SHARKS vs DEVILS | PRE-SCOUT | GAME #22

Hey, Devils Fans!

It has been great to see the Devils consistently picking up two points again, regardless of how pretty or ugly. At the end of the season, they don’t ask how, they ask how many, and the Devils just took care of a couple of huge divisional games that gave them a massive swing in the standings.

And yes, it'll be Timo Time as he returns to the lineup against his former team tonight!
Last night's win in PHI was another game that featured extreme highs and extreme lows. Now, the Devils will need to put it behind them and bring a similar effort again tonight, even with a 5-16-2 Sharks team coming to town.

Both teams in this matchup are coming off a back-to-back (SJS lost 3-0 to BOS last night), and we know the Devils got banged up in Philly last night. This will be a gut check as to how this team can continue their streak, dig deep, and perform again with the understanding that there is never a "night off" in the NHL!Luke Hughes stole the show last night at Wells Fargo Center. Not only was he able to fight back from the Hathaway hit, clear protocol, and re-enter the game in the second period, but he went on to score the OT winner!
A fun fact here is that brother Jack (or, "Jacky," as Luke called him during our postgame show!) has now tallied a primary assist on 3 of Luke's 4 career goals; the one outlier being an unassisted goal last Saturday vs. BUF.

Points and stats aside, Luke is showing competitiveness and maturity well beyond his years. We’re all very thankful that he was not seriously hurt.This season has become an extremely impressive sample set for a guy who’s only averaging 10:41 5v5 TOI/GP. Holtz’s effectiveness at 5v5 in relatively limited ice time has just been remarkable, let alone for a 21-year-old.
This is a guy who doesn’t need many opportunities in a game; he’ll pick his spots and make you pay if you give him a shooting lane, and that's what elite snipers do. No surprise that he’s heating up with 3 goals in the last 4 games!

I look forward to chatting with Holtz and continuing to brag about his recent play in tonight’s pregame show.It was announced today that Simon Nemec has been recalled from Utica, following Dougie's placement on Injured Reserve. Unfortunately, this means Dougie will miss significant time with the upper-body injury he suffered in Tuesday's game vs. NYI.

The positive here is that Nemec will get a look at the NHL (regular season) level for the first time. I was impressed with him during preseason play and I'm certainly excited to see what he can bring to the team after recording 8 PTS in 13 AHL GP this season. To read more about Nemec, check out this post.

Unfortunately, in more news this afternoon, Brendan Smith has shockingly been suspended two games for his retaliation of slashing Travis Konecny, who only received a $5,000 fine. I get the NHL really wanting to remove all infractions involving swinging/two-handed slashing with the stick, but the penalties assessed for these actions are unjustified in my opinion.

I have given tons of credit recently to Brendan Smith for his work on the PK and for the tremendous value he brings with his leadership and versatility to maintain his spot in the lineup every night. It's too bad that he'll miss the next couple of games. I mean, just take a look at these numbers going into PHI last night. Now, I'd like to see the Devils focus on playing a complete, disciplined game tonight with one of their better PKers out of the lineup. NJD has conceded 5 PPGs in the last 3 games, and SJS have scored 33.3% of their goals on the PP this season. That's the #2 highest percentage of goals scored on the PP to only the Devils (34.2%). Bottom line, keep this game at 5v5 and control play!Erika and I will get things started at 6:30 PM on MSGSN as we preview the Devils going for their fourth-straight W. I’ll also break down NJD's transition game and talk about Holtz's hot streak plus Toffoli’s mentorship for him this season.
-Sal