New Jersey Devils

G70 New Jersey Devils @ Pittsburgh Penguins: Keep building
March 17, 2017, 10:33 AM ET [16 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell

The streak is over.

It took one of the best efforts we've seen all season but the New Jersey Devils finally picked up a win.

They completely shut down a Philadelphia Flyers team desperate for points by holding them to just 19 shots and 14 scoring chances (Arizona is the only team that recorded fewer last night).

The Devils didn't sacrifice offense to lock things down, either, as they registered 29 shots, which is well above their season average.

Tonight the Devils will be looking to build on that performance with a good showing against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Doing so will be easier said than done. Although the Penguins are dealing with a ton of injuries, they are still 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and have been absolutely dominant at home this season. They own a 27-4-3 record in their own building while the Devils have just 12 wins in 36 games away from home.

The Devils are also in the latter half of a back-to-back against a rested team -- one that is only a point away from hosting a playoff series -- so there's a lot working against them.

Let's see if the kids, who were great last night, can find a way to overcome it.

Here are the expected line combinations for New Jersey:

Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri
Joseph Blandisi - Adam Henrique - Beau Bennett
Pavel Zacha - John Quenneville - Stefan Noesen
Blake Pietila - Kevin Rooney - Miles Wood

John Moore - Damon Severson
Andy Greene - Ben Lovejoy
Jon Merrill - Steve Santini

Cory Schneider

And the expected lines for the Flyers (via dailyfaceoff.com):

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Conor Sheary
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - Phil Kessel
Scott Wilson - Nick Bonino - Carter Rowney
Tom Kuhnhackl - Matt Cullen - Oskar Sundqvist

Ian Cole - Justin Schultz
Mark Streit - Chad Ruhwedel
Brian Dumoulin - Ron Hainsey

Matt Murray

A few notes:

1) Joseph Blandisi has logged at least 15 minutes in three consecutive games and found the scoresheet in each of them. A strong finish would go a long way towards earning a spot on next season's team from the word go.

2) The Penguins may be missing several key players but they're still playing great hockey as no team in the NHL has generated more 5v5 scoring chances over the last 10 games. Cory Schneider is going to have his hands full tonight.

3) Palmieri has caught fire playing on a line with Taylor Hall and Travis Zajac and suddenly his 'down year' is as good as his breakout season.

2015-16: 30 goals, 57 points in 82 games.
2016-17: 28 goals, 56 points on an 82 game basis.

Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:00 and can be seen on MSG+, ROOT, and SN360.