Devils Gameday Preview: Continuing the Road Trip in Florida Vs. the Panthers

The New Jersey Devils take on the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers on Thursday night. This marks the fourth contest of the Devils’ five-game road trip, following a tough 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. Meanwhile, this is the Panthers’ fourth of a five-game homestead. On Monday, Florida beat the Vancouver Canucks, 8-5.

The Devils hosted the Panthers for their home opener on Oct. 16. New Jersey won 3-1.

Devils Storylines

Ethan Edwards was called up from the Utica Comets on Monday, but has still not suited up for his first NHL game. With Brenden Dillon healthy enough to play and Dougie Hamilton back in the lineup, unfortunately, Edwards will likely continue to be a healthy scratch. Still, he should consider it an honor to be called up to the big club.

Jacob Markstrom pulled something against the Lightning on Tuesday. It must not be too serious, though, as he will back up Jake Allen against the Panthers tonight. Starting Allen is the smartest play, giving Markstrom time to rest. The Devils have many players on injured reserve (IR), so they cannot afford to lose anyone else, especially not their starting goaltender.

The player to watch in this game is Nico Hischier. He was the only Devil to score a goal against the Lightning on Tuesday. Both Jesper Bratt and Arseni Gritsyuk picked up assists on his goal as Hischier’s new linemates on the first line. This trio has already shown great chemistry playing together.

Team Stats

New Jersey Devils
Season Record: 13-5-1

Top Scorers:

1. Jack Hughes – 10 goals (G), 10 assists (A), 20 points (P)
2. Jesper Bratt – 5 G, 13 A, 18 P
3. Dawson Mercer – 9 G, 17 A, 16 P
4. Timo Meier – 5 G, 9 A, 14 P
5. Nico Hischier – 4 G, 9 A, 13 P

Goalie Stats:

1. Jake Allen – 7-2-0, 2.24 goals-against average (GAA), .916 save percentage (SV%)
2. Jacob Markstrom – 5-3-1, 3.83 GAA, .864 SV%
3. Nico Daws – 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .968 SV%

Florida Panthers
Season Record: 10-8-1

1. Brad Marchand – 13 G, 10 A, 23 P
2. Sam Reinhart – 10 G, 6 A, 16 P
3. Anton Lundell – 5 G, 11 A, 16 P
4. Seth Jones – 3 G, 8 A, 11 P
5. Evan Rodrigues – 5 G, 5 A, 10 P

Goalie Stats:

1. Sergei Bobrovsky – 9-5-0, 2.80 GAA, .883 SV%
2. Daniil Tarasov – 1-3-1, 2.60 GAA, .902 SV%

Projected Lineups

(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.

New Jersey Devils

Arseni Gritsyuk — Nico Hischier — Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier — Dawson Mercer — Connor Brown
Ondrej Palat — Juho Lammikko — Evgenii Dadonov
Paul Cotter — Luke Glendening — Stefan Noesen

Jonas Siegenthaler — Simon Nemec
Brenden Dillon — Luke Hughes
Dennis Cholowski — Dougie Hamilton

Jake Allen
Jacob Markstrom

Scratched: Shane Lachance, Ethan Edwards, Colton White

Injured: Jack Hughes, Cody Glass, Zack MacEwen, Marc McLaughlin, Johnathan Kovacevic, Brett Pesce

Florida Panthers

Mackie Samoskevich — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand
Jesper Boqvist — Evan Rodrigues — Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — A.J. Greer
Noah Gregor — Luke Kunin — Jack Devine

Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis — Jeff Petry

Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov

Scratched: Cole Schwindt, Donovan Sebrango

Injured: Eetu Luostarinen, Jonah Gadjovich, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Tomas Nosek, Dmitry Kulikov

Next Up for the Devils

The Devils conclude their five-game road trip in Pennsylvania, where they will take on their Metropolitan Division rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, on Saturday, Nov. 22. They then return home to host the Detroit Red Wings on Monday.