RED WINGS vs DEVILS | PRE-SCOUT | GAME #32

Hey everyone,

It’s a gut-check moment for this Devils team, as we now look back at a third straight loss to start this season-long 5-game homestand. With a 3-day holiday break on the horizon, the Devils should come out and leave absolutely everything they’ve got on the ice tonight vs. DET. As a player, you want nothing more than to go into the holiday break ending on a positive note. It was extremely tough to watch the Devils play on Thursday night. They came out flat, were pushed around by the Oilers in the first period, and lost a vast majority of the 50/50 contested pucks. Coach Ruff did a great job changing goalies early on to reset things with a quick “stealth timeout,” but, like he said postgame, the Devils did not come prepared and were outcompeted from start to finish.
Despite taking the lead in the 2nd period, the Devils were still outshot 18-6 in the middle frame (7-2 from the Slot / HD areas) and did not generate a single scoring chance off the cycle after the 1st period. To have the lead at the 2nd intermission and then concede 3 goals in the opening 2:49 of the 3rd period is utterly unacceptable in any circumstance. It was not a game they deserved to win, and the result reflected that.

This is now the 5th time this season that the Devils have conceded 6 or more goals, meaning they have already surpassed last season's total (4 games w/ 6+ GA last season) in just 31 games.

With Vitek and Akira, my primary concern is where their individual confidence levels are at right now. The last thing you want is for your tandem to have doubt in their own ability to make timely saves. Going into the holiday break, a bounce-back effort and win would go a long way, mentally, for tonight's starter and for the team as a whole.
In the Devils' most recent clash with the Red Wings, in DET on Nov. 22, coach Ruff deemed the team's 4-0 L the worst performance he has seen in his 4 seasons behind the Devils’ bench.

In this contest, the Devils were limited to just 16 shots on goal and were shut out for the first time since Apr. 24, 2022, which also happened to be against DET. You'd have to go back to March 2, 2017, to find a game NJD had fewer shots on goal in a game (15 SOG in 1-0 L in WSH).

Now, it’s not that the Devils aren’t generating shot attempts against the Red Wings this season: they have actually accumulated more SATs than DET in the two games against them this season. Instead, the problem lies in the fact that the Devils are missing the net 21.5 times per game, the exact same rate as they are hitting the net (21.5 shots on goal per game).

With blocked attempts also factored in, the Devils have hit the net on only 35% of their SATs against the Red Wings this season. That is the 2nd lowest % against any team in a season series (2+ GP) since the stat was first tracked in 2015-16, only trailing TOR's 34% against ARI back in the 2018-19 season.In the third and final matchup tonight, DET’s projected starter (Michael Hutchinson) is yet to play a game this season — I would like to see the Devils throw numerous pucks on him early to test him. He will be rusty.

DET is a team that just allowed 6 goals on 43 shots in their shootout win over PHI last night. Hit the net!Taking a look at some of the Red Wings’ numbers, this team is scoring a boatload of goals (#3) on the 22nd expected goal rate in the league, meaning that they are executing very well offensively this season. Last night, they scored 6 on the Flyers in regulation, who are a top-10 team defending in terms of goals against this season.

The Devils, conceding 3.61 goals per game (#30), are just bleeding goals, which does not match them up well with DET from a defensive standpoint. Hopefully, this does not turn into a second consecutive game where the Devils give up goals in bunches to a high-powered offense.As for the special teams matchup, DET is drawing the 2nd highest rate of penalties per game, converting at the 14th-best rate on their PP. The Devils, still holding on by a thread to their #1 PP rank, are trending down over 20% in terms of their penalties drawn per game across the last 5 GP (#12 lowest rate of drawn pens on the season). However, they will be facing a Red Wings team that is taking 3.8 penalties per game (#4 most) with a relatively inefficient penalty kill to bail themselves out (#20).

The Devils have only drawn 1 penalty in the past 2 games (PP: 1/1 vs. PHI & 0/0 vs. EDM), but, could have a few opportunities tonight to get their #1 ranked PP units back on the ice and clicking, considering their opposition has trouble staying out of the box. As coach Ruff stated postgame on Thursday, if you’re not drawing penalties, that’s an indication that your team isn’t skating well, winning the one-on-one battles, or beating guys to the net.

Both teams are struggling with their respective goaltending situation, as DET is without goaltenders Ville Husso and Alex Lyon due to injuries, and the Devils have a #29 ranked -0.33 GSAE on the season. The Red Wings' netminders have recorded only 16 quality starts this season (#20), just 3 more than the Devils' 13 (#29).Hopefully, NJD can take advantage of some uncertainty here with Hutchinson making his season debut tonight for DET. Don't let him settle in!After Thursday night's loss, the Devils currently have a 16-13-2 record; 6th in the Metropolitan Division; 4 PTS behind CAR for the 2nd wildcard spot with 2 games in hand.There are no excuses for tonight, facing a Red Wings team that is in the second half of a back-to-back. The Devils should come out with relentless desperation and steamroll this team. You cannot afford to continue falling behind, as points are piling up in the East, and in the Metro division, specifically. In fact, 10 of the past 13 divisional games within the Metro have gone to OT, which does not do the Devils any favors!

Tonight's matchup is against a team right there with them on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. I hope to see a huge 2 PTS find their way under the trees of Devils Nation on Monday; not left on the table. Must win tonight!
-Sal