Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

G14 New Jersey Devils @ Toronto Maple Leafs: Five things to watch

November 9, 2018, 11:17 AM ET [30 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell

Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the Toronto Maple Leafs:

1. Jesper Bratt's return

The 20-year-old Swede will be making his long-anticipated debut. It couldn't come at a better time with the Devils dropping four of their first five on this extended road trip and getting little secondary scoring in the process. Bratt won't erase that issue but he should help mitigate it. He'll also give the Devils another guy who can transport the puck through the neutral zone, which they could certainly use.

2. Stingy defense

If you ask 10 people what Toronto's biggest problem is, nine of them will say team defense. It's easy to understand why. The right side of Toronto's blue line, in particular, is scary for the wrong reasons and their style of play generally lends itself to a good dose of chances against. That hasn't been the case, though – at least not of late. Over the last five games, Toronto has conceded just 32 high-danger chances at 5v5.

For perspective, it's felt like the Devils have been very pedestrian offensively and they still generated 60 high-danger chances at 5v5 over the same span.

The Leafs have done a great job of bottling teams up and keeping things to the outside. Creating offense at 5v5 tonight could be tougher than you'd think.

3. NJ PK vs TOR PP

Toronto's power play is lethal. Even without Auston Matthews, they're not a unit you want to mess with. They rank 2nd in Corsi For/60, 2nd in Expected Goals For/60, and 5th in Goals For/60.

While New Jersey's penalty kill hasn't been as good of late (hmmm, I wonder why), they're still a top-10 unit in terms of shot suppression.

It'll be interesting to see who wins this matchup tonight. Given the Devils' inability to stay out of the box, we could see a lot of it.

4. A potential goaltending duel

Frederik Andersen and Keith Kinkaid are off to really strong starts this year. Among 38 goaltenders to play at least 250 minutes at 5v5 thus far, Andersen ranks 9th with a .935 save percentage and Kinkaid ranks 10th with a .934SV%. They are also both top-10 in Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA).

5. A 4th line mismatch

Toronto looks to have a decent sized edge when it comes to 4th lines. Their unit owns a 52.12 Corsi For% and +13 chance differential in ~53 minutes together. Brian Boyle and J.S. Dea are rocking a 43.86 CF% in ~62 minutes on the same line. Some shooting luck has really masked their struggles and I'm not sure how much Miles Wood will be able to prop them up.

Here are the projected lineups.

New Jersey Devils

Taylor Hall - Nico Hischier - Kyle Palmieri
Marcus Johansson - Brett Seney -Jesper Bratt
Blake Coleman - Travis Zajac - Joey Anderson
Brian Boyle - J.S. Dea - Miles Wood

Mirco Mueller - Sami Vatanen
Andy Greene - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy

Keith Kinkaid

Toronto (via DailyFaceoff.com)

Zach Hyman - John Tavares - Mitch Marner
Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - Kasperi Kapanen
Andreas Johnsson - Par Lindholm - Connor Brown
Tyler Ennis - Frederik Gauthier - Josh Leivo

Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott - Igor Ozhiganov

Frederik Andersen

Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on MSG+, TSN4, and TVAS.

Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and Corsica.Hockey.

Recent Posts

​On Zacha, Zajac, and defense shot contributions

Predicting the Metro Division standings in 2018-19
Join the Discussion: » 30 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Todd Cordell
» Thank you
» On the Chayka rumors and finalists for the Devils' GM job
» Notes on quotes from Lindy Ruff's appearance on 31 Thoughts
» The New Jersey Devils may not have hired the coach they wanted
» Notes on quotes from Ruff, Fitzgerald, and Devils ownership