New Jersey Devils (17-24-7 41pts) @ Columbus Blue Jackets (25-16-8 58pts)
Game Recap:
Good evening Devils fans! Tonight your New Jersey Devils are on the road for their final game before the bye week and All-Star break as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Devils goaltender Cory Schneider is making his first start since he was demoted to the American Hockey League to help get his game back on track. Unfortunately for the Devils, they wouldn’t go into the break on a high note. Cam Atkinson would score to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead as it was the only goal of the first period.
Period Number two saw the Blue Jackets explode with four goals. Devils starting goaltender Cory Schneider was pulled in favor of Mackenzie Blackwood who just returned from battling injuries. Blue Jackets goals came from Cam Atkinson (second of the game), Jakub Lilja, Nick Foligno, and Alexander Wenberg.
The third and final period continued the stifling defense by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus did a great job as they kept limiting the New Jersey Devils offensive opportunities as they did all game long. The Blue Jackets defeated the Devils by a final score of 5-0. New Jersey is back in action after the All Star game as they head north of the border to take on the Ottawa Senators.
New Jersey Devils (17-23-7 41pts) @ Washington Capitals (32-11-5 69pts)
Game Recap:
Good evening Devils fans! Tonight your New Jersey Devils head back down to the beltway for a rematch of last weekends game against the Washington Capitals. Previously the Devils defeated the Caps in a dominant 5-1 victory. In the first period, the Capitals thought they had an early 1-0 lead except, after further video review it was determined the play was offsides. However towards the end of the first, Alex Ovechkin would strike twice to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead going into period two. Ovechkin would score his first goal on the power play and his second off of a win of a faceoff.
Carl Hagelin who had his first goal waived off due to video review in the first period, scored sixteen seconds into the second period to give the Caps a 3-0 lead. Seconds later, Wayne Simmonds would drive the puck to the net and would score his fifth goal of the season and get the Devils on the board. Those would be the only goals as the score would see the Capitals leading the Devils 3-1.
Early on in the third period, the Devils would get the score within one goal while the Capitals were on the power play. Blake Coleman continues his dominance shorthanded as he would get a lucky bounce off of John Carlson’s stick and would score on a breakaway. However, the Devils efforts tonight weren’t enough as the Caps scored two more times. Capitals goals came Jakub Vrana and Alex Ovechkin who would complete the hat trick. New Jersey is back in action on Saturday for the final game before their scheduled bye week and All Star break against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Tonight’s final score saw the Devils losing to the Capitals 5-2.
Lineups:
New Jersey Devils
Here’s your #NJDevils lineup tonight against Washington.
âš ï¸ Mueller went off the ice early, so possibly Carrick moves in there. Wait and see. 🔸 McLeod in, Rooney out (sick) 🔹 Mueller in, Carrick out 🥅 Domingue pic.twitter.com/vLkrcWmWXi
New Jersey Devils (17-22-7 41pts) v. Washington Capitals (31-11-5 67pts)
Game Recap:
In Washington the Capitals would play their last home game before they take their Bye Week to enter the NHL All Star Break as they play host to the New Jersey Devils. In the first period the Capitals would think they would get the first goal of the game on a Carl Hagelin tally, but after a Coach’s Challenge the goal would be overturned due to the play being offsides. The Capitals would bounce back though as they would get a five on three powerplay opportunity that would Alex Ovechkin net his 29th of the season to take the 1-0 lead, then with less than a minute left in the period Ovechkin would net his second of the game and 30th of the season to give the Capitals the two goal lead heading into the first intermission.
In the second period the Devils would start the period with Cory Schneider in net to replace Louis Domingue (who would leave the game due to a lower body injury), but it would not be a good start for Schneider as Hagelin would get his goal back with the first shot of the period 16 seconds into the second to give the Capitals the three goal lead. However, less than a minute later the Devils would respond as Wayne Simmonds would net his fifth of the season to cut the Capitals lead back to two. The Devils would get a pair of powerplays, but would be unable to shrink their deficit anymore than it was, but they would hold the Capitals off the board when they would get an extended powerplay due to a Sami Vatanen double minor for high sticking.
In the third period the Capitals would get an early powerplay, but Blake Coleman would strike with the shorthanded tally for his 19th of the season, and to cut the Devils deficit to one. However, after dodging a bullet with a potential high stick call that got overturned after a review, Tom Wilson would feed Ovechkin as he would net his third of the game to complete the hat trick and give the Capitals the 5-2 victory.
Lineups:
New Jersey Devils:
Miles Wood — Nico Hischier — Jesper Bratt
Blake Coleman — Travis Zajac — Nikita Gusev
Pavel Zacha — Jack Hughes — Wayne Simmonds
Jesper Boqvist — Michael McLeod — John Hayden
Andy Greene — P.K. Subban
Damon Severson — Sami Vatanen
Will Butcher — Mirco Mueller
Louis Domingue
Cory Schneider
Scratched: Connor Carrick, Kevin Rooney
Injured: Ben Street (upper body), Kyle Palmieri (lower body), Mackenzie Blackwood (upper body)
Here’s your #NJDevils lineup tonight against Washington.
âš ï¸ Mueller went off the ice early, so possibly Carrick moves in there. Wait and see. 🔸 McLeod in, Rooney out (sick) 🔹 Mueller in, Carrick out 🥅 Domingue pic.twitter.com/vLkrcWmWXi
Washington Capitals (31-11-5) vs New Jersey Devils (17-22-7)
Predicted Goaltender
Record
GAA / SV% / # SO
Washington Capitals
Ilya Samsonov
13-2-1
2.11 / .925 / 1
New Jersey Devils
Louis Domingue
3-5-0
3.55 / .884 / 0
Goaltender matchup
After ending a two-game losing streak for the second time in the month of January, the Washington Capitals are looking ahead as they take on the New Jersey Devils for the second time in five days. Last Saturday, the Devils stomped the Caps by a score of 5-1.
On Monday night, the Washington Capitals shutout the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 to split their season series two wins apiece. It was of upmost importance for Todd Reirden’s club to come back and exhibit a good showing after what was the Caps’ worst game of the season versus the Devils. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, with his 27th and 28th goals of the season, surpassed Teemu Selanne and now sits at 11th all-time. It was Ovechkins’ 129th career multi-goal game. Just short of the 12-minute mark, Alex Ovechkin potted his first of the game. The first period saw four Washington power plays, and it was the fourth opportunity on the man-advantage that would end with the puck behind Petr Mrazek. Ovechkin scored his 2nd of the game on the power play with just under three minutes left in the opening frame. Carolina received three consecutive power plays in the second period, but Washingtons’ 2nd ranked penalty kill kept the Canes off the board. Washington was gifted two more power play chances in the third but did not convert. Most notably, was the extraordinary goaltending of young Ilya Samsonov. The young Russian goaltender marked his first career shutout, and tallied the Capitals’ first shutout of the season. With the win, Samsonov has won his last eight starts. Ilya Samsonov will make his second consecutive start for the Capitals, as he will start against the Devils.
On Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils played the Toronto Maple Leafs, where they lost by a score of 7-4. Heading into Tuesday’s game, the Devils had previously won their last two games, where they outscored their opponent 8-2, including their defeat over the Capitals. Early in the first period John Tavares scored his 18th of the season, giving the Leafs an early lead. Not even five minutes later, Frederik Gauthier improved that lead to 2-0. PK Subban was called for interference with about two minutes left in the first. With just four seconds before the expiration of the period, Zach Hyman potted his 12th of the season, on the power play. The second period saw the Devils’ first goal of the game, off of Coleman’s stick, sandwiched by two more Toronto goals. William Nylander and Auston Matthews added to the Leafs’ already-hefty lead. Matthews’ 32nd of the year also came on the Toronto power play (Coleman, high-sticking). Auston Matthews tallied his second of the game just three minutes and 58 seconds into the third period. New Jersey elected to pull Louis Domingue in favor of finishing the game with Cory Schneider, who hasn’t played since November 8th. Blake Coleman would go on to score two more goals in the third, marking his first career hat trick. His second of the game was scored at at the 12-minute mark, and his third three minutes and 35 seconds later. Coleman has 7 goals in his last 8 games. With two minutes left in the game, Martin Marincin was called for hooking, and PK Subban would end up scoring for the Devils on the power play, marking the score, 6-4. The Devils elected to pull Schneider for the extra skater in hopes of bringing them within one of the Leafs, but Auston Matthews would go on to score his own hat-trick, with his third goal of the game coming as an empty-net goal. Louis Domingue, who tallied just his second win of the season over the Capitals a few days ago, is expected to start for the Devils.
The New Jersey Devils are still without Ben Street (DL, upper body). Both Kyle Palmieri (lower body), and goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood are listed as day-to-day.
Coverage of the game begins at 6:00pm with Caps Faceoff Live, followed by Caps Pregame Live at 6:30pm, all on NBCSN/NBCSWA, with puck drop shortly after 7:00pm.
New Jersey Devils (17-22-7 41pts) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (25-16-6 56pts)
Game Recap:
After two exciting wins over two of the best teams in the NHL, tonight the Devils head north of the border to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately for the Devils, they were no match for the high flying and offensively skilled young Maple Leafs. New Jersey got off to a poor start as they gave up three goals in the first period. Leafs goals came from John Tavares, Frederick Gauthier, and Zach Hyman to take a 3-0 lead going into the second period.
Despite getting Blake Coleman’s sixteenth goal of the season, things continued to get worse for the Devils as Toronto struck two more times as William Nylander and Auston Matthews each scored. Devils starting goalie Louis Domingue was pulled in favor of backup Cory Schneider. After two periods, the Toronto Maple Leafs would lead the New Jersey Devils 5-1.
Period three wasn’t any better for the Devils as Auston Matthews scored his second goal of the game extending the Maple Leafs lead. Blake Coleman moments scored his second goal of the game as well to make the deficit only four goals. Later on in the period, Coleman struck again as he completed the hat trick and currently has eighteen goals to add to his already strong season so far. Moments later, PK Subban would get in on the offense and get the Devils within two goals on a late period power play. However it didn’t matter, as Auston Matthews would score and complete his hat trick and give the Leafs the win with a final score of 7-4. New Jersey is back in action as they have a rematch with the Washington Capitals on Thursday night after defeating them 5-1 this past Saturday night.
Lineups:
New Jersey Devils
Here’s your #NJDevils warmup lineup against Toronto.
New Jersey Devils (17-21-7 41pts)vs Tampa Bay Lightning (27-14-4 58pts)
Game Recap:
Good Evening Devils fans! Before tonight’s game, there were certainly some changes that had things around the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey buzzing! First the Devils recalled Cory Schneider from their AHL Binghamton affiliate. Secondly, rookie sensation Jack Hughes was announced to return to the lineup from injury. However, the biggest news on the day was the shocking dismissal of GM Ray Shero. The dismissal was very surprising and definitely shocked the hockey world. Nonetheless, the New Jersey Devils have a matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. The Lightning are the hottest team with a ten game winning streak heading into tonight’s game. Speaking of which, it was an exciting first period with many offensive chances between the two teams. However, it would remain scoreless going into period two.
Period two started off with a bang as Tyler Johnson scores his eleventh goal of the season to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. However, a few minutes later Devils captain Andy Greene would score his first of the season to tie the game at 1-1. At the 9:54 mark, Travis Zantac would tip in a Nikita Gusev shot to give the Devils a 2-1 lead. That score would stand heading into the third period.
In the third period, each team traded some Grade A offensive chances. The Devils almost extended their lead to 3-1 on a Nikita Gusev goal however, it was determined to be no goal on the play as Blake Coleman made contact with goalie Curtis Mcelhinney. With the net empty, the Devils were able to shut the door on the Lightning and Miles Wood would add an empty net goal to give the Devils a 3-1 victory. The Devils snapped the Lightning’s 10 game winning streak. Tonight was the Devil’s final home game before the bye week and NHL All Star game. New Jersey is back in action Tuesday night as they head north of the border to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Good evening Devils fans! Tonight, the New Jersey Devils announced that the team and General Manager Ray Shero have agreed to part ways. Assistant General Manager Tom Fitzgerald will be the interim GM until the Devils have decided on who will be the next General Manager of this franchise. Devils legend Martin Brodeur will be supporting Tom Fitzgerald as an advisor to him and the hockey operations department. Below is a statement from Josh Harris, New Jersey Devils Managing Partner and Chairman:
Like every other hockey writer, this move to “part ways†with GM Ray Shero tonight was very shocking and came completely out of nowhere. Pretty much the way I am understanding this is that Ray Shero got fired ultimately and it seems like Devils ownership was not happy with how Shero was doing his job. Clearly ownership and Shero were not seeing eye to eye here. The timing of this is very odd as the Devils are coming off a 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals last night and are playing the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. The team has also started responding to their interim head coach Alain Nasreddine and they have shown better play lately. Which is another reason why this move is very surprising.
To be completely honest, I am at a loss for words on this move other than to reiterate that this season has been a complete disaster for the New Jersey Devils and that this continues that trend. I imagine the Devils are going to wait until after this season concludes to announce a new general manager and head coach. The Devils will take their time to make sure they have the best leadership possible to help bring back the winning culture this team was once known for. I imagine the new GM and coach will be in place ahead of the NHL draft. Until then, stay tuned Devils fans to see what comes next!
New Jersey Devils (16-21-7 39pts) @ Washington Capitals (30-11-5 65pts)
Game Recap:
Good evening Devils fans! Tonight the New Jersey Devils travel down the beltway to take on the league leading Washington Capitals. The Devils are coming off a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers and are hoping they can match up with the Caps. It would be the Devils surprisingly who would get off to a fast start and get on the board first. Devils defenseman Will Butcher would bank a pass up the boards which sent Nico Hischier on a 2 on 1 and he would drive to the front of the net and put the puck behind Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby to give his team the lead. New Jersey played a fast and aggressive forecheck this period which made the Capitals very uncomfortable. After the first period, the New Jersey Devils would lead 1-0.
Period two saw the Devils completely dominate the Capitals with their speed, transitions, and skill. Nikita Gusev would score off a Will Butcher rebound shot that went right to him and put into the back of the net. Blake Coleman would score a short handed breakaway to give the Devils a 3-0 lead at the time before Jakub Vrana would score for the Capitals on the power play. Moments later, Nico Hischier would get a feed from Kyle Palmieri and would one time the shot behind goalie Braden Holtby. After two periods, the New Jersey Devils would lead 4-1.
In the final period, the Devils completely shut the Capitals down and kept them as they did the majority of the game from scoring. Miles Wood added an empty net goal to seal the victory as the Devils defeated the Caps 5-1. The Devils are back in action tomorrow night as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Lineups:
New Jersey Devils
Here’s your #NJDevils lineup tonight versus Washington:
🔸 Bratt back up on the top line 🔹 Carrick in, Mueller out 🥅 Domingue pic.twitter.com/QrVxEZC0Zz
New Jersey Devils (15-21-7 37pts) v. Washington Capitals (30-10-5 65pts)
Game Recap:
On a Saturday night the Washington Capitals would break out the retro reds and play host to the New Jersey Devils. In the first period it would be the Devils striking firs as Nico Hischier would score his 11th of the season to give the Devils the 1-0 lead. The Capitals would get a late powerplay, but they would not be able to capitalize on the opportunity.
In the second period The Devils would push on the gas a little harder as Nikita Gusev would score his eighth of the season to grow the lead to two. Then while shorthanded on a Miles Wood double minor, Blake Coleman would score shorthanded to grow the Devils lead to three. However, Jakub Vrana would strike on the second half of the powerplay to get the Capitals on the board, but Hischier would net his second of the game to give the Devils the 4-1 lead.
The in the third period the Capitals would get a 5 on 3 powerplay, and with the two man advantage they would not be able to register a single shot on goal to go 0 for 2 on the powerplay for the period. Then with a little over five minutes left in the game the Capitals would pull Braden Holtby for the extra attacker, which would prove to be a very poor decision (which honestly if your down by three you shouldn’t be pulling your goalie, let alone with over five minutes left in the game) as Miles Wood would hit the empty netter to give the Devils the 5-1 victory.
Lineups:
New Jersey Devils:
Jesper Bratt — Nico Hischier — Kyle Palmieri
Blake Coleman — Travis Zajac — Nikita Gusev
Miles Wood — Pavel Zacha — Wayne Simmonds
Jesper Boqvist — Kevin Rooney — John Hayden
Andy Greene — P.K. Subban
Damon Severson — Sami Vatanen
Will Butcher — Connor Carrick
Louis Domingue
Evan Cormier
Scratched: Mirco Mueller
Injured: Jack Hughes (upper body), Ben Street (upper body), Mackenzie Blackwood (upper body)
Washington Capitals (30-10-5) vs New Jersey Devils (15-21-7)
Predicted Goaltender
Record
GAA / SV% / # SO
Washington Capitals
Braden Holtby
18-8-4
2.99 / .901 / 0
New Jersey Devils
MacKenzie Blackwood
14-12-6
2.86 / .907 / 1
Goaltender Matchup
After dropping the second game of their back-to-back to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, the Washington Capitals are back in DC to take on the New Jersey Devils. It certainly helps that the Capitals are 13-4-4 at home, and the Devils are just 9-11-0 on the road, but Washington’s power play is among the worst in the league since the start of December. The Capitals did however defeat New Jersey back on December 20th, 6-3 at Prudential Center.
The Washington Capitals lost to the Philadelphia Flyers back on Wednesday by a score of 3-2. Arguably the Caps’ worst showing of the season thus far, the power play was 0 for 5, and the Flyers ended up scoring shorthanded to break a 2-2 tie. The goal from Kevin Hayes ended up being the game-winning goal for Philadelphia, ending a four-game losing streak. Just three minutes and 24 seconds into the first period, Travis Konecny, the Flyers leading goal-scorer and point-getter, gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead. Nicklas Backstrom, known more for his play-making rather than his goal-scoring, scored his 9th of the season, tying the game at one goal each shortly after the seven-minute mark. The Flyers were gifted one power play in the first period, but luckily Washington kept them off the board. Richard Panik was also assessed a 10-minute misconduct, a penalty that many of us still don’t understand. Jakub Vrana on the delayed penalty gave Washington their first lead of the night, with his 19th of the season. After ending a 10-game scoreless drought, Vrana is on a four-game point streak, and has four goals in three of those four games. TJ Oshie, who was actually attempting to block a shot, prevented Holtby from tracking Robert Hagg’s long-distance slapper. The puck thus ended up behind Holtby as Hagg tallied his first goal of the year late in the first period, once again tying the game, 2-2. The Caps received three power plays in the second period, but only Kevin Hayes would end up scoring. Just short of the 18-minute mark, Kevin Hayes would, on the Capitals power play, score short-handed to give the Flyers back their lead. Washington would be gifted two additional opportunities in the third, but the Flyers were successful in preventing the Caps’ power play units from even setting up in the offensive zone. Since December 1st, Washington’s power play is 30th of 31 teams, and is operating at just 13.7%. Although the loss should not be blamed solely on Capitals netminder Braden Holtby, the veteran has just five wins in his last 11 showings, and has allowed a whopping 33 goals against in those 11 games.
We also need to talk about defenseman Nick Jensen. Both teams allowed way too many turnovers back on Wednesday, but one especially bad turnover by Jensen ended up in the back of Washingtons’ net. The defenseman, who was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings for Madison Bowey and a 2019 5th round pick, has just two assists and posts a -5 through 45 games. Jensen leaves much to be desired, especially after signing a four-year, $10 million contract extension immediately upon being acquired (Lingebach). For comparisons sake, Bowey has two goals and 11 assists, but has played just 33 games, and actually was placed on waivers after posting (-) ratings in three straight games, including a -4 night versus the Leafs. Bowey ultimately cleared waivers, and was then recalled from the AHL due to injuries among the Red Wings defensemen. Capitals general manager Brian Maclellan rarely gets it wrong as far as acquisitions go, but this one leaves many scratching their heads.
Braden Holtby will start for the Capitals tonight.
The New Jersey Devils last played on Thursday, where they lost to the New York Rangers, 6-3. Since the team fired head-coach John Hynes back on December 2nd, the Devils are 6-7-3, and have been outscored 51 to 43. The first period saw five goals, and one overturned goal against the Rangers. Artemi Panarin scored his 24th of the season before the game was six minutes old, giving New York an early lead. On the Rangers power play, Kevin Rooney scored shorthanded for the Devils, tying the game at one goal each (Subban, interference). Defenseman Tony DeAngelo, just under two minutes later, re-established the Rangers lead, and two and a half minutes after DeAngelo’s goal, Chris Kreider on another Rangers power play tallied his 14th of the season, giving New York a 3-1 lead. A late Devils goal from Blake Coleman brought New Jersey within one, heading into the second period. Blake Coleman’s second goal of the game, the game-tying goal, was challenged, but was upheld as a good goal as Jacob Trouba pushed him into the net, dislodging the net from its moorings. Tony DeAngelo scored his second of the game minutes later. The Devils were then called for too-many-men, giving the Rangers another power play. Just short of New Jersey killing off that penalty, they were called for high-sticking. DeAngelo scored his 3rd of the night, marking his first career hat trick on the power play. The Devils elected to pull Blackwood for Louis Domingue, who hadn’t played since December 13th. Play resumed as 4-on-4 after Wayne Simmonds and Trouba were called for matching penalties. With just over seven minutes left in the game, Jesper Fast doubled down on the Devils, scoring the Rangers’ six goal of the night. Kyle Palmieri leads the team with 16 goals and 30 points, with half of his goals coming on the power play. Louis Domingue, who is just 1-4-0, is expected to start for the Devils.
New Jersey will be without MacKenzie Blackwood (OUT, upper body), Ben Street (DL, upper body), and Jack Hughes (OUT, upper body). Hughes, the first overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, is a -10 and has six goals and 10 assists through 36 games (TheScore). Earlier today, the Washington Capitals reassigned defenseman Christian Djoos to the Hershey Bears.
Coverage of the game begins at 6:00pm with Caps Faceoff Live, followed by Caps Pregame Live at 6:30pm, all on NBCSN/NBCSWA, with puck drop shortly after 7:00pm.
