New Jersey Devils at Detroit Red Wings

The essentials:

Matchup: New Jersey Devils at Detroit Red Wings

Date: November 29, 2024

Time: 3:00 p.m. ET

Transmitted: MSGS, FDSD, ESPN+

Hear: Devils Hockey Network

Last Devils game: The Devils lost to the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday with a final score of 3-0. Check out Jackson’s recap of this game.

Last Red Wings game: The Red Wings defeated the Calgary Flames in overtime with a final score of 2-1. Check out the recap of this game on NHL.com.

Current dynamics: The Devils have won seven of their last 10 games and three of their last five, for a record of 15-8-2. The Red Wings have won four of their last 10 games and three of their last five, for a record of 10-10-2.

When they last played: The Devils last played against the Wings on October 24, 2024 and lost 5-3. Check out Jackson’s recap of this game.

Lineups

Red wings

These are the projected lineups and matchups for the Red Wings based on their lineup against the Flames.

Forward

Vladimir Tarasenko – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Alex DeBrincat – JT Computer – Tyler Motte

Joe Velella – Marco Kasper – Jonatan Berggren

Michael Rasmussen – Andrew Copp – Christian Fischer

defense

Simon Edvinsson – Moritz Seider

Ben Chiarot-Jeff Petry

Albert Johansson – Justin Holl

goalkeeper

Cam Talbot

Alex Lyons

Cam Talbot started against Calgary, but I expect he will also start against the Devils.

Injury notices

According to ESPN, Patrick Kane is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and backup goalkeeper Alex Lyon is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

Devil

Timo Meier will return after his suspension and I expect the lines to return to normal.

Forward

Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Stefan Noesen

Ondrej Palat – Jack Hughes – Jesper Bratt

Paul Cotter – Erik Haula – Dawson Mercer

Tomas Tatar – Justin Dowling – Shane Bowers

defense

Brenden Dillon. – Dougie Hamilton

Luke Hughes – Brett Pesce

Jonas Siegenthaler – Johnathan Kovacevic

goalkeeper

I expect Jake Allen to start against the Wings since Jacob Markstrom has started the last two games.

What you should pay attention to

A lot has changed in a month

The last time the Devils played the Wings, Jacob Markstrom had a lot of trouble with the loss. Markstrom had produced a few “clunkers,” as Jackson put it, at this point in the season. A lot has changed. Markstrom has settled in and the performance is more in line with the goalie Devils fans have been expecting. In the 15 games that followed the loss to Detroit, Markstrom held opponents to fewer than three goals in all but five, including a shutout against Vancouver and last night’s debacle. Yes, I know he conceded three goals last night, but I’m ready to write off the Blues’ game because nothing went the way it does sometimes. Markstom’s savings rate is over 0.900%.

The Detroit game also marked the season debuts for Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes. The Pesce-Hughes pairing has become one of the Devils’ most reliable defensive pairings. According to Natural Stat Trick, excluding all players with fewer than ten games played (and Kurtis MacDermid), Hughes and Pesce have the fifth and sixth lowest expected goals against (xGA) at 5-on-5 on the team behind the fourth players ( Dowling, Bastian , Lazar and Tatar). Luke Hughes is also sixth on the team in High Danger Scoring Chances For Percentage (HDCF%) at 5-on-5 with 56.32 percent (according to Natural Stat Trick). The Devils are playing better and will have to prove it on Friday after a tough loss to the Blues.

Cam Talbot hasn’t slowed down

Cam Talbot was the main reason the Devils lost their last game against the Wings. The Detroit goalkeeper has continued to perform at this high level. According to Natural Stat Trick, Talbot has an absurd .951 save percentage at 5-on-5 with 12.09 goals saved above average (GSAA) in 13 games played. Despite these impressive statistics, Talbot has only managed six wins in the twelve games he has started. The Devils will have to do their best to get pucks from Talbot.

Second worst in the NHL

The fact that the Red Wings only won ten games with goaltenders like that is a testament to how poor Detroit’s offense was. Detroit has scored just 28 goals at 5-on-5 in 22 games, which is second-worst in the NHL, behind only the Nashville Predators (according to Natural Stat Trick). Five of those 28 goals were scored by the Devils in October. The Red Wings rank last in the NHL in Expected Goals For (xGF) with 37.63 (per Natural Stat Trick). Dylan Larkin leads the team with 12 goals on the season and Alex DeBrincat has nine goals. If the Devils can limit Larkin and DeBrincat’s options, they should be successful defensively.

Special and not so special teams

Where Detroit and sharpshooters like DeBrincat can hurt the Devils is on the power play. According to NHL.com, the Red Wings have the sixth-best power play in the league, converting on 28.1 percent of their power plays. Larkin scored six power play goals while DeBrincat scored five. Again, the Devils need to lock down Larkin and DeBrincat to be successful.

Detroit’s penalty kill is a different story. The Red Wings’ penalty kill rate of 68.9 percent is the worst in the NHL. The Devils currently have the third-ranked power play in the NHL and will look to use their speed to create penalties and take advantage of this matchup.

Your thoughts

Which match will you be paying attention to? Will the boys be able to have success against Detroit’s goaltender? How will Timo perform when he returns to the lineup? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and GO DEVILS!