The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (25-22-2) @ Edmonton Oilers (25-17-8)<\/p>\n
Last Devils Game<\/p>\n
Late Monday night (on the East Coast) the Devils defeated the Calgary Flames 2-1.<\/a> The teams went scoreless in the period until Dawson Mercer added his 13th goal of the season at 7:51 of the 2nd period. Dougie Hamilton continued showing why he should have been benched earlier this season, and put up another assist. Apparently accountability does make some people play better. Who knew?<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n In typical Devils fashion, Calgary tied the game up less than 2 minutes later on a goal from Nazem Kadri, his 9th of the season with a helper from our old pal Kevin Bahl. The teams would again go scoreless in the 3rd period. Simon \u201cI\u2019m the only clutch scorer on the team\u201d Nemec did what he does best, and scored a goal when the team needed it to give the Devils the 2-1 win in OT. <\/p>\n Yes, it was the 28th place in the league Calgary Flames, but Jacob Markstrom did his job, so credit where credit is due. A win is a win, so the Devils will take the 2 points and move on.<\/p>\n Last Oilers Game<\/p>\n On Sunday, the Oilers defeated the St. Louis Blues 5-0 at home.<\/a> The win wrapped up a very successful weekend for the Oilers, which saw them win back to back games on Saturday and Sunday with back to back shut out wins; 6-0 against Vancouver and 5-0 against St. Louis. In their last 3 games, Edmonton has only allowed 1 goal, and scored 11. Yes, it\u2019s not news to most NHL fans, but the Oilers can score goals. Must be nice.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Oilers scored 3 goals in the first period, to pretty much wrap the game up early against St. Louis. Edmonton added 2 more \u201cinsurance\u201d goals in the 2nd and 3rd, and pretty much coasted to a victory. Honestly, looking at the box score, I forgot teams can win with a shut out. Connor McDavid didn\u2019t score, but the freak of nature had 2 assists on the night to bring his assist total for the season up to 55. Must be nice.<\/p>\n Connor Ingram got the win on Sunday, and I would assume that Tristan Jarry will get the start tonight. The shut out against St. Louis brings the season total for Edmonton to 5 shut outs on the season so far. Must be nice.<\/p>\n It would be nice if the Devils could have as many shutouts as the Oilers. However, considering the Devils have scored 41 less goals than the Oilers this season (170 vs 129), it doesn\u2019t really matter if you get the shut out from your goalies, when you can\u2019t put the puck in the other team\u2019s net. You see what I did there? Because the Devils like to put the puck in their own net. Get it?<\/p>\n Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.<\/p>\n Last night, Jacob Markstrom started his 4th game in a row (yes, you read that right). One would assume that he got the start last night so that Jake Allen would get the back to back start tonight against Edmonton. As I\u2019ve said before though, if this season has taught anyone anything, it\u2019s that who knows what can happen. I HIGHLY doubt Markstrom starts his 5th game in a row and plays on back to back nights, but I also didn\u2019t think in October that a game against the Flames in late January would be considered a \u201cmust win\u201d game, yet, here we are.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a while since the Devils had an injury, but it looks like the bug is back folks. Luke Hughs left the game early last night and did not return. Per Amanda Stein, he will miss the rest of the road trip and possibly longer. One would assume that Johnathan Kovacevic will take his spot tonight.<\/p>\n Grimace\u2019s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker<\/p>\n Grimace has decided to throw his hat back in the ring tonight and make a prediction again. You\u2019re not going to like it though. He has predicted a 5-0 Edmonton win tonight. You heard it here first.<\/p>\n Grimace\u2019s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 12-10-0.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Your Take<\/p>\n The Devils did defeat Edmonton back on October 18th, during the 8 game win streak (remember that?). However, the differences between THAT Devils team and THIS Devils team are so massive, they might as well have different names. As always, I would love for the Devils to win again tonight, and finally get their season back on track. Realistically, I think we\u2019re going to be treated to a show by the best player in the NHL. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!<\/p>\n In a shameless bit of non hockey related self promotion (approved by Chris \u2013 thanks Chris), I wanted to plug my brand new podcast on here, if any of you are interested in listening. We have a light hearted, fun discussion about any movies, music or video games mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. Please feel free to listen to us on any of the formats below and any feedback is welcome (positive and negative). Also, please follow us and subscribe, even if you think we stink. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n