The Anaheim Ducks will continue their long Eastern Conference road trip tonight against the New Jersey Devils. The Ducks are on short rest after a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers last night. This is the first back-to-back for Anaheim this season. Last year, the Ducks were 6-6-1 in the second game of back-to-backs, with all six losses occurring on the road.
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With last night’s loss, the Ducks’ record falls to 1-2 for the 2022-23 season. The good news is that the offense has been productive with 10 goals in their first three games. Unfortunately, a lackluster penalty kill has meant that the Ducks have surrendered 17 goals on the season, including 13 in the first two games of the road trip.
Ducks Continue Line Shuffles
Throughout the first three contests of the season, Anaheim’s line combinations have been put through the blender with mid-game adjustments. In addition, the starting lines have had a different look to them in each game this season. Head coach Dallas Eakins has shown a willingness to try nearly anything, especially as the Ducks have been getting overwhelmed in their defensive zone. Last night’s game against the Rangers saw the reunion of Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry, Anaheim’s most talented forward duo. The line of Zegras, Terry, and Adam Henrique had a good game in 5-on-5 situations, putting up 0.86 expected goals for and only 0.22 expected goals against, as well as a Corsi for percentage of 61.9.
With tonight’s game being the second of a back-to-back, there should be even more line changes and substitutions. Tonight will be Anthony Stolarz’s first start in net for the Ducks this season. Stolarz has appeared in both games on this road trip in relief of John Gibson, who has already seen 109 shots through three games.
Anaheim Ducks Projected Lines
Forwards
Adam Henrique – Trevor Zegras – Troy Terry
Mason McTavish – Ryan Strome – Frank Vatrano
Max Jones – Isac Lundestrom – Pavol Regenda
Max Comtois – Derek Grant – Jakob Silfverberg
Defense
Cam Fowler – John Klingberg
Dmitry Kulikov – Jamie Drysdale
Simon Benoit – Kevin Shattenkirk
Goaltenders
Anthony Stolarz – John Gibson
Scouting the Devils
The Devils are a team on the rise after several years of rebuilding. They are loaded with young talent, especially in the forward group. Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Dawson Mercer are all under the age of 24 and are regulars in their top six. They’ve also spent the last few summers acquiring solid veterans. Dougie Hamilton and Ondrej Palat signed big free-agent deals to play in New Jersey, and a series of trades this offseason have brought in Erik Haula and John Marino.
While the Devils have been a trendy pick to shake up the Eastern Conference and make the postseason, they’ve stumbled out of the gate to start the 2022-23 season. They are currently 0-2, allowing five goals against both the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings. Goaltending was the Achilles’ heel of the Devils last season, as a revolving door of goaltenders combined for a next-to-last .881 save percentage. The Devils addressed this issue by signing Vitek Vanecek to split duties with Mackenzie Blackwood. With each goaltender getting a start and allowing at least four goals in their first two contests, it has been an ominous start to the season for the New Jersey Devils.
New Jersey Devils Projected Lines
Forwards
Ondrej Palat – Nico Hischier – Alexander Holtz
Yegor Sharangovich – Jack Hughes – Jesper Bratt
Miles Wood – Erik Haula – Dawson Mercer
Tomas Tatar – Michael McCleod – Nathan Bastain
Defense
Jonas Siegenthaler – Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves – John Marino
Brendan Smith – Damon Severson
Goaltenders
Mackenzie Blackwood – Vitek Vanecek
Players to Watch
Anaheim Ducks: Trevor Zegras
Zegras is already one of the most exciting players to watch in the NHL. Not only is he tremendously talented, but he is unafraid to use add some flare and showmanship. With Jack Hughes, one of his closest friends and former United States Development Team National Program teammate, on the other bench he might have something special planned.
During our season preview, I made a specific mention of tonight’s game. In one of my bold predictions, I said that Zegras would get his first-ever hat trick tonight. With the recent road trip bringing him home to New York and a prime-time matchup against Hughes, all eyes should be on Zegras tonight.
New Jersey Devils: Jack Hughes
The top overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Hughes is another one of the league’s brightest young stars. Despite injuries limiting him to 49 games last season, he amassed 56 points. His 1.14 points per game in 2021-22 was equal to Brad Marchand’s production, and he was the only player in the league under the age of 21 to average a point per game.
Like Zegras, Hughes can be a showman and is not afraid to borrow from each other. Last year, Hughes had a highlight-reel overtime winner and celebrated by tossing his stick into the stands. A month later, Zegras scored an overtime winner and lobbed his stick over the glass as well. With two of the most exciting young stars in the sport facing head-to-head, it will be a fun game to watch.
Tonight’s game will be a national broadcast on ESPN. The puck is scheduled to drop at 4:00 PM PT.
Statistics courtesy of HockeyDB. Analytics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
