3 Keys to a Devils Victory Over the Kraken – The Hockey Writers – New Jersey Devils

On Sunday, Jan. 25, the New Jersey Devils are getting ready to take on the Seattle Kraken for the last game of their West Coast road trip. The game was moved from 4 PM ET to 3 PM ET, so the game does not conflict with the Seattle Seahawks game later in the evening.

The Devils have won their last three road games, beating the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers, and finally, the Vancouver Canucks. They held both the Flames and the Oilers to one goal but beat the Canucks 5-4 on Friday, Jan. 23. The Devils will look to complete a full four-game sweep against the Kraken. 

The Devils already faced the Kraken earlier this month, on Jan. 14, where they won 3-2 in overtime. The Devils will not only try to sweep the West Coast road trip, but also the season series against Seattle. Here are the three keys to a Devils win in this game against the Kraken. 

Fourth Line Needs to Stay Strong

A major part of the Devils’ success on Friday night was the fourth line. In just his third NHL game, Lenni Hameenaho scored his first goal, just a minute and 41 seconds in. He didn’t stop there, though, and recorded his first NHL assist on Cody Glass’ goal later in the game. 

Hameenaho wasn’t the only player on the Devils’ fourth line to get his name on the score sheet. As mentioned above, Glass scored a goal that Hameenaho earned his first assist on, but on top of that, he scored a second goal. Arseni Gritsyuk was also all over the ice, recording the primary assist on Connor Brown’s power-play goal. 

At practice on Saturday ahead of the game, there was no change to the lineup, sticking Gritsyuk, Hameenaho, and Glass together again. While they were not the only three players amongst the forwards to put their name on the scoresheet in this game, they were the driving force behind the Devils’ offensive pressure in Vancouver. Keeping this line together will be a great way for this trio to continue finding their chemistry, and they will hopefully continue their success from the prior game. 

Devils Need to Continue Generating Positive Scoring Chances

In the Devils’ past two games, they were outshot by both Edmonton and Vancouver. Against Edmonton, the Oilers outshot the Devils 23 to 17, even holding the Devils to just three shots in the third period while they took 13. Vancouver was a more evenly matched game, but even the Canucks outshot the Devils eight to three in the final frame. However, it was the quality of the shots that mattered. 

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Although the Canucks took more shots in the third period than the Devils, they each only scored one goal. The same could be said about the game against the Oilers; they outshot the Devils by a wide margin, but neither team scored in the final 20 minutes. 

Sure, you can outshoot a team by a significant amount, but at the end of the day, it’s the final score that matters. The Devils have been finding a way to capitalize on the scoring chances they receive; they need to continue doing so to find success against Seattle. 

Defense Needs to Hold Strong, Too

The Devils are in a bit of a tricky situation now, regarding their defense. During the first stop of their road trip in Calgary, they lost Luke Hughes after he exited the game early with an injury. Since then, the Devils have placed Hughes on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) and have recalled defenseman Colton White. 

With Hughes’ absence, the defense pairings have shifted slightly. Jonas Siegenthaler is now on the first pairing with Brett Pesce, while Brenden Dillon and Dougie Hamilton make up the second pairing. Simon Nemec and Johnathan Kovacevic round out the third pairing, with Colton White as an extra player on the roster. 

Since Kovacevic is still easing himself back into playing hockey after recovering from his knee surgery during the offseason, bringing White up to the Devils was the right call. In the event that Kovacevic needs a day to just rest, White is there to slot into the lineup. So far for the two prior games on the road trip, though, Kovacevic has been playing solid hockey, along with the other five defensemen. They need to stay on their A-game to take down Seattle on Sunday.

A win for the Devils would put them one point back of tying the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division.