Captain Nico and Jesper Bratt both reach the 30-goal mark in the same game!
GOTTA LOVE THE NEW LINES
With Curtis Lazar joining Bastian and Wood on the sidelines because of injuries, coach Ruff needed to overhaul all four forward lines in an attempt to find some chemistry for Timo and a line combination that would get Jack Hughes firing back at his elite point production rate of 1.34PTS/GP before his injury. So, this is what he rolled out with for Sunday night's game vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning. Boy, did these lines get the job done!
MEIER • HISCHIER • BRATT
The newly formed line of centering Nico between Meier and Bratt was like watching a line that had been together all year. They were in sync all night and dominated their competition in all zones of the ice. Their chemistry was instantaneous, and it was only fitting that both Nico and Jesper scored their 30th goal of the season in the same game and that Bratter's 1st career hattrick put an exclamation mark on the line's performance.
HAULA • HUGHES • MERCER
The experiment of placing Jack with Palat and Bratt vs. the Panthers Saturday night went terribly. So, Coach Ruff finally reunited Jack with Mercer and Haula. Even though they didn't score a goal vs. TBL, analytically, they had a solid game out-chancing their matchups 9 to 1, and didn't concede one high-danger chance (5-0). This combination of Jack with Haula and Mercer has been Jack's best offensive trio all season. 5v5, no other line combination that included Jack scored more goals (11 total). The decision to reunite Jack with Haula and Mercer was a no-brainer.
PALAT • BOQVIST • TATAR
When you look at this line's 5v5 numbers, initially, you will say this was the line that performed the worst out of all four lines. At face value, yes, that is correct; however, you must factor in that this line was whom Coach Cooper elected to have Stamkos' line match up against all night. TBL figured this matchup would get the job done for them. So, when you add in this fact, maybe you'll re-revisit your thought process and say, "You know what?" This line outshot their matchups 5-3 and went head-to-head in overall chances(4-4) and high-danger ones, too, (2-2). In my book, not surrendering a goal when Boqvist faced Stamkos for 7:04 TOI 5v5 was winning your matchup!
FOOTE • MCLEOD • SHARANGOVICH
Honestly, I was surprised to see how strong this line played. Going into that game, I thought this line would struggle considerably against their TBL matchups. So, I have to give them tremendous credit because, when all was said and done, the shot attempts were 13-7 in their favor, they outshot their matchups 6-3, didn't concede any high-danger chances against (2-0), and Foote scored a huge goal to extend the Devils' lead to 4-2. It was a tremendous effort from this line, and hopefully, Coach Ruff will keep them together for another game tonight against the Wild.
PRE-SCOUT REPORT
PLAYERS IN CURRENT POINTS STREAKS:
STATS COURTESY OF SPORTLOGIQ AND NATURAL STAT TRICK
