Hopefully, they have safety precautions ready to go at Benchmark International Arena tonight in case Dano drops his water bottle into the crowd again!
NEMO DOES IT AGAIN! 🤯
GOT THE CALLS! ✅
Well, the Devils (and refs) must’ve read this section of my last article before the WSH game, because it only took the first seven minutes of the game for the Devils to draw 3 penalties — more than their total from their previous 3 road games combined. And, fortunately, they took advantage of these opportunities by burying a PPG and getting the early lead, because everyone knew this was a game the Devils would especially not want to be chasing due to the circumstances!
GRITS HEATIN’ UP 🔥
That PPG I speak of was courtesy of the GRITS ROCKET🚀™️ for his first career road goal and second in his last 4 GP overall. This was the third straight Grits goal that’s come as the first as the game (vs. COL, vs. PIT, @ WSH), and in each of those three games, the Devils have won in OT/SOs.
GETTING HEALTHY BODIES BACK?! 💪
It must be a great feeling inside that room to know that you could be potentially getting Dougie, Brownie, and Dadonov all back in the lineup tonight, as Sheldon said they will all take warmups before making a final decision.
So, with that said, what a tremendous job this team has done weathering the awful, perfect storm of injuries to this point. Even though Dougie might be back tonight, I would be remiss not to give props to Cholowski & White for the job they did, in particular, holding down the fort on the backend! 👏
ETHAN EDWARDS DEBUT?! 👀
Sheldon did not confirm one way or the other regarding Dilly's status for tonight, meaning we will be on "Ethan Edwards' NHL Debut watch" on the latter half of our pregame show as we inch closer to puck drop.
OT STREAK REACHES 5️⃣
If tonight’s game reaches OT again for the sixth straight game, it would mark the longest streak of OT games in franchise history!
BATTLE OF THE BANGED-UP TEAMS 🤕
Tonight, the injury excuse narrative does not apply! Regardless of the fact that both teams appear to be getting key players back in the lineup tonight, TBL is probably the only team that can say they are as banged up as the Devils are right now.
IT'S ALL ABOUT DEFENDING THE RUSH ⚠️
Just like NJD, TBL is a top-10 team in terms of creating chances off the rush. And, just like NJD, they convert those chances into goals at a top-6 rate. So, you don’t want to get into a reckless track meet of rush chances with the Bolts, because they strike like Lightning! 😉
REMATCH FROM GAME #2 🏒
I love the fact that we are going into Game #19, and I can very confidently say that the Devils have carried forward the wolfpack mentality and standard they set here in Tampa back in Game #2!
Remember this historic sequence of team sacrifice the Devils had to close out that win?! ⤵️
Be sure to join Rachel and me on tonight's pregame show as we break down Saturday's HUGE W, Nemo's unreal week, and other NJD players stepping up right now to weather the injury storm as we potentially get some healthy bodies back in the lineup. It all starts at 6:30 p.m. on MSGSN!
-Sal
Here are some additional graphics from Saturday night's broadcast!
