Noesen each have two points to their name.

And as far as the stars go, all of Nico Hischier, Bratt, and Meier have found the back of the net, with Meier already at two goals. Jack Hughes is still looking for his first goal, though he does have two assists, and Dougie Hamilton is pointless through the first three games. Yes, you could consider it to be bad news that the unquestioned best player on the team is goalless and the unquestioned leader of the blueline has been held off the scoresheet so far. But it could easily be spun as good news in that you just know they’ll both get going soon.

Hughes will score soon. Hamilton will register a point soon. And in fact Hughes and Hamilton (in that order) were the top two players in terms of 5-on-5 Expected Goals For% against Toronto according to Natural Stat Trick, each hovering around 60% xGF%. The breakthrough is coming.

The First Test Of Our Faith

The Devils have been sunk by poor goaltending since the Coolidge Administration, we all know this. Jacob Markstrom was brought in this offseason to finally solve this. He did in his first game, not so much in his second game. At this point it’s almost a Pavlovian response to question whether a goalie will stink for the rest of the season when one bad game rolls around. And make no mistake, his performance on Thursday in which he allowed four goals on 22 shots was a BAD game.

So the question is, how much stock can we put in that? I’m here to give you a thoroughly unsatisfying answer: I don’t know. Goaltending is voodoo as they say, and even though Markstorm has been a very good goalie for a long time, there’s no guarantee he will be strong this year. For now though, I have to trust him. I feel like a fool for once again placing my faith in a Devils goaltender, but it’s only one game and Markstrom is a very good goalie…but if he has a bad game next time out, the season is definitely over.

New Faces On An Old Ship

Tonight is the Washington Capitals’ season opener. After becoming quite possibly the single worst playoff team in a generation, the offseason brought significant changes. The old guard of Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, and John Carlson is still there. But around them is an interesting new supporting cast.

Let’s start with Pierre-Luc Dubois. The enigmatic center was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings back in June, with goaltender Darcy Kuemper going the other way. To recap the journey Dubois has been on lately:

• Traded from Winnipeg to Los Angeles prior to last season
• Immediately signed to an 8-year, $68.5m contract
• Disappointed beyond anyone’s expectation in Los Angeles with 40 points in 82 games.
• Shipped to Washington after the very first year of his mega-contract

So now it’s the Capitals’ turn to try and make something out of Dubois. As of now he appears set to center the second line (more on the lineup below), so we’ll see if he can get his career back on track.

Elsewhere, the Capitals also made significant changes to their blueline. On the same day in July, Washington signed Matt Roy and traded for Jakob Chychrun. The Roy contract was for 6-years and $34.5m. Roy combined with Vlad Gavrikov in Los Angeles to form a premier shutdown pair, one of the very best in the league. Roy will no doubt be looked at to absorb the tough matchups for the Capitals this season. Chychrun on the other hand came from Ottawa and is more known for his offensive prowess. He put up exactly half a point per game in 2023-24, with 14 goals and 41 points in 82 games. John Carlson has been an elite offensive blueliner throughout his time in the NHL, but he’s reaching the twilight of his career. The Capitals are probably looking for Carlson to pass the torch to Chychrun.

Finally, Washington made an offseason trade (at arguably the worst possible time) to bolster their goaltending tandem. The Capitals sent some draft picks to the Vegas Golden Knights for Logan Thompson, who will share the crease with Charlie Lindgren this season. Thompson spent parts of four seasons with the Golden Knights (although he only played a single game in 2020-21), winning a Stanley Cup as Adin Hill’s backup in 2022-23. In his young career, Thompson has put up a 56-32-11 record with a .912 sv%.

In all, it was an eventful offseason for the Capitals as they try to extend their championship window, if it’s even still open at all. The Devils get the first look at the new look Capitals tonight.

The Potential Lineup

Let’s start with the crease. Per Tarik El-Bashir, expect to see Charlie Lindgren tonight:

And speaking of those practice lines and pairs…

As for Lindgren, the Devils are hoping to have better luck against him tonight than they did a season ago. Lindgren got the call in two games against New Jersey in 2023-24. In the first one on November 11th, Lindgren stopped 24 of 26 shots in a Capitals win. Then on February 20th, Lindgren again skated away with the win, this time making a remarkable 37 saves on 39 shots. Combined, Devils skaters put 65 shots on Lindgren last year, and he stopped 61 of them for a .938 sv%. If Lindgren does something similar tonight, New Jersey will be hard-pressed to get two points out of the game.

Your Take

What do you make of tonight’s game? Who do you want to see bounce back the most? Who on the Capitals will you be watching closely? As always, thanks for reading!