Better Call Sal
Salnalysis
Let's hear it one more time for the Nico naysayers, way in the back
Our sweet Swiss boy fought through the pain, put the team on his back and tied things up late on the PP last game
That allowed everyone's favorite sniper, Pav, to cap it off with the big dubbbb in OT!
And let's not forget the poise of big Nico Jr., who we'll hopefully see back between the pipes tonight!
We welcome back our old friend Pickles tonight for the first time.
But here's hoping he got all his scoring out of the way last night and we send him back to Canadian Texas with an L!
Your New Jersey Devils (from practice, lineup subject to change)
#17 Yegor Sharangovich - #13 Nico Hischier (C) - #59 Janne Kuokkanen
#90 Tomas Tatar - #18 Dawson Mercer - #37 Pavel Zacha
#11 Andreas Johnsson - #20 Michael McLeod - #63 Jesper Bratt
#16 Jimmy Vesey - #38 Frederik Gauthier - #55 Mason Geertsen
#24 Ty Smith - #7 Dougie Hamilton (A)
#33 Ryan Graves - #28 Damon Severson (A)
#71 Jonas Siegenthaler - #76 P.K. Subban
#50 Nico Daws
#41 Scott Wedgewood
Injuries/Scratches:
#29 Mackenzie Blackwood (Heel/Mr. Prick Did His Job!)
#44 Miles Wood (IR - Bumps and Bruises from a month ago)
#45 Jonathan Bernier (Day to Day - Lower Body Injury)
#67 Marian Studenic (Healthy)
#83 Christian Jaros (Healthy)
#86 Jack Hughes (IR - Separated Shoulder)
Hooray for Mr. Prick! He did his job!
News and Notes:
The team’s five-game homestand to open the season ties a franchise record, which was previously set in 2018-19. New Jersey went 4-1-0 from Oct. 6 to Oct. 18 (Per NHL Pr). A win tonight ties that franchise record.
TRIVIA:
Can you name the lone skater who won a Stanley Cup with both the Calgary Flames and New Jersey Devils?
The Devils haven’t defeated the Flames since Jan. 13, 2017, after a 2-1 victory at Calgary. The last time Jersey’s team defeated the Flames in the Garden State was Jan. 19, 2016, in a 4-2 win.
HOME SWEET HOME
As of Monday, Oct. 25, the Devils ranked second in shots against/per games played (SA/GP) at 27.0 on home ice. New Jersey’s 2.50 goals-against-average on home ice also ranked 9th in the league. After four games played last season, the Devils owned a 3.00 GAA and 50 SA/GP.
Additionally, the team collected two overtime wins at Prudential Center after 56 games played last season (2-1-1), while the team is already 2-0-0 in overtime contest at home for 2021-22.
Speaking of Pavel Zacha, the Czech Republic native earned his third career overtime game-winning goal on Saturday and 10th career game-winning goal.
Since 2017-18, the 6-foot-3 forward leads all skaters who’ve worn a Devils sweater since that time with eight game-winning goals.
New Jersey Devils Game Notes: Oct. 26 Vs Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup:
#13 Johnny Gaudreau - #28 Elias Lindholm - #19 Matthew Tkachuk (A)
#20 Blake Coleman - #11 Mikael Backlund (A) - #18 Tyler Pitlick
#17 Milan Lucic - #23 Sean Monahan (A) - #22 Trevor Lewis
#88 Andrew Mangiapane - #29 Dillon Dube - #24 Brett Ritchie
#55 Noah Hanifin - #4 Ramus Andersson
#58 Oliver Kylington - #8 Chris Tanev
#6 Juuso Valimaki - #44 Erik Gudbranson
#80 Daniel Vladar
#25 Jacob Markstrom
Scratches/Injuries:
#15 Brad Richardson (Healthy)
#16 Nikita Zadorov (Healthy)
#26 Michael Stone (Day to Day - COVID-19 Protocol)
#47 Connor Zary (IR - Ankle)
#95 Johannes Kinnvall (IR - Lower Body Injury)
Let's make it back to back big dubbbbbbs to close out this homestand!
LGD