The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (20-15-1) at the New York Islanders (19-13-4).

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN 2

For the Fourth (or Better) Divisional Spot

The New Jersey Devils are currently sitting in eighth in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind the New York Islanders, who are fourth in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils may have a chance to tie the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals by points today, but that will depend on their games against the Blackhawks and Rangers, respectively. No matter what, a win today would seal the Devils in at least fourth place in the Metropolitan (regardless of if it’s in regulation, overtime, or a shootout), while the Devils can reach as high as fifth in the Conference and third in the Division if other games break their way.

The New Jersey Devils got three players back on Sunday night in Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, and Arseny Gritsyuk. While Nico Hischier called for everyone on the team to keep up the effort that got them two straight wins last week, only Jack Hughes ended up scoring a goal on Sunday. If this is a preview of how the next several games are going to go, it’s simply unacceptable. The Devils need to remind themselves that Jack does not account for all of the skill on the team, and they could afford to be more aggressive at picking the corners and shooting low and hard for rebounds, getting to the net rather than falling back to constant three-high and boards-heavy muckery.

Do Cotter and Glendening Deserve to Play Over Crookshank and Lammikko?

Related to the last section, a big issue with Sheldon Keefe being unable to roll four lines this season has stemmed from the fourth line’s usual ineffectiveness. The most recent iteration of this line after the return of the three scoring forwards, Cotter-Glendening-Noesen, generated very little in the way of offense on Sunday, finishing well underwater in possession and quality of possession yet again. While Noesen still shows a pretty high level of ability on the power play and in front of the net, Glendening no longer seems like an everyday player. Paul Cotter, meanwhile, has regularly had among the worst on-ice impacts of any of the New Jersey Devils. These are the three by five-on-five goals for percentage and expected goals percentage, along with Juho Lammikko:

Cotter: 11 GF, 20 GA (35.48 GF%), 39.74 xGF%Glendening: 5 GF, 13 GA (27.78 GF%), 35.27 xGF%Noesen: 5 GF, 11 GA (31.25 GF%), 46.67 xGF%Lammikko: 4 GF, 5 GA (44.44 GF%), 43.73 xGF%

Things get really start when you separate Noesen from Glendening. Together, they have a 20.00 GF% and 37.60 xGF%. Glendening drops to a 33.85 xGF% without Noesen, while Noesen rises to a 50.97 xGF% without Glendening. If the Devils want to vastly improve their even strength play, a quick and easy step in the right direction would likely be to replace Glendening with Lammikko in the lineup. I might not suggest this if the penalty kill was doing well, but Glendening has not had enough of an impact there to justify this level of poor five-on-five play.

I could go either way on Cotter. He obviously has a ton of skill, but I’m not sure if his play has justified getting a guaranteed lineup spot. That said, a trio of Cotter, Lammikko, and Noesen has seen some ice time this season, and they have played very well. In about three or four games worth of shifts together, the trio has a 51.12 xGF%, having created two goals while not giving anything up the other way. If they can play a third-line role well together, there’s no reason for Keefe to be hesitant to give them fourth-line minutes.

More Good Goaltending, Please

The New Jersey Devils have recently been blessed with solid goaltending from Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom, who have combined to only give up seven goals over the past five games with a .950 save percentage. Allen took the loss on Sunday after giving up just two goals, and I expect to see Jacob Markstrom in net tonight. Markstrom is up to an .881 save percentage now, and another good game from him should have him in the .884 to .885 range. It’s still not near good enough, but moving in the right direction should ease many troubled minds (including my own) as the Devils reach the Christmas and holiday break. Markstrom last had a shutout on April 5 over the Rangers. Could today be the next one?

What do you think of tonight’s game? Are you going to be able to watch, or are you too busy in the season? Who are you looking for a big performance from? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.