The Canes are still searching for consistency.
The Carolina Hurricanes take the ice tonight in New Jersey for the first time in four days.
Carolina was sluggish against Nashville on Monday, falling behind 4-0 and losing 5-2.
The Christmas break could not have come at a better time for the Canes. The Hurricanes are still searching for consistency, so hopefully, the holidays allowed for a much-necessary recharge and reset.
There is no more time for rest as the Canes face the top team in the Eastern Conference on back-to-back nights.
Unlike Carolina, New Jersey has been playing very well in December.
The Devils have earned points in six of the last seven games and have lost just two games in regulation this month.
The key to New Jersey’s success over the past few weeks is goaltender Jacob Markstrom. Markstrom’s last regulation loss was on November 27. Since that time, he is 9-0-1 with a 1.33 goals against average.
Markstrom is coming off back-to-back shutouts and allowed just one goal in each of three previous games.
Markstrom started each of the previous meetings between the teams. With a home-and-home between the teams, the Canes will face Markstrom. The question is: will Carolina face him once or twice?
The Devils’ defense is doing its part to support their goaltender. Over the last seven games, New Jersey has allowed 20 or fewer shots, setting an NHL record. During Markstrom’s back-to-back shutouts, the Devils allowed just 12 shots in each game.
New Jersey now leads the league in goals against, surrendering just 2.46 goals per game.
Tonight’s key matchup is the New Jersey power play against the Carolina penalty kill. The Devils have the second-best power play in the NHL.
On Monday evening, the Devils scored three power play goals against the Rangers.
Carolina’s perfect December of penalty kills ended on Monday with a Ryan O’Reilly power play goal. Let’s see which team gets the advantage on special teams tonight.
One of those New Jersey power play goal scorers is Jack Hughes. Over the past six games, Hughes has four goals and six assists.
Hughes is tied with linemate Jesper Bratt for the team lead with 45 points. The trio of Hughes, Bratt, and Ondrej Palat lead New Jersey with 17 five-on-five goals.
The timing of tonight’s game is important. After going 6-5-2 at home through October and November, the Devils are 5-1-1 this month in Newark. Tonight is the final home game before New Jersey departs on its longest road trip of the season.
Defenseman Nick DeSimone was recalled from the AHL this morning as Curtis Lazar is still out with a knee injury.
Via Walt Ruff, below is the projected lines for tonight:
Forwards
Jarvis – Aho – Roslovic
Svechnikov – Kotkaniemi – Necas
Martinook – Staal – Carrier
Robinson – Jost – Blake
Defense
Slavin – Burns
Orlov – Chatfield
Gostisbehere – Walker
Goaltenders
Kochetkov (not confirmed starter)
Tokarski
Sebastian Aho has started to ramp up his play. Aho has six points in five straight games, and has tallied a point in 10 of the last 11 games.
On the opposite side, Martin Necas has not registered a point in four games.
Another area of concern is the power play. The Canes have scored just two goals in their last 14 chances since scoring two power play goals against the Islanders on December 7.
Jaccob Slavin will skate in his 700th game tonight. He will be the 12th skater in the 2012 NHL Draft class to hit this milestone.
Here’s how to check out the action:
- Time: 7:00 PM ET
- Location: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
- TV: FanDuel Sports Network South with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Hanna Yates, in-game reporter; Shane Willis, analyst.
- Radio: 99.9 The Fan
- Line: ML: CAR +110; PL: CAR +1.5 -230