Game Preview #74: New Jersey Devils @ Winnipeg Jets

Coming off a get-right win over the lowly Blackhawks, the Devils take on the best of the west tonight

The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (38-28-7) @ Winnipeg Jets (49-19-4)

The Time: 8:00pm ET

The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Radio Network

Last Devils Game

New Jersey was last in action on Wednesday, travelling to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks. Five different Devils scored, Luke Hughes collected three assists, and despite a shaky Jacob Markstrom, New Jersey skated away with a 5-3 win. The victory snapped the Devils’ three-game losing streak.

Last Jets Game

In a battle of the league’s top two teams, Winnipeg hosted the Capitals on Tuesday evening. It took overtime, but the Jets edged out the Caps, 3-2. Nikolaj Ehlers tallied the game-winner in extra time.

Last Devils-Jets Game

I would argue the last Devils-Jets game capped off the single worst day of the season so far. On another Friday night, March 7th to be exact, the Devils embarrassed themselves in a 6-1 loss to the Jets at The Rock. That horrible performance capped off a trade deadline day in which general manager Tom Fitzgerald failed to do much of anything to bolster his team’s pathetic offense. In hindsight though, the trade for Cody Glass turned out to be a pretty good one.

It Has To Be Allen, Right?

Up until his injury, Jacob Markstrom was having a terrific first season in New Jersey. In 36 games prior to getting his leg rolled up on against the Boston Bruins on January 22nd, Markstrom had a .912 Save%. On some nights, he was singlehandedly keeping the Devils in games. Fitzgerald talked about going “Big game hunting” over the summer, and his big game acquisition was paying off quite well.

But since returning from injury on March 2nd, in eight games played, Markstrom has a shockingly bad .846 Save%. Unsurprisingly, he is 2-5-1 in those eight games. The recent three-game losing streak could be traced primarily back to him, as I would argue that he cost his team points against the Penguins, Flames, and Canucks.

So until further notice, Jake Allen has to get the lion’s share of the starts, right? It’s a small sample, but over his last four games, Allen has won three of them while posting a .943 Save%. He was the only reason New Jersey won games against the Oilers and Blue Jackets a couple weeks ago. After a season in which goaltending cost the Devils so much, goaltending has been a huge strength for the vast majority of this season. But with Markstrom still not looking like himself after returning from injury, Allen needs to take the lead down the stretch. Expect him to get the start tonight. That being said, this is the front half of a back-to-back, so even if Markstrom does get the call tonight, expect to see both goalies at some point over the next couple of days.

Glass Half Full

Cody Glass missed the Blackhawks game and did not travel with the Devils to Chicago. His status remains up in the air:

I am still not 100% sure what is going on with Glass. I have seen some unverified reports about why he missed Wednesday’s game, and while they’re certainly not scandalous in any way, given that they’re unverified I won’t expound on them here.

Suffice to say, whether it’s injury-related or another reason, Glass has been a very pleasant surprise for New Jersey since he came over at the trade deadline. Let’s hope he returns to the lineup soon.

Juggling Act

For the first couple months of the season, head coach Sheldon Keefe was remarkably consistent with his line combinations in his first year as Devils coach. This stood in stark contrast to his predecessor, Lindy Ruff, who boasted an itchy trigger finger when it came to juggling his lines. But for the past couple of months, Keefe has mixed and matched his forward groupings quite a bit. Injuries, as well as plain old underperformance, have forced his hand in that regard.

In case you need a refresher, here’s how the Devils lined up on Wednesday:

Unless Glass returns to the lineup, or Keefe decides to reinsert Daniel Sprong or Nolan Foote, this is probably what we can expect to see tonight. I wouldn’t mind more line shuffling, the Devils did control the run of play quite well against Chicago, but you have to remember that the Blackhawks are one of the worst teams in the league. Giving his squad another shakeup tonight wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

The Best of the West

What else is there to say about Winnipeg? They lead the entire Western Conference in both raw points and points%, and they’re actually the only team in the West to have already secured a playoff spot. At 102 points through 72 games played, the Jets have enjoyed a remarkable season to this point.

It really hasn’t been that long since these two teams matched up. As mentioned, the last clash happened earlier this month, and everything that applied then applies now. Connor Hellebuyck will win the Vezina Trophy barring an act of god. He enters tonight with a .924 Save%, a 2.06 Goals Against Average, and six shutouts, all of which lead the league. According to Natural Stat Trick, Hellebuyck’s 33.88 Goals Saved Above Expected leads the entire NHL. He has been the Jets’ clear MVP, and in fact I’d say he has an outside shot at winning the Hart Trophy as league MVP. He’s been that good.

As far as their skaters go, the Jets are led by Kyle Connor. The 28-year old is putting the finishing touches on a monster season, registering 37 goals and 86 points through 72 games.

Winnipeg is far from a one-man show on offense though. Close behind Connor is Mark Scheifele and his 35 goals and 78 points. Three other Jets have at least 50 points (Gabe Vilardi, Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey), and 10 total Jets have at least double digit goals scored (the five I already mentioned, plus Cole Perfetti, Vlad Namestnikov, Nino Niederreiter, captain Adam Lowry, and Alex Iafallo). By the way, if Neal Pionk or Mason Appleton score tonight, they would join the others in the double-digit goal club. Winnipeg has a shockingly deep offense. Yes, a 12.22% team shooting% (2nd in the entire league behind only Washington) helps a lot, and it points to Winnipeg’s offensive production being at least somewhat fluky. But even if the Jets’ shooting binge regresses to the mean next season, it ain’t next season tonight now is it?

Meanwhile, if you were thinking special teams could be an area where the Devils might hold an advantage, I regret to inform you that that’s not the case. Even though New Jersey is 4th in the league in power play success rate (28.1%), the Jets are one of the three teams above them, sitting in 2nd at 29.7%. And while it’s true that the Devils hold the advantage as far as penalty kill success rate (82.3% to Winnipeg’s 79.0%) the difference is small enough to not matter all that much.

The bottom line is, Winnipeg is a great team having a great season. They torched the Devils once, and if New Jersey isn’t careful, they’ll do it again.

Matchup Nightmare

It’s been a little more even in recent years, but the Jets are for whatever reason one of the teams that always seems to give New Jersey a tough time.

Since the 2013-14 season, the Devils have only won five of 21 games against Winnipeg. This included a seven-game losing streak from 2016-17 to 2019-20. New Jersey has managed to split the season series over the last two campaigns, but if they don’t win tonight, it will be yet another season series sweep for the Jets.

Projected Lineup

Here’s how the Jets lined up against the Capitals on Tuesday:

Expect much the same this evening.

Your Take

What do you make of tonight’s game? Do you expect a better effort than the last time these two teams played? Who on Winnipeg will you be watching the closest? As always, thanks for reading!