Hey everyone!
What a win on Friday night! The Devils finally started on time and had their best first period of the season so far. They fired 30 shot attempts at Ilya Sorokin, who was in complete Vezina candidate form and unbeatable until Dougie blasted home his third 1T/slap shot goal in four games to give NJD that first, first-period goal we had been looking for. What I love is that the Devils did not take their foot off the gas, finishing with 74 total shot attempts and a full 62:19 effort. Jack, doing what Jack does, then took over and dazzled in OT. His manipulation of the three Islanders on the ice was something special to watch, especially how he turned defenseman Ryan Pulock inside out right before ripping a top-corner snipe.
With another three days between games, the main focus for this team going into Montreal is building upon their solid performance from the Islander game. If the Devils can once again start on time, they could take advantage of a potentially gassed 3-1-1 Canadiens team that is on their second night of a back-to-back and third total game in the past four nights. For me, this game tonight is set up to be a "scheduled loss" for the Canadiens. With that game being in Buffalo last night, the Canadiens would have to clear CDN customs last night also and probably pushed their arrival time to early this morning. You only have so much energy!
Last season, the Devils played well in the Bell Centre, coming out victorious 3-1 and 5-2 in their two meetings with the Habs. Seeing that this will be the first of three games in four nights for the Devils now (at MTL - 10/24; vs. WSH - 10/25; vs. BUF - 10/27), getting two points tonight would kick-start this big week on an excellent note.
After Friday night's win, Erika and I talked on the postgame show about the fact that the Devils have three players inside the top 20 of hits suffered per game (*minimum of 3 games played) — that being Brendan Smith at T-#1 (3.25), and Dawson Mercer / Nico Hischier tied at #18 (2.25). As a whole, the NJD are taking the fourth-highest hits per-game rate (23) of any team. As I explained in the clip below, these stats tell me that teams are coming into games against the Devils and are resorting to physical play in attempts to intimidate them, slow them down, and prevent their speedy, skilled players from gaining the middle of the ice.
Tonight's game shouldn't get much easier from a physicality standpoint. Coming into tonight's game, NJD (23.5) and MTL (23.6) are ranked #3 & #2, respectively, in total team hits they deliver per game. I have to admit that when I initially discovered that the Devils are dishing out the third-highest rate of hits per game, I was pleasantly surprised. Why did I love seeing this stat? It's because it immediately contradicts the common belief among NHL fans that the Devils are a "soft" team and don't know how to play a hard and gritty game. With that being said, I would keep a close eye on MTL#72 Arber Xhekaj, T-#5 in D hits/GP (2.8), MTL#55 Michael Pezzetta, T-#10 in F hits/GP (3.30) & MTL#17 Josh Anderson, who threw a game-high seven hits last time the Devils visited the Bell Centre (March 11).
Now, getting to the power play, Friday night was some of the most effective power play hockey from the Devils we've seen in years… and we can include Islanders fans in that statement, too. You have to go back to March 1, 2014, to find a game where the Isles allowed four power-play goals on home ice, which was against... guess who... the Devils! And for the Devils, that same night was the last time they had scored four goals on the man advantage in a game. Truly impressive, yet eerie at the same time.
Some other history that night: Jaromir Jagr scored his 700th goal, assisted by my former teammates, Trav and Greener, en route to a 6-1 NJD win. And in case you were wondering, no, this goal was not scored on the power play... it was scored at 5v5!
Going into tonight's contest, the Canadiens have been extremely undisciplined, averaging the highest penalty minutes per game rate (23.8 - #32) in the NHL. However, they were #27 in that category (11.6 PIM/GP) last season, yet averaged only 3.3 PIM/GP against the Devils, their lowest rate against any team. Of all 31 Devils' opponents last season, only Chicago took fewer penalties per game against the Devils than Montreal did (1.7 PIM/GP).
The bottom line? The Habs, specifically under head coach Martin St. Louis, clearly had a focus of staying out of the box when they played the Devils last season. Why? Well, the NJD power play has been clicking at a deadly 32% rate against MTL since the start of the 2019 season, their best percentage against any team in this span. With the Devils coming off an 80% (4/5) night in Long Island on Friday and coming in with the #1 ranked PP in the NHL (42.9%), I can't imagine Montreal's focus will change in this one. It will be, "Boys, we need to stay out of the box!"
On the flip side, the Canadiens were only able to draw four penalties total against the Devils last season (2.7 PIM/GP), their lowest rate against any team. Interestingly, on average, 55:03 of the 60:00 TOI/GP in this three-game season series (NJD won 2-1) last year was played at even strength.
So, even with the potential of this being a hard-hitting game, we shouldn't be surprised if we see a lot of 5v5 hockey tonight at the Bell Centre.
As I mentioned above, tonight's game has 'physicality' written all over it. Looking ahead to tomorrow night's game at the Rock, the Devils will hopefully have enough juice left from Montreal to close out the second half of a back-to-back against the Capitals. The obvious storyline is the awful start the Capitals are having at the beginning of their season, both the team and the Great8 Ovi.
Ovechkin, who is sitting at 822 career goals, has gone four games without a goal to open up the regular season in his chase for Gr8ness of Gretzky's 894-goal NHL record. This has only happened two times in his career, the other time being at the start of his 2012-13 season. Should he not score vs. TOR tonight, he will head into New Jersey in his longest goalless drought to start a season off of his career — and as much as we want to see Ovi be successful & make history — hopefully, the Devils can extend this drought just one more game!
For the Caps, this is the first season in franchise history that they have failed to score a PPG in their opening four games. Furthermore, their 1-2-1 (.375 PTS%) record gives them their worst start to a season since their 1-3-0 record in 2013-14 (.250 PTS%). Let's hope that only two games in the past seven days energize this Devils team for a back-to-back against two opponents who are also coming off a game played the prior night. As for this game vs. WSH, TNT will have the coverage, so I'll be back between the benches with the MSG crew Friday night vs. BUF.
Well, let's get back to the main event tonight. Due to ESPN's Frozen Frenzy, our pregame show is at 6:45 PM (yes, 6:45!) tonight on MSGSN 2. During our show, Erika & I will discuss the keys to another strong start, what has been going so well on the power play, Jack Hughes' game being taken to another level, and the team's overall effort.
-Sal
