New Jersey Devils

G73 New Jersey Devils @ Toronto Maple Leafs: High-event hockey
March 23, 2017, 10:49 AM ET [27 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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With the New Jersey Devils' season all but officially over, fans are simply hoping for some excitement down the stretch.

The Devils certainly provided that last time out against the New York Rangers. The game was physical, the pace was high, the young guns came up with big plays and Cory Schneider provided the team with excellent goaltending. The Devils managed to squeeze out an overtime victory but the entertainment value would have been high regardless of the outcome.

If you're hoping for more of the same tonight (why wouldn't you be?) the Devils are playing the right team.

The two sides have combined for 15 goals through two meetings and, generally, any game the Leafs are involved in is a high-event affair.

The Leafs are top-5 in generating shot attempts/scoring chances at 5v5 and bottom-5 in preventing shot attempts/scoring chances at 5v5. Essentially no lead is safe for either side in a game the Leafs are involved in, which certainly makes things interesting.

Here are the expected line combinations for New Jersey:

Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri
Joseph Blandisi - Adam Henrique - Beau Bennett
John Quenneville - Pavel Zacha - Stefan Noesen
Miles Wood - Blake Coleman - Nick Lappin

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

Cory Schneider

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

Zach Hyman - Auston Matthews - William Nylander
Leo Komarov - Nazem Kadri - Connor Brown
James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Mitch Marner
Matt Martin - Brian Boyle - Eric Fehr

Morgan Rielly - Connor Carrick
Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev
Matt Hunwick - Roman Polak

Curtis McElhinney

A few notes:

1) It's amazing how far Pavel Zacha has come in the span of a few months. Earlier in the year, it was an accomplishment if he could register a shot on goal a couple games in a row. Now he is riding a five-game point streak and looks the part of an established NHL player.

2) The Leafs lead the league in 5v4 scoring chances per 60 and are 2nd in 5v4 goals per 60. If the Devils take bad penalties, they're going to pay for it.

3) McElhinney had a great start to the year but has really cooled off of late allowing four goals in three of his last four games. He's struggling right now and the Devils should get ample opportunity to test him, especially given the Leafs are in the latter half of a back-to-back.

Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:30 and can be seen on SNO and MSG+.