On Sunday, January 25, the New Jersey Devils get ready to take on the Seattle Kraken for the final game of their west coast road trip. The game has been moved from 4:00 PM ET to 3:00 PM ET, so it won’t conflict with the Seattle Seahawks game later in the evening.
The Devils have won their last three road games, beating the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers and finally the Vancouver Canucks. They held both the Flames and Oilers to one goal, but defeated the Canucks 5-4 on Friday, January 23. The Devils will look to complete a four-game sweep against the Kraken.
The Devils already faced the Kraken earlier this month, on January 14, where they won 3-2 in overtime. The Devils will look to cover not only the West Coast road trip, but also the season series against Seattle. Here are the three keys to a Devils win in this matchup against the Kraken.
The fourth line must remain strong
A big part of the Devils’ success on Friday night was the fourth line. In just his third NHL game, Lenni Hameenaho scored his first goal, just a minute and 41 seconds later. He didn’t stop there, though, recording his first NHL assist on Cody Glass’ goal later in the game.
Hameenaho wasn’t the only player on the Devils’ fourth line to get his name on the scoresheet. As mentioned above, Glass scored a goal that earned Hameenaho his first assist, but in addition he scored a second goal. Arseni Gritsyuk was also all over the ice, recording the first assist on Connor Brown’s power-play goal.
This was the case during training on Saturday prior to the match no change in lineupsticking Gritsyuk, Hameenaho and Glass back together. While they weren’t the only three players among the forwards to put their names on the scoresheet in this game, they were the driving force behind the Devils’ offensive push in Vancouver. Keeping this line together will be a great way for this trio to continue to find their chemistry, and hopefully they will continue their success from the previous game.
Devils must continue to generate positive scoring opportunities
In the Devils’ last two games, they have been defeated by both Edmonton and Vancouver. Against Edmonton, the Oilers outscored the Devils 23 to 17, even holding the Devils to just three shots in the third period while taking 13. Vancouver was a more even match, but even the Canucks outscored the Devils eight games to three in the final frame. However, it was the quality of the recordings that mattered.
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Although the Canucks made more shots than the Devils in the third period, they scored only one goal each. The same can be said about the game against the Oilers; they defeated the Devils by a wide margin, but neither team scored in the final 20 minutes.
Sure, you can beat a team significantly, but ultimately it’s the final score that counts. The Devils have found a way to take advantage of the scoring opportunities they get; they need to keep doing this to find success against Seattle.
The defense must also remain strong
The Devils are now in a tough spot on defense. On the first stop of their road trip in Calgary, they lost Luke Hughes after he left the game early with an injury. The Devils have since drafted Hughes long-term injured reserve (LTIR) and have recalled defenseman Colton White.
Hughes’ absence has shifted the defensive combinations somewhat. Jonas Siegenthaler is now in the first pairing with Brett Pesce, while Brenden Dillon and Dougie Hamilton form the second pairing. Simon Nemec and Johnathan Kovacevic complete the third duo, with Colton White as an additional player on the roster.
With Kovacevic still playing hockey after recovering from his offseason knee surgery, bringing White to the Devils was the right decision. In case Kovacevic needs a day to rest, White is there to fit into the lineup. But so far, Kovacevic has played solid hockey in the two previous games on the road trip, along with the other five defensemen. They need to stay on their A-game to beat Seattle on Sunday.
A win for the Devils would put them one point behind the New York Islanders’ tie for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
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