Game Preview #8: New Jersey Devils vs. Washington Capitals

Coming off a solid 3-1 win in Ottawa, the Devils return to New Jersey for their second match of the season against the Washington Capitals

The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (5-2-0) vs. Washington Capitals (2-1-0)

The Time: 7:00pm ET

The Broadcast: MSGSN2, MNMT

Last Devils Game

A 3-1 win over the Senators up in Ottawa on Thursday. Jacob Markstrom was dominant, and he was backed up by goals from Erik Haula, Nate Bastian, and Paul Cotter.

Last Capitals Game

Washington was also in action on Thursday when they hosted the Stars, and they squeaked out a 3-2 win over Dallas. Tom Wilson scored in his third straight game to start the season, and Charlie Lindgren got the win with 22 saves.

Last Devils-Capitals Game

It was exactly one week ago in Washington for the Capitals’ season opener, and it was a 5-3 win for the Devils. The headline from that one was the play of the third line, as Paul Cotter scored twice, and Erik Haula and Stefan Noesen each tallied three assists.

New Look Lines

I went over this in the recap of the game against the Senators, but head coach Sheldon Keefe adjusted his lines prior to the contest in Ottawa. If you need a refresher, here’s how it looked:

Essentially the left wingers on the top three lines shifted spots with each other, so it was less a line blender and more a line nudging. Here is how they performed in the run of play according to Natural Stat Trick (all numbers 5-on-5):

Meier-Hischier-Mercer: 10:31 TOI – 76.53% Expected Goals For%

Cotter-Hughes-Bratt: 10:21 TOI – 44.66% xGF%

Tatar-Haula-Noesen: 5:30 TOI – 65.81% xGF%

Palat-Lazar-Bastian: 7:09 TOI – 8.69% xGF%

An excellent night for the first and third lines, a mediocre night for the second line, and an abysmal night for the fourth line. That Curtis Lazar unit in particular might need an overhaul. In 28:37 of 5-on-5 ice time this season, per NST that trio has combined for an xGF% of 32.63%. By nature of being the fourth line, that combo is getting limited playing time every game. But even if they aren’t getting a lot of minutes, they’re getting caved in every time they take a shift.

The problem is…what do you do about it? Cotter started out on the fourth line but it looks like he won’t be moving back down anytime soon. I really don’t think Kurtis MacDermid would add anything, and I don’t know if, say, switching Tomas Tatar and Ondrej Palat would do much either.

For now, the Devils have a dysfunctional fourth line. If the other three are going to roll over opponents then it might not be a huge issue, but it’s something worth monitoring.

Securing The Crease

Jacob Markstrom was brought in this past offseason to provide some desperately needed stability in net, and while it’s obviously very early, he’s done just that so far. In his five starts this season, Markstrom has given New Jersey a .918 Save% and a 2.43 Goals Against Average. Of those five games, he’s only had one clunker: his 18 save on 22 shot performance in the loss to Toronto in the home opener.

He’s been great beyond the surface numbers too. According to Natural Stat Trick, Markstrom has saved 3.17 Goals Above Expected. His most recent game in Ottawa might have been his best yet, with 30 saves on 31 shots. And he only lost his shutout with 65 seconds left thanks to a late Senators power play goal. Prior to that he was making saves in every way imaginable, keeping his team in the contest until his skaters could finally break through.

Keefe and the Devils have yet to actually announce who will start tonight, so it might not even be Markstrom getting the call. Instead it might be Jake Allen, who has been stellar in his two starts this season as well. He saved 17 of 18 shots in the second half of the season opening back-to-back in Prague against Buffalo, a tidy 3-1 win. And then he gave the Devils their first shutout of the season in the 3-0 win over Utah this past Monday, stopping all 20 shots he faced. So if you’re doing the math, that’s 37 saves on 38 shots for a .974 sv%.

So put simply, New Jersey’s goaltending thus far has been (gasp) quite good. Or put another way…

Obviously a big part of that is the defensive play in front of the goaltenders, but that is still a hugely encouraging sign. The goaltending won’t be this lights out all season long, but the tandem of Markstrom and Allen have held up their end of the bargain in the early going.

The Week That Was In Our Nation’s Capital

It’s only been one week since the Devils last saw the Capitals. As you would imagine, there haven’t been a whole lot of major developments since then, though Washington has certainly impressed in their two games since.

After losing in their season opener to New Jersey, The Caps bounced back with a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. Then they battled the Dallas Stars on Thursday and skated away with another victory, this time by a score of 3-2. That’s two wins over Western Conference teams that some have tabbed as Cup contenders, Dallas especially. Impressive stuff from the Capitals.

New addition Jakob Chychrun scored his first goal with the Capitals against Vegas. Jakub Vrana notched his first goal since returning to Washington in that game as well. Tom Wilson has scored a goal in all three games to start the year, so keeping his hot hand in check tonight will be key. Perhaps most notable of all is the fact that Alex Ovechkin has yet to find the back of the net. It’s only three games, and he does have three assists, but the greatest goal-scorer of his generation (and quite possibly of all time) isn’t shooting up to his usual standards. It would behoove the Devils to make sure it stays that way.

Tonight also marks the Capitals’ first road game of the season, after having played their first three in Washington. With the benefit of the last change this time around, look for Sheldon Keefe to deploy the matchups he wants on home ice.

Potential Lineup

Here’s how the Capitals lined up on Thursday against the Stars:

It’s unclear whether Charlie Lindgren or Logan Thompson will get the call in net. Lindgren is the starter, but New Jersey saw him a week ago and beat him four times, so perhaps Washington coach Spencer Carbery will want to give the Devils a different look tonight.

Your Take

What are you expecting out of tonight’s game? Do you expect the defense and goaltending to put together another strong outing? Who on the Devils will you be watching closely tonight? What about the Capitals? As always, thanks for reading!