Better Call Sal
Salnalysis
Ah, the Flyers. A cure to all woes these days. A nice early holiday present to smack them down even further.
Now we've got our old friend Hynesy returning to the Rock, I wonder what booby traps Pav will lay out for him.
Nothing like starting a winning streak before the holidays right? Here's hoping the boys bring their A game tonight!
Your New Jersey Devils Projected Lineup:
#37 Pavel Zacha - #13 Nico Hischier (C) - #63 Jesper Bratt
#11 Andreas Johnsson - #86 Jack Hughes - #17 Yegor Sharangovich
#16 Jimmy Vesey - #18 Dawson Mercer - #90 Tomas Tatar
#59 Janne Kuokkanen - #20 Michael McLeod - #14 Nathan Bastian
#33 Ryan Graves - #7 Dougie Hamilton (A)
#71 Jonas Siegenthaler - #28 Damon Severson (A)
#24 Ty Smith - #76 P.K. Subban
#29 Mackenzie Blackwood
#45 Jonathan Bernier
Scratches/Injuries:
#12 Tyce Thompson (IR - Shoulder Surgery)
#44 Miles Wood (IR - Hip Surgery)
#55 Mason Geertsen (Healthy)
#70 Jesper Boqvist (Healthy)
#83 Christian Jaros (Healthy)
Nothing like starting a winning streak before the holidays right? Here's hoping the boys bring their A game tonight!
Your New Jersey Devils Projected Lineup:
#37 Pavel Zacha - #13 Nico Hischier (C) - #63 Jesper Bratt
#11 Andreas Johnsson - #86 Jack Hughes - #17 Yegor Sharangovich
#16 Jimmy Vesey - #18 Dawson Mercer - #90 Tomas Tatar
#59 Janne Kuokkanen - #20 Michael McLeod - #14 Nathan Bastian
#33 Ryan Graves - #7 Dougie Hamilton (A)
#71 Jonas Siegenthaler - #28 Damon Severson (A)
#24 Ty Smith - #76 P.K. Subban
#29 Mackenzie Blackwood
#45 Jonathan Bernier
Scratches/Injuries:
#12 Tyce Thompson (IR - Shoulder Surgery)
#44 Miles Wood (IR - Hip Surgery)
#55 Mason Geertsen (Healthy)
#70 Jesper Boqvist (Healthy)
#83 Christian Jaros (Healthy)
Nashville Predators Projected Lineup:
#9 Filip Forsberg - #64 Mikael Granlund (A) - #95 Matt Duchene
#28 Eeli Tolvanen - #92 Ryan Johansen - #11 Luke Kunin
#13 Yakov Trenin - #10 Colton Sissons - #84 Tanner Jeannot
#21 Nick Cousins - #82 Thomas Novak - #26 Philip Tomasino
#59 Roman Josi (C) - #57 Dante Fabbro
#14 Mattias Ekholm (A) - #45 Alexandre Carrier
#90 Mark Borowiecki - #5 Matt Benning
#39 Connor Ingram
#33 David Rittich
#28 Eeli Tolvanen - #92 Ryan Johansen - #11 Luke Kunin
#13 Yakov Trenin - #10 Colton Sissons - #84 Tanner Jeannot
#21 Nick Cousins - #82 Thomas Novak - #26 Philip Tomasino
#59 Roman Josi (C) - #57 Dante Fabbro
#14 Mattias Ekholm (A) - #45 Alexandre Carrier
#90 Mark Borowiecki - #5 Matt Benning
#39 Connor Ingram
#33 David Rittich
Scratches/Injuries:
#17 Ben Harpur (Healthy)
#55 Philippe Myers (Healthy)
#74 Juuse Saros (Day to Day, Non-COVID related illness)
#17 Ben Harpur (Healthy)
#55 Philippe Myers (Healthy)
#74 Juuse Saros (Day to Day, Non-COVID related illness)
News/Notes:
Jersey’s team hasn’t defeated the Preds since Mar. 10, 2018 (3-2, shootout win), and the Devils haven’t earned a win vs Nashville in the Garden State since Dec. 3rd, 2016 (5-4).
Nashville defeated the Devils in the first meeting for 2021-22, which resulted in a 4-2 victory at Bridgestone Arena. Tonight’s contest concludes the out of conference foes season series.
Tonight marks the team’s fifth back-to-back set, and Jersey is 1-2-1 in first games played.
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MUTUAL CONNECTIONS:
Nashville Head Coach John Hynes spent parts of five seasons as the Devils’ bench boss from 2015-16 to 2019-20. Hynes’ tenure in the Garden State marked his first NHL head coaching role.
New Jersey Executive Vice President & General Manager Tom Fitzgerald played in parts of four seasons with Nashville and was a member of the franchise’s inaugural team in 1998-99.
New Jersey blueliner P.K. Subban skated in three seasons with Nashville from 2016-17 to 2018-19. No. 76 recorded 130 career PTS (35g-95a) in 211 regular-season games, and Subban was also a member of Nashville’s first-ever Stanley Cup final appearance in 2016-17.
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Player Notes:
Jesper Bratt enters tonight’s contest fresh off his sixth multi-point outing for the season (1g-1a). New Jersey’s 2016, 6th-round draft pick (162nd overall) logged four multi-point efforts last season in 46 games played.
The Swedish native has recorded 17 PTS (5g-12a) over his last 15 games since Nov. 6, and earned at least one point in 12 of those contests. Additionally, Bratt entails a three-game point streak (1g-3a-4PTS).
Veteran defenseman Damon Severson is also riding a three-game points streak (2g-1-3PTS). No. 28 ranks second for all New Jersey skater sin ATOI (21:37), while Dougie Hamilton ranks first (22:05).
Fellow blueliner Ty Smith has logged his first three-game point streak (0g-3a-3PTS) for the season. The streak is Smith’s first point streak of more than two games since Mar. 21-Mar. 25 of last season (0g-4a—4PTS).
Michael McLeod has been nothing shy of efficient in the face-off circle this season. As of Dec. 9th, the 23-year-old ranked third overall for face-offs (60.2%), first overall for face-offs on the road (63.5%) and was tied for third overall with 39 shorthanded face-offs won.
COACH’S CORNER:
“I thought probably our best game defensively…But we were diligent with our play in our own end. We put the puck in a lot of good places, we had people back (in defensive zone), protected the middle of the ice & played a solid game.”
– Head Coach Lindy Ruff via, postgame, Wednesday’s 3-0 win
No more close calls and enough dicking around, let's f***ing go Devils!!
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