Hey, Devils fans!
Back-to-backs are always a grind, but man, does it make it fun to play two games in 24 hours when you’re riding high on a 5-game win streak. Hopefully, the Devils can make it 6 in a row tonight for the first time since the franchise-recording-tying 13-game win streak in 2022!
The Devils keep on checking boxes! After checking off the all-important box last night of getting Sheldon his first win against TOR, the next item on my 2025-26 checklist is for the Devils to pick up a higher rate of points from B2B sets this season, considering they have 15 sets. Last season, the Devils had 12 sets, and only won 3 games on the second night of those 12 sets. Tonight will be a great test for the Devil to immediately squash that narrative, just like they’ve done with the other items on this checklist. This a rested, hungry MIN team in town tonight that is coming off a gutsy 3-1 W at the Garden, so the Devils are going to have to continue to find ways to potentially win with their “B-Game.” 
The theme of the Devils finding different ways to win continues. Yes, we are only 6 games in, but the fact that this team is understanding earlier what type of game they’re facing is allowing them to make adjustments earlier, which in turn allows them to build their game quicker. What is also encouraging is that they are finding success in executing their game plan. I asked Sheldon last night about the Devils’ ability to counter TOR’s #1-ranked rush game, as they outchanced TOR 8-4 at ES in this department, and Sheldon was especially pleased with this himself.
Vintage Jack made his third consecutive appearance. Jack is now up to 6 goals in his L3 GP following his hatty in TOR, and looking a little more granular, we brought up in the broadcast last night the fact that Jack has now scored the Devils’ first goal - in the second period - in three straight games. I know, this is a very “specific” stat, but it goes to show the impact of the goals Jack is scoring right now - especially when you consider that two of the three were GTGs that led to Ws.
We can’t talk about peanut butter without talking about jelly, right?! Bratter had the primary apple on all three of Jack’s goals last night (and 5 of Jack’s 6 total goals on the season!), and as a result, he is continuing to build his resume as Mr. October. Hopefully, we get some more of this elite PB&J production tonight at the Rock!
Dano and I love to talk about it almost every game, but this is the first game in which you really want to emphasize staying out of the box. MIN’s PP is what drives their team’s offense, as they’ve scored 10 of their 18 goals this season on the PP. Look, from an individual standpoint, 70% of Kaprisov’s PTS (7 of 10) and 60% of Boldy’s PTS (6 of 10) are coming from the PP. Bottom line is that, if you want to keep their big guns off the scoresheet, you have to stay out of the sin bin or these guys will make you pay.
Nico Daws will get his first start of the season tonight. I hope we see that same calm, composed version of Dawsy that was exuding confidence last season while Marky was injured. Tracking back since January of last season, he and Jake have been outstanding in their 16 combined GP as a tandem, posting a 9-5-0 record, .929 Sv%, 2.10 GAA, & 3 SHOs. What a luxury it is to have these two guys step in. We’re all rooting for a big game from Dawsy tonight!
Tune in at 6:30 p.m. to our MSGSN pregame show tonight as I chat live with Brenden Dillon! I'm looking forward to Cory Schneider joining Rachel & I at the desk tonight!!
-Sal
Here is some additional content from last night's broadcast! 
