Hey, Devils fans. Here are a few things I'm thinking about as we get set for tonight's broadcast in DAL.
DOUGIE’s 900th GAME
I want to start off this article by congratulating Dougie on reaching the 900-game milestone tonight!!! Dougie has played so well since being a healthy scratch back in January — 4-16–20 PTS in 24 GP, including 9 PTS in 12 GP since the Olympic break. Hopefully, the Devils can pull off a W for him like they did back in his 800th game (which coincided with Bratter’s 500th game).
GOTTA SUPPORT JAKER
Well, the story of the Washington game was quite simple. Jake Allen stood on his head, and unfortunately, the Devils couldn't find a way to reward him by at least getting the game to OT.
When I saw Jaker finished the night with 3.30 Goals Saved Above Expected, I had to dig a little deeper because I did not think I had seen a GSAE this high in a loss before, or at least in a very long time.
Turned out, my hunch wasn't far off... It was the fourth-best performance in a loss by any goalie in the league this season. 😳
The Devils should be coming out guns blazing looking to score Jaker the first goal tonight, which they haven't done in each of his last 8 losses.
BRATT ATTACK
Another positive storyline from the WSH game was that Bratter and Jack both extended their point streaks to five games.
And not to get greedy, but another goal tonight would extend Bratter’s goal streak to four, and make it the longest goal streak of his career. 👀 (In the past three seasons, he has 14 Goals in 22 games coming off 3+ Days of Rest (#2 NHL), including 3 Goals in 2 GP this season in this situation. So, I’m feeling good about his chances to do so!)
But on a bigger-picture note, it has been encouraging to see that, despite the Olympic drama he went through with Team Sweden’s head coach, the Olympics became a catalyst for Bratter, as he now has 4-10–14 PTS in 12 GP since the break.
Hopefully, Bratter can keep this mojo going and finish the season strong, because it’s really been since the Christmas break that he’s been finding the back of the net more consistently. In fact, he is shooting 15.1% during this span, which is the exact same rate he shot at in his career-high 32-goal season!
We would all love for Bratter to score 30+ goals every year. Unfortunately, despite negligible differences in the rate of shots and chances you’re generating between seasons or stretches of games, the puck just doesn’t go in for you. I'm hoping that next season, pucks will fall in for Bratter, and his shooting % is consistently hovering around or above his career average of 12.1%! As I’ve talked about in previous articles, this team cannot afford to have the “Core Four” — Bratter, Timo, Jack, and Nico — all go through long stretches of games at the same time where they are shooting as low as 2%.
WYATT JOHNSTON & THE STARS
Wyatt Johnston's career year and historic body of work on the PP are a huge reason why DAL is still in the dog fight for the Central Division and Western Conference titles with COL, despite key injuries up front to Rantanen, Hintz, and Seguin, who is done for the season.
You can't afford to give DAL#53 time and space tonight, especially on the PP! ⤵️
- A-GAME REQUIRED
- The Stars are one of the hottest teams in the league over their last 21 games, going 16-3-2 during that span, thanks in part to a franchise-record 10-game win streak. Though three of their five Ls/OTLs came this past week, as they are 1-2-1 in their Last 4 GP. So, the Stars will come out like gangbusters to prevent a three-game winless streak.
- This will be the first of a stretch against three very, very good teams (DAL, NSH, CAR) playing critical hockey right now, and each will challenge the Devils to bring their A-game in order to maintain a competitive brand of hockey. In the Stars' case, we know they want to avoid a first-round series against Minnesota and instead play a wildcard team, and they will need almost every point possible to get the job done. I’m excited to see another outstanding performance from Jake Allen, allowing the skaters in front of him to find their best game and play spoiler on that tonight!
Join Rachel and me for our pregame show tonight as we dive deeper into it all on the air! LGD.
-Sal
