The New Jersey Devils host the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night for the teams’ first matchup of the 2025-26 season. The Devils are coming off a 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. This is the last game of the Devils’ four-game homestand before they hit the road for two games against Atlantic Division rivals.
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This game marks the first of five in an East Coast road trip for Vegas, after beating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a shootout at home on Tuesday. They will visit the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Devils Storylines
This game is expected to be Angus Crookshank’s Devils debut. He signed a two-year deal with the team as a free agent on July 2, after four seasons with the Belleville Senators, the Ottawa Senators’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. He made his NHL debut on Dec. 17, 2023, and has since played 21 games with four points.
Crookshank started the season with the Utica Comets, the Devils’ AHL affiliate, playing 17 games and scoring seven points via five goals and two assists. His performance in Utica has proven that he deserves his chance with the NHL club. He will be a good addition to the fourth line, playing alongside Luke Glendening and Stefan Noesen.
The Devils will once again turn to Jacob Markstrom in net. He was also in the crease for the shutout loss to the Stars; however, it’s hard to blame a goalie when the team doesn’t score. He still managed to stop 25 of Dallas’ 28 shots in that game. That makes Marstrom the player to watch. All eyes will be on him as the Devils try to end their three-game losing skid at home.
Team Stats
New Jersey Devils
Season Record: 16-10-1
Top Scorers:
- Jesper Bratt – 5 goals (G), 21 assists (A), 26 points (P)
- Nico Hischier – 10 G, 15 A, 25 P
- Timo Meier – 10 G, 12 A, 22 P
- Dawson Mercer – 10 G, 11 A, 21 P
- Jack Hughes – 10 G, 10 A, 20 P
Goalie Stats:
- Jake Allen – 8-5-0, 2.48 goals-against average (GAA), .911 save percentage (SV%)
- Jacob Markstrom – 7-5-1, 3.55 GAA, .875 SV%
- Nico Daws – 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .968 SV%
Vegas Golden Knights
Season Record: 12-6-8
Top Scorers:
- Jack Eichel – 11 G, 21 A, 32 P
- Mitch Marner – 5 G, 20 A, 25 P
- Ivan Barbashev – 9 G, 13 A, 22 P
- Tomas Hertl – 11 G, 9 A, 20 P
- Pavel Dorofeyev – 11 G, 6 A, 17 P
Goalie Stats:
- Akira Schmid – 9-2-4, 2.51 GAA, .896 SV%
- Carl Lindbom – 1-4-2, 3.14 GAA, .870 SV%
- Adin Hill – 1-0-2, 2.73 GAA, .888 SV%
- Carter Hart – 1-0-0, 2.77 GAA, .900 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.
New Jersey Devils
Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Jesper Bratt
Ondrej Palat — Dawson Mercer — Arseni Gritsyuk
Paul Cotter — Cody Glass — Connor Brown
Angus Crookshank — Luke Glendening — Stefan Noesen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Brenden Dillon — Luke Hughes
Dennis Cholowski — Simon Nemec
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Scratched: Juho Lammikko, Colton White
Injured: Evgenii Dadonov, Jack Hughes, Johnathan Kovacevic, Zack MacEwen, Marc McLaughlin, Brett Pesce
Vegas Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev— Jack Eichel — Braeden Bowman
Mitch Marner — Brett Howden — Mark Stone
Brandon Saad — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Cole Reinhardt — Colton Sissons — Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin — Zach Whitecloud
Ben Hutton — Kaeden Korczak
Carter Hart
Akira Schmid
Scratched: Alexander Holtz, Jaycob Megna, Jesper Vikman, Reilly Smith
Injured: William Karlsson, Jakub Demek, Jordan Gustafson, Jeremy Lauzon, Adin Hill, Trevor Connelly
Next Up for the Devils
This marks the end of the Devils’ home stand before they take on the Boston Bruins on Saturday for the second half of a back-to-back. The Devils will be in Vegas just 11 days later to close out the season series with the Golden Knights.
