On Monday, the New Jersey Devils will host the Nashville Predators at the Prudential Center with a 7 p.m. puck drop in Newark.
The Devils are on a two-game winning streak and are looking to continue that streak against the Predators. They recently played the Washington Capitals and won 5-2. The Devils also beat the Carolina Hurricanes last Thursday on home ice with a 4-2 score.
The Nashville Predators won their last game this past Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets 4-1. They lost their prior game to the Jets due to a shutout by the Seattle Kraken, 3-0. Based on the performance of both teams, the Devils are tied for second for the most points as a team (30 points), while the Predators are tied for 28th, with just 17 points.
New Jersey’s top three leaders this season are Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier. Bratt is leading the team in points with 28 this season. Hughes is behind him at 25 points; lastly, the captain, Hischer, has 21 points. The number of points these players have earned so far this year is highly impressive, —especially considering the Devils had a rough start to the season.
So far this year, Bratt, Hughes, and Hischer have played all 23 games. Of those games, Jesper Bratt scored ten goals and assisted on 18 to lead the Devils. Hughes has scored fewer goals with eight but assisted on 17 other goals, which is extremely good considering the season is only roughly 23 games in. Hischer was the first player to 10 points this year, and he currently has ten goals and 11 assists.
Devils’ goalie Jake Allen’s save percentage is .921%, while Jacob Markstrom has a .907% percentage. So far this season, Allen has had two shutouts for the Devils, while Markstrom has had one clean sheet of his own. As new goalies for a growing franchise, Markstrom and Allen have had an impressive season so far and have had a major impact on the team compared to the goalie situation in the last few years. The Devils are continuing to grow and move forward each time.
For Nashville, Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi are tied for first, leading the team in points. They have 16 points so far this season, while Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O’Reilly are tied for second when leading the team in points at 12. Forsberg scored eight goals and assisted eight others on the team. Josi has only four goals but 12 assists, which is impressive for the defenseman. Marchessault has scored four goals and made eight assists this year. O’Reilly has three goals and nine assists so far this season. Forsberg, Josi, Marchessault, and O’Reilly have also played all 21 games for the Predators this season.
The Predators’ goaltending has been quite impressive. Predators goalie Juuse Saros has a .918% save percentage, which is impressive based on the team’s statistics this year. However, the team could make some adjustments to improve any missing pieces. This season, Saros has also had two shutouts. Nashville’s other goalie, Scott Wedgewood, has won one game, while Saros has won six games this year. The Predators are looking to make a comeback Monday night against New Jersey.
The New Jersey Devils and the Nashville Predators are looking to continue to drive their offense and challenge each other’s defense to dominate in colliding divisions. Despite early-season struggles, New Jersey has hit its stride in November. The Nashville Predators have struggled to find consistency this season and are looking to fight for their spot.
