On Thursday, December 12th, the New Jersey Devils will host the Los Angeles Kings at the Prudential Center with a 7p.m. ET puck drop. As the Devils only play the Kings twice this NHL season, they welcome the Kings to the Prudential Center for the first and last time.
The Devils are coming off a 2-game loss, both at home. On Sunday, the Devils got shutout by the Colorado Avalanche losing 4-0. Following to Tuesday, the Devils lost in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1. The Devils remain second in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, with 39 points.
While, the Los Angeles Kings are coming off of a six-game winning streak. Four wins at home and two on the road. Their previous matchup was against the New York Islanders on December 10th, they won 3-1. The Kings are second in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Their current standings are 17-8-3.
As the Devils have lost two well-played games, they continue to build momentum and create new strategies. As the work-flow improves, the players begin to adjust. Nathan Bastian has been brought back into the lineup since Tuesday, returning from a jaw injury. The Devils have a power play percentage of 31.2 percent and are first in the regular season to hold that stat as of December 11th. They have a penalty kill of 81.1 percent. New Jersey Devils Captain, Nico Hischier leads the team in goals with 15 this season — recently scoring three goals just in one night(a hat trick) against the Nashville Predators not that long ago. Jesper Bratt leads the team in assists with 25, Jack Hughes right behind him with 24 assists.
The Kings are looking at a power play percentage of 16.7 percent and a penalty kill percentage of 80.4 percent, right behind the Devils. The teams defense has been sharp and is predicted to come out even stronger tonight against the Devils. The Kings have Adrian Kempe leading their team in goals and Anze Kopitar in assists. Kempe has 14 goals this season and Kopitar has 24 assists.
The Kings goalie, Darcy Kuemper is in the top five of Goals Against Average (2.37) in the entire league as of December 11th. With Darcy Kuemper having a save percentage of .910. Devils, Jacob Markstrom comes in at number 12 for Goals Against Average (2.48), still in the top 40. Markstrom has a .906 save percentage so far this season.
The Kings have a point percentage of .661 (66.1%) and are placed five in that category amongst all standing teams. The Devils are at 10th, with a .629(62.9) point percentage — not too far off from the Kings.
As Thursday night approaches, the Kings will be welcomed into New Jersey and the Devils are expecting to come back big time this game. Keep an eye out for game time starting at 7p.m. ET.
